Thukydides war ein aus gut situierten Verhältnissen stammender Athener Stratege und herausragender antiker griechischer Historiker. Für Thukydides’ Auffassung der geschichtlichen Wirkkräfte bedeutsam sind insbesondere seine Annahmen über die Natur des Menschen und die Motive menschlichen Handelns, die auch die politischen Verhältnisse grundlegend beeinflussen.
Sein bis heute Maßstäbe setzendes Werk Der Peloponnesische Krieg hinterließ er zwar unvollendet, doch begründete er in methodischer Hinsicht erst damit eine dem Geist neutraler Wahrheitssuche durchgängig verpflichtete Geschichtsschreibung, die einem objektiv-wissenschaftlichen Anspruch genügen will. Uneins ist die heutige Thukydides-Forschung darüber, in welchem Umfang er diesem Anspruch bei der Abfassung seines Werkes gerecht geworden ist. Teilweise in Zweifel gezogen wird speziell seine Darstellung der Rolle des Perikles bei der Entstehung des Peloponnesischen Krieges.
Thukydides selbst sah den Sinn seiner Aufzeichnungen darin, der Nachwelt „ein Besitztum für immer“ zu hinterlassen. Als markantestes Beispiel für das Gelingen dieses Vorhabens erweist sich die Unterscheidung von diversen kurzfristigen Anlässen des Peloponnesischen Krieges und seinen in der damaligen griechischen Großmächte-Rivalität zwischen der Seemacht Athen und der Landmacht Sparta begründeten langfristigen Ursachen. Von eigener zeitloser Bedeutung ist auch der machtpolitisch exemplarische Melierdialog.
— Thúkýdidés, Gefallenenrede des Perikles
Peloponnesischer Krieg, 2, 43, 4 / Perikles
Original altgriech.: "τὸ εὔδαιμον τὸ ἐλεύθερον, τὸ δ' ἐλεύθερον τὸ εὔψυχον"
Peloponnesischer Krieg, Gefallenenrede des Perikles
— Thúkýdidés, Gefallenenrede des Perikles
Peloponnesischer Krieg, 2, 37,1 / Perikles
Original altgriech.: "χρώμεθα γὰρ πολιτείᾳ […] καὶ ὄνομα μὲν διὰ τὸ μὴ ἐς ὀλίγους ἀλλ' ἐς πλείονας οἰκεῖν δημοκρατία κέκληται·"
Peloponnesischer Krieg, Gefallenenrede des Perikles
— Thúkýdidés, Gefallenenrede des Perikles
Peloponnesischer Krieg, 2, 43,3 / Perikles
Original altgriech.: "ἀνδρῶν […] ἐπιφανῶν πᾶσα γῆ τάφος."
Peloponnesischer Krieg, Gefallenenrede des Perikles
— Thúkýdidés, Gefallenenrede des Perikles
Peloponnesischer Krieg, 2, 44,4 / Perikles
Original altgriech.: "τὸ γὰρ φιλότιμον ἀγήρων μόνον, καὶ οὐκ ἐν τῷ ἀχρείῳ τῆς ἡλικίας τὸ κερδαίνειν, ὥσπερ τινές φασι, μᾶλλον τέρπει, ἀλλὰ τὸ τιμᾶσθαι."
Peloponnesischer Krieg, Gefallenenrede des Perikles
— Thúkýdidés, Gefallenenrede des Perikles
Peloponnesischer Krieg, 2, 44,2 / Perikles
Original altgriech.: "καὶ λύπη οὐχ ὧν ἄν τις μὴ πειρασάμενος ἀγαθῶν στερίσκηται, ἀλλ' οὗ ἂν ἐθὰς γενόμενος ἀφαιρεθῇ."
