Hesychiain Thucydides

Abstract

A comprehensive examination of words for quiet (ἡσυχάζειν, ἡσυχία, etc.) in Thucydides shows three things. First, although quiet can serve as a political metaphor for an anti-Athenian anti-imperialist conservative ideal it does not always do so. Second, in an unstudied cluster, Thucydides uses the prepositional phrase καθ᾿ ἡσυχίαν—meaning to do something at one’s own pace on the battlefield—to help chart the diminished competence of the Athenians in the Sicilian expedition. Third, in a final cluster, Thucydides uses words for quiet to describe the surprising self-control that the Athenians displayed during the stasis of 411.