The Peloponnesian War Summary and Reviews

The Peloponnesian War
by Thucydides

The Peloponnesian War
List Price: $25.00
Our Price: $10.74
You Save: $14.26 (57%)
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Buy Used: from $0.14 (click here)
Category: Book
See more book details and other editions


or

Book Summary Information

Author: Thucydides
Translator: Thomas Hobbes
Commentary: David Grene
Edition: Paperback
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 1989-10-15
ISBN: 0226801063
Number of pages: 668
Publisher: University Of Chicago Press

Book Reviews of The Peloponnesian War

Book Review: A Greek World War
Summary: 5 Stars

Homer filled his pages mostly with myth, with some general facts which remotely relate to history. Herodotus wrote mostly history, with a few myths and prophecies interspersed here & there.

With Thucydides, we get the first book in western culture that is 100% purely devoted to history. The historian expresses his disinterest in speculation about the will of the gods while turning his attention solely to factual accounts of the Peloponnesian War.

The present text discloses T's history, all dressed up in the eloquent, occasionally verbose prose of the 17th century philosopher, John Hobbes. David Grene of the university of Chicago does a credible job of auditing Hobbes' translation, pointing out errors, mis-interpretations & omissions in the text.

This work contains all of the most salient episodes of the war, from the funeral oration of Pericles (Book II), the unsteady truce between Athens & Sparta (Book V) and the disastrous Sicilian expedition (VI & VII). The latter proved to be the crippling blow which sealed the defeat of Athens. Less known, but equally poignant, is what Princeton's Michael Sugrue would call the "Big Fish Eat Little Fish" oration which the Athenians deliver to the Melians (Book V) before wiping them out.

Hobbes metes out ample attention to each major event, carefully crafting his diction with the efficacy of delivering the desired effect. However, there are times when his sentences get a bit syrupy & are a bit long. It does not help matters that Thucydides constantly skips around to diverse engagements, both major & minor, not always making it clear whom or what he is referring to. While it is fairly simple to keep track of the major players in the war (i.e.: Athens, Sparta, Argos, Syracuse, Corinth, Thebes, etc) it becomes increasingly difficult to follow all of the minor provinces involved as the war goes on. Of course, the people in T's day were already familiar with whom was aligned with whom, so detailed explanations of Greek alliances are omitted. This can be a obstacle for the modern reader.

All in all, tho, this is a credible translation to one of the most monumental works of history ever composed. Within these pages we discover the nobility and wisdom of Pericles, the treachery of Alcibiades, the violence and short-sightedness of Cleon and the effective generalship of Nicias. The most poignant aspects of the period all surface without any ambiguity; the arrogant hubris of the Athenians, the resilience of the Lacedaemonians and the determination of the Syracusians. Hobbes should be applauded for pulling off one of the best English translations of Greek history ever recorded.

