Thucydides I. 23. 6 and the Debate about the Peloponnesian War

Abstract

Abstract Of all the sentences in Greek literature, Thucydides‘ famous statement about the π ρ ó ϕ αcic and the αiτ αi for the breaking of the Thirty-year Peace must be among the most discussed by modern scholars. My excuse for adding to an already formidable tally is twofold: first, it seems appropriate to offer this new attempt at exposition to one of the foremost expositors of Thucydides, and moreover one who has given perhaps the clearest account of this particular passage currently available; and second, some of the ideas which originally led to this attempt were first formulated some sixteen years ago for a lecture given jointly by Kenneth Dover and myself. OF all the sentences in Greek literature, Thucydides‘ famous statement about the π ρ ó ϕ αcic and the αiτ αi for the breaking of the Thirty-year Peace must be among the most discussed by modern scholars. My excuse for adding to an already formidable tally is twofold: first, it seems appropriate to offer this new attempt at exposition to one of the foremost expositors of Thucydides, and moreover one who has given perhaps the clearest account of this particular passage currently available; and second, some of the ideas which originally led to this attempt were first formulated some sixteen years ago for a lecture given jointly by Kenneth Dover and myself.