Peloponnesischer Krieg, Gefallenenrede des Perikles
— Thucydides, History of the Peloponnesian War
Variant translations:<p>But the palm of courage will surely be adjudged most justly to those, who best know the difference between hardship and pleasure and yet are never tempted to shrink from danger. http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/cgi-bin/ptext?lookup=Thuc.+2.40.3<p>And they are most rightly reputed valiant, who though they perfectly apprehend both what is dangerous and what is easy, are never the more thereby diverted from adventuring. (translation by Thomas Hobbes http://oll.libertyfund.org/?option=com_staticxt&staticfile=show.php%3Ftitle=771&chapter=90127&layout=html&Itemid=27)<p>
Book II, 2.40-[3]
History of the Peloponnesian War, Book II
— Thucydides, History of the Peloponnesian War
Book II, 2.35-[1]-[3]
History of the Peloponnesian War, Book II
Kontext: I could have wished that the reputations of many brave men were not to be imperilled in the mouth of a single individual, to stand or fall according as he spoke well or ill. For it is hard to speak properly upon a subject where it is even difficult to convince your hearers that you are speaking the truth. On the one hand, the friend who is familiar with every fact of the story may think that some point has not been set forth with that fullness which he wishes and knows it to deserve; on the other, he who is a stranger to the matter may be led by envy to suspect exaggeration if he hears anything above his own nature. For men can endure to hear others praised only so long as they can severally persuade themselves of their own ability to equal the actions recounted: when this point is passed, envy comes in and with it incredulity.
— Thucydides, History of the Peloponnesian War
Book II, 2.40-[3]
History of the Peloponnesian War, Book II
Kontext: Again, in our enterprises we present the singular spectacle of daring and deliberation, each carried to its highest point, and both united in the same persons; although usually decision is the fruit of ignorance, hesitation of reflection. But the palm of courage will surely be adjudged most justly to those, who best know the difference between hardship and pleasure and yet are never tempted to shrink from danger. In generosity we are equally singular, acquiring our friends by conferring, not by receiving, favours.
— Thucydides, History of the Peloponnesian War
Book II, 2.40-[3]
History of the Peloponnesian War, Book II
Kontext: Again, in our enterprises we present the singular spectacle of daring and deliberation, each carried to its highest point, and both united in the same persons; although usually decision is the fruit of ignorance, hesitation of reflection. But the palm of courage will surely be adjudged most justly to those, who best know the difference between hardship and pleasure and yet are never tempted to shrink from danger. In generosity we are equally singular, acquiring our friends by conferring, not by receiving, favours.
— Thucydides, History of the Peloponnesian War
Book VII, 7.75-[3]
History of the Peloponnesian War, Book VII
— Thucydides, History of the Peloponnesian War
Book IV, 4.98-[7]
History of the Peloponnesian War, Book IV
— Thucydides, History of the Peloponnesian War
Book IV, 4.125-[1]
History of the Peloponnesian War, Book IV
— Thucydides, History of the Peloponnesian War
Book I, 1.34-[3]
History of the Peloponnesian War, Book I
— Thucydides, History of the Peloponnesian War
Book I, 1.22-[4]
History of the Peloponnesian War, Book I
— Thucydides, History of the Peloponnesian War
Book I, 1.84-[3]
History of the Peloponnesian War, Book I
— Thucydides, History of the Peloponnesian War
Book VII, 7.71-[3] (See also: Fog of war..).
History of the Peloponnesian War, Book VII
— Thucydides, History of the Peloponnesian War
Book III, 3.37-[1] (Speech of Cleon..).
History of the Peloponnesian War, Book III
— Thucydides, History of the Peloponnesian War
Book I, 1.23-[6].
History of the Peloponnesian War, Book I
— Thucydides, History of the Peloponnesian War
Variant translation: "Instead, we think the plans of our neighbors are as good as our own, and we can't work out whose chances at war are better in a speech. So we always make our preparations in action, on the assumption that our enemies know what they are doing. We should not build our hopes on the belief that they will make mistakes, but on our own careful foresight. And we should not think there is much difference between one man and another, except that the winner will be the one whose education was the most severe." Translation by Paul Woodruff.
Variant translation: "There is no need to suppose that human beings differ very much from one another: but it is true that the ones who come out on top are the ones who have been trained in the hardest school." Note: Some versions omit the "who have been".
Book I, 1.84-[4]
History of the Peloponnesian War, Book I
