Will, W. Herodot und Thukydides

The Birth of History. The 5th century BC in Greece was marked by two massive wars - the war of the Hellenes against the Persians and the Peloponnesian War, in which the alliance systems of the Athenians and the Spartans confronted each other. The dramatic events that shook the Mediterranean region at that time found their chroniclers in Herodotus and Thucydides. Their works are still part of world literature today. On the occasion of the 2500th birthday of the father of historiography, Herodotus of Halicarnassus, this book pays tribute to these two great historians.

Wolfgang Will is a master at bringing the times of Herodotus and Thucydides back to life. He sketches the world views, historical images and images of man that underlie their works and makes the Greeks' awareness of their own identity and their demarcation from the foreign understandable. Not least, he succeeds in explaining the art of the great battle depictions, the sophisticated narrative techniques, the description of the gods, the organisation of the state, the economic, but also the social conditions. He places special emphasis on the importance of the historian's humanity. Finally, he takes a look at the afterlife of Herodotus and Thucydides in the Middle Ages and modern times and elaborates on their unbroken significance for the present.

Table of contents:
Foreword The Double Herm of Naples
1. Introduction Herodotus and the Persian Wars Thucydides and the Peloponnesian War The works: genesis and content The biographies The prefaces: rationale and objective
2. Method Eyewitnesses and earwitnesses Chronologies
3. Language Style, language, composition Gnomes and aphorisms
4. Means of representation Dreams Oracles The warner The speeches Laughter and comedy
5. Society Athens and Sparta The constitutions The power of money Barbarians The image of women
6. The war