Thucydides | Criticism

This literature criticism consists of approximately 27 pages of analysis & critique of Thucydides.

Thucydides | Criticism

This literature criticism consists of approximately 27 pages of analysis & critique of Thucydides.
This section contains 7,922 words
(approx. 27 pages at 300 words per page)
Buy the Critical Essay by David Grene

SOURCE: "Chance and Pity" and "Beyond Necessity," in Man in His Pride, University of Chicago Press, 1950, pp. 70-79, 80-92.

In the excerpt that follows, Grene endeavors to answer the question, "in the true domain of politics … where does Thucydides find his highest value?" In order to find an answer, he explores Thucydides 's notion of primary historical forces—particularly necessity and chance—and examines those instances where Thucydides deems it appropriate to insert moral commentary on individual behavior.

Chance and Pity

Everybody who reads Thucydides has been struck by the sparseness of any personal moral comment on the men and the happenings which he describes. But few seem to have noticed how curiously the moral comment, such as it is, has been directed. There are, in particular, three passages of this kind, each embodying some personal judgment of the historian and at first sight quite separated in the...

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This section contains 7,922 words
(approx. 27 pages at 300 words per page)
Buy the Critical Essay by David Grene
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Critical Essay by David Grene from Gale. ©2005-2006 Thomson Gale, a part of the Thomson Corporation. All rights reserved.