Greece Books

Book Subjects
Most talked about in Greece Books
The Oxford Illustrated History of Greece and the Hellenistic World (Oxford Illustrated Histories) ImageThe Oxford Illustrated History of Greece and the Hellenistic World (Oxford Illustrated Histories)
Oxford University Press, USA; Published: 2001-05-24; Paperback; Book
Best price: $16.00
Price in other shops: $29.95
Gorgias (The World's Classics) ImageGorgias (The World's Classics)
by Plato
Oxford University Press, USA; Published: 1994-12-22; Paperback; Book
Best price: $141.34
Roman Lives: A Selection of Eight Lives (Oxford World's Classics) ImageRoman Lives: A Selection of Eight Lives (Oxford World's Classics)
by Plutarch
Oxford University Press, USA; Published: 2000-01-13; Paperback; Book
Best price: $11.99
Price in other shops: $14.95
Xerxes Invades Greece (Penguin Epics) ImageXerxes Invades Greece (Penguin Epics)
by Herodotus
Penguin (Non-Classics); Published: 2006-12-26; Mass Market Paperback; Book
Best price: $0.01
Price in other shops: $8.95
Guide to Greece, Vol. 1: Central Greece ImageGuide to Greece, Vol. 1: Central Greece
by Pausanias
Penguin Classics; Published: 1984-08-07; Paperback; Book
Best price: $10.22
Price in other shops: $20.00
A History of My Times (Penguin Classics) ImageA History of My Times (Penguin Classics)
by Xenophon
Penguin Group USA; Penguin Classics; Published: 1979-05-31; Paperback; Book
Best price: $7.91
Price in other shops: $15.00
Lost and Found: Heinrich Schliemann and the Gold That Got Away ImageLost and Found: Heinrich Schliemann and the Gold That Got Away
by Caroline Moorehead
Penguin (Non-Classics); Published: 1997-07-01; Mass Market Paperback; Book
Best price: $9.99
Price in other shops: $13.95
The Portable Plato (Portable Library) ImageThe Portable Plato (Portable Library)
by Plato
Penguin (Non-Classics); Published: 1977-03-01; Paperback; Book
Best price: $1.00
Price in other shops: $20.00
The Twelve Caesars (Penguin Classics) ImageThe Twelve Caesars (Penguin Classics)
by Suetonius
Penguin Classics; Published: 2003-05-06; Mass Market Paperback; Book
Best price: $6.34
Price in other shops: $15.00
Wars of the Ancient Greeks (Smithsonian History of Warfare) ImageWars of the Ancient Greeks (Smithsonian History of Warfare)
by Victor Davis Hanson
Harper Perennial; Published: 2006-12-12; Paperback; Book
Best price: $6.97
Price in other shops: $17.99
Similar books summaries and other product reviews
The Persian Expedition (Penguin Classics) ImageThe Persian Expedition (Penguin Classics)
by Xenophon
Penguin Group USA; Penguin Classics; Published: 1950-06-30; Paperback; Book
Best price: $9.48
Price in other shops: $17.00
The Campaigns of Alexander (Penguin Classics) ImageThe Campaigns of Alexander (Penguin Classics)
by Arrian
Penguin Classics; Published: 1976-10-28; Paperback; Book
Best price: $5.88
Price in other shops: $17.00
A Historical Commentary on Thucydides: A Companion to Rex Warner's Penguin Translation ImageA Historical Commentary on Thucydides: A Companion to Rex Warner's Penguin Translation
by David Cartwright
University of Michigan Press; Published: 1997-08-15; Paperback; Book
Best price: $28.58
Price in other shops: $32.50
The Politics ImageThe Politics
by Aristotle
University Of Chicago Press; Published: 1985-10-15; Paperback; Book
Best price: $12.00
Price in other shops: $17.00
The Republic Of Plato: Second Edition ImageThe Republic Of Plato: Second Edition
by Plato
Basic Books; Published: 1991-10-03; Paperback; Book
Best price: $13.02
Price in other shops: $22.95
The Peloponnesian War ImageThe Peloponnesian War
by Thucydides, Steven Lattimore
Hackett Pub Co Inc; Published: 1998-06; Paperback; Book
Best price: $12.00
Price in other shops: $16.95
Herodotus: The History ImageHerodotus: The History
by Herodotus
University Of Chicago Press; Published: 1988-01-15; Paperback; Book
Best price: $5.00
Price in other shops: $16.00
The Histories, Revised (Penguin Classics) ImageThe Histories, Revised (Penguin Classics)
by Herodotus
Penguin Group USA; Penguin Classics; Published: 2003-04-29; Paperback; Book
Best price: $4.00
Price in other shops: $11.00
The History of the Peloponnesian War ImageThe History of the Peloponnesian War
by Thucydides
Penguin Group USA; Penguin Classics; Published: 1972; Paperback; Book
Best price: $7.79
Price in other shops: $17.00
The Landmark Thucydides: A Comprehensive Guide to the Peloponnesian War ImageThe Landmark Thucydides: A Comprehensive Guide to the Peloponnesian War
by Thucydides
Free Press; Published: 1998-09-10; Paperback; Book
Best price: $10.98
Price in other shops: $25.95