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From 431 to 404 BC, Athens and Sparta, the two great powers of Greece, fought a long and ruinous war. Thucydides, an Athenian general exiled after failing to…
From 431 to 404 BC, Athens and Sparta, the two great powers of Greece, fought a long and ruinous war. Thucydides, an Athenian general exiled after failing to save the city of Amphipolis, used his exile to write its history, questioning witnesses on both sides. His book contains Pericles' funeral oration in praise of Athenian democracy, the plague that struck Athens, which he survived, the brutal Melian dialogue, in which Athens tells a small island that 'the strong do what they can and the weak suffer what they must', and the disastrous expedition to Sicily.
Context and significance
Thucydides (about 460–400 BC) set out to write not entertaining stories but 'a possession for all time', based on evidence and a cold analysis of power, and he is often called the father of political realism. His account breaks off in 411 BC, unfinished. See his life.
About the author
Thucydides (c. 460–400 BC) was an Athenian general who survived the great plague of Athens and was exiled for twenty years after failing to save the city of Amphipolis. He used his exile to write the history of the Peloponnesian War between Athens and Sparta, interviewing participants on both sides.
His History, left unfinished, is famous for its rigour and its speeches, among them Pericles' Funeral Oration and the cold debate between Athens and the island of Melos. It is still read by students of politics and war as a study of power, fear and human nature.