1191760 
Book Thucydides's Melian Dialogue and Sicilian Expedition : a student commentary / Martha C. Taylor.
Publication year: [2019]
Language: English
Call Number DF229.T6 T395 2019
Media class: Book
Publisher: Norman : University of Oklahoma Press
ISBN: 9780806161945 0806161949
Notes:
Text in English and Greek.
Series title: Oklahoma series in classical culture ; volume 57
Extent: xx, 465 pages : maps ; 23 cm.
Description:
"Best known for his account of the Peloponnesian War, Thucydides (c. 454-c. 395 b.c.) was an Athenian general and historian. This valuable commentary addresses the most famous part of Thucydides's narrative: the Sicilian Expedition (books 6-8.1), which resulted in a major defeat for Athens. Designed for advanced undergraduate and graduate students of Greek, Martha C. Taylor's student-friendly text is the first single volume in more than a century to focus on the expedition and the first to include the Melian Dialogue (5.84-116), considered the "prelude" to the invasion. Many beginning readers of Thucydides require assistance with the author's often difficult constructions. In her notes to the text, Taylor breaks down Thucydides's convoluted sentences and explains them piece by piece. Her notes also explain the author's many historical and literary references. In her in-depth introduction, Taylor provides students with all the information they need to begin reading Thucydides. She discusses what we know about the Greek author -- and what we do not -- and she analyzes his unique language and style. To place the Sicilian Expedition in historical context, she summarizes the events leading up to and following the Sicilian Expedition, and she examines important aspects of Athenian democracy, including Thucydides's presentation of the Athenian Boule, the city's advisory citizen council. In addition to textual and historical commentary, this volume includes three maps; an appendix addressing the epitaph of Perikles (2.65.5-13), in which Thucydides appears to contradict his later presentation of the Sicilian Expedition; source suggestions for student term papers on relevant topics; and a general bibliography. Thucydides's Melian Dialogue and Sicilian Expedition is designed for use with the Oxford Classical Text of Thucydides, which is available online." -- Publisher's web site.
Introduction. Thucydides and his history : Thucydides the man -- Predecessors -- Methodology -- Speeches -- The "composition question" -- Thucydides's dating system. -- Thucydides's language and style : Difficulty -- Dialect and spelling -- Style. -- The course of the Peloponnesian War until winter 416-415 : The general background -- Athens and Sicily before the war -- The Archidamian War I -- The Archidamian War II -- The Archidamian War III -- The peace of Nikias. -- Athenian democracy and Thucydides's presentation of the Boule. -- Democracy in Syracuse. -- Major themes in the Sicilian expedition : The near and the far -- Xyngeneia and Sicilian unity -- Public/private -- Reverse echoes of the Persian Wars -- The transformation of the Athenians -- The city theme and the definition of Athens. -- The course of the Peloponnesian War after the Sicilian Expedition : the initial response to Sicily -- The oligarchy of the four hundred -- Alkibiades again -- Arginousai -- Aigospotamoi. -- Commentary on Thucydides's Melian Dialogue and aftermath (5.84-5.116). -- Commentary on Thucydides's Sicilian Expedition, Book 6. -- Commentary on Thucydides's Sicilian Expedition, Book 7. -- Appendix : Commentary on the Epitaph of Perikles (2.65.5-2.65.13).
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