Thucydides' Historiographical Approach - Classics and Interpretations 17

Author: Liu Xiaofeng
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2007-01-01
Features: Among the few great historians to emerge from the West, Thucydides is regarded as the most political of historians, the greatest political historian of all time, who fully understood and expressed the nature of political life. At the same time, Thucydides was a gentle Athenian. If there is some wisdom behind political historiography, if there is some wisdom that reasonably explains political historiography, then it is possible to find this wisdom in the words and phrases of Thucydides. His work, History of the Peloponnesian War, reflects a rigorous academic attitude and meticulous historiographical method. He applied the spirit of truth-seeking and logical methods of the Greek philosophers of his time to historical research, setting a model for later historical writing. The essays included in this book provide an in-depth interpretation and discussion of the historical significance of Thucydides' works, the gods in his writings, and his style. Thucydides' works primarily focus on describing a series of special events (the Peloponnesian War). At the same time, they also reveal the eternal or unchanging nature of political life. Given that Thucydides called his work a "treasure for all ages": by understanding Thucydides' account of political life in his time, all future generations can understand the essence of political life in their own time.