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An Interpretation of Thucydides' Book I. 1, 20–22

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An Interpretation of Thucydides' Book I. 1, 20–22 2020-3744-AJHIS 1 An Interpretation of Thucydides’ Book I. 1, 20–22: A Contemporary 2 Understanding of the Historiographical Approaches of Thucydides 3 4 5 Thucydides in Book I. paragraphs 1, and 20-22 raises critical issues concerning 6 historiographical approaches and concepts. Thucydides believes that the art and 7 science of history (historiography), the writing of events – very past or immediate 8 events – should follow some specific methods. His statements may not be entirely 9 accurate, nevertheless, some of the issues he raises need critical interpretation to find 10 out how Thucydides conceives of the art, science, and the writing of past events. By 11 interpretation and juxtaposing Book I, 1:20-22 of the Peloponnesian War, the article 12 demonstrates, from a contemporary standpoint and concepts of historiography, that 13 we can assume that contemporary discussions and concepts of historiography are the 14 developments and adaption from Thucydides’ conception of historiography by 15 contemporary historians although Thucydides did not openly declare his conception of 16 historiography to us as we have conceived today. 17 18 Keywords: Approach, Contemporary, Historiography, Juxtaposition, Interpretivism, 19 Philosophy of History 20 21 22 Introduction 23 24 The historical writing of the Greeks (and Romans) covers some 800 years: 25 from Herodotus’ Histories (written in the mid to late fifth century BCE to the 26 Res Gestae of Ammianus Marcellinus who composed his history in the late 27 fourth century CE.1 Within these periods, a lot of people tried to create some 28 record of their past, either of the early past or immediate past events (or of their 29 own or earlier times), in a variety of formats.2 It is well acknowledged that of 30 the vast historical pieces of literature, only the smallest possible portion has 31 come down to us. Besides, whereas the extant literature represents some good 32 eras in Greek culture and historical past, others hardly represented at all.3 33 Whatever the case may be, so far as historical writings of the Greeks are 34 concerned, Herodotus, Thucydides, and Xenophon are considered by most 35 ancient Greeks4 and contemporary alike as the three greatest historians whose 36 works have preserved the socio-cultural and socio-political practices of the 37 Greeks and non-Greeks. 38 On one hand, we get to know very much about the ancient Greek history 39 and the historiographical approaches used by the ancient writers by relying on 40 the works of Herodotus, Thucydides, and Xenophon since their works were not 1J. Marincola, A Companion to Greek and Roman Historiography Volume I. (Oxford: Blackwell Publishing Ltd., 2007), 2. 2Ibid; A. Rengakos, “Thucydides’ Narrative: The Epic and Herodotean Heritage,” In Brill’s Companion to Thucydides, edit. A. Rengakos and A. A. Tsakmakis (Leiden and Boston: Brill, 2006), 279ff. 3Ibid. 4Ibid; S. Usher, The Historians of Greece and Rome (Great Britain, Bristol: Western Printing Services Ltd., 1969). 1 2020-3744-AJHIS 1 in fragmented form.5 So, in researching into finding how and what methods 2 and techniques were used by ancient Greek historians in recording and 3 preserving their histories; the understanding of history and historiography, it is 4 appropriate to consult the works of Herodotus, Thucydides, and Xenophon.6 5 Fortunately, on the part of the ancient Greek historians and us, it is 6 Thucydides who attempts to let us know his conception of history, 7 historiography, and the appropriate methods that are needed for writing a 8 factual account. Thucydides tries to tell us how history should be written by 9 making some claims in Book I. 1, 20-22. In Book I. 1, Thucydides declares his 10 aim for writing the Peloponnesian War. First, he believed that the was going to 11 be great than any other war fought in history because it affected most parts of 12 the Greekland and also because it focused on contemporary issues of warfare. 13 Second, Thucydides declares that due to the remoteness of the cause of the 14 war, he cannot acquire a precise knowledge of the distant past or of the history 15 preceding his own time, nonetheless, the little retrospective check he has made 16 leads him to conclude that those preceding periods were not great in warfare or 17 anything else.7 By implication, the works of his predecessors, especially 18 Herodotus, lack empirical evidence except for hearsays, oral, or mythical.8 19 It is well acknowledged that the historical writing of the Greeks was a 20 gradual process, starting with the mainland Greek poet – Homer,9 and the 21 Ionian Greek logographer – Hecataeus in the periods of 800 to 600 BC until the 22 period Herodotus came into the scene (ca. mid-fifth century BC).10 23 Thucydides, who later joined the school of Greek historiographers, touched on 24 how history should be done or written; by way of direct and indirect 25 disapproval of the methods of his predecessors as attested from the quotations 26 below: 5I. M. Finley, The Greek Historians (London: Chatto & Windus Ltd., 1959); N. Austin, ed. The Greek Historians (Canada and New York: American Book Company, 1969); J. B. Bury, The Ancient Greek Historians.(New York: Macmillan Co., Limited, 1909). 6J. Marincola, A Companion to Greek and Roman Historiography Volume I. (Oxford: Blackwell Publishing Ltd., 2007), 2. In the opinion of John Marincola, the knowledge of the numerous ancient Greek writers is supplemented in part by fragmentary evidence. Besides, the available information are of several types which include testimonies from informational remarks made by surviving writers (not only historians) about the scope, arrangement, and nature of lost historical works. There are also fragments from citations (either verbatim or otherwise) by later writers that inform us of the contents of lost works. 7Thucydides, The Pelopponesian War, trans. Rex Warner trans (Great Britain: Richard Clay, The Chaucer Press Ltd., 1954) Book I.1-17, 35; J. Ober, “Thucydides and the Invention of Political Science,” In Brill’s Companion to Thucydides, edits. A. Rengakos and A. A. Tsakmakis,. (Leiden and Boston: Brill, 2006), 131-159. 8Ibid. Book I, 21, 2-8; I, 22, 1ff.; E. Baragwanath, and M. de Bakker, eds., Myth, Truth, & Narrative in Herodotus (United Kingdom: Oxford University Press, 2012); E. J. Bakker, “Contract and Design: Thucydides’ Writing,” In Brill’s Companion to Thucydides, edited by A. Rengakos and A. A. Tsakmakis (Leiden and Boston: Brill, 2006), 108-129. 9Homer. The Iliad, trans by E. V. Rieu (England: Clays Ltd., 1950). 10M. F. Blogs, History and the Divine Sphere: Homer, Herodotus, and Thucydides (n.p., 2014), Available at https://adversusapologetica.wordpress.com/feed/ ; A. Corcella, “The New Genre and Its Boundaries: Poets and Logographers.” In Brill’s Companion to Thucydides, edit. A. Rengakos and A. A. Tsakmakis (Leiden and Boston: Brill, 2006), 33-56. 2 2020-3744-AJHIS 1 2 People are inclined to accept all stories of ancient times in an uncritical way – 3 even when these stories concern their own native countries…(Thuc. I, 20, 4 1ff.).…the evidence which I have put forward. It is better evidence than that of 5 the poets, who exaggerate the importance of their themes, or of the prose 6 chroniclers, who are less interested in telling the truth,…whose authority cannot 7 be checked, and whose subject matter, owing to the passage of time, is mostly 8 lost in the unreliable streams of mythology (Thuc. I, 21, 2-8).…And with regard 9 to my factual reporting of the events of the war I have made it a principle not to 10 write down the first story that came my way, and not even to be guided by my 11 own general impressions; either I was present myself at the events which I have 12 described or else I heard them from eye-witnesses whose reports I have checked 13 with as much thoroughness as possible. …[my history] is absence of romantic 14 element…(Thuc. I, 22, 1ff). 15 16 If we re-examine the statements above, it becomes obvious that 17 Thucydides raises critical issues concerning the methods of writing historical 18 account. It is based on this that I have tasked myself to interpret the claims 19 from a contemporary point of view. 20 21 22 Methodology 23 24 I have used content analysis from both primary sources in translation, as 25 well as secondary sources on concepts of historiography. Key among the 26 primary sources are Rex Warner’s translation of the Peloponnesian War, 27 Benjamin Jowett’s translation of the Peloponnesian War, George Rawlinson’s 28 translation of the Histories, T. Griffith. All Thucydidean quotations are taken 29 from Rex Warner’s translation. The article ultimately employs interpretive, and 30 analytical approaches all of which are some aspects of the qualitative research 31 method.11 I have used the interpretive approach since it centres on how 32 historians make sense of their subjective reality and attach meaning to it12, and 33 recognize the individual historians’ interpretation and understanding of 34 historical or past events and their own time.13 11J. McKee. “Using Normative Research Methodology and an Information Architecture Model to Create a More Useable Strategic Plan.” Proceeding of International Conference on Business Management & Information Systems & IS 1, no. 1 (2013). ; R. Hardin. “Normative Methodology.” The Oxford Handbook of Political Science, (September 2013): 1ff; Routio (2007); Tracy, J. S. Qualitative Research Methods: Collecting Evidence, Crafting Analysis, Communicating Impact (1st Edit.). (Blackwell Publishing Ltd., 2013): 28-29; G. Ryan, “Introduction to Positivism, Interpretivism and Critical Theory,” Nurse Researcher 25, no. 4 (2018): 41-49. 12D. Addae, and K. P. Quan-Baffour, “The Place of Mixed Methods Research in the Field of Adult Education: Design Options, Prospects and Challenges,” International Journal of Education and Research 3, no.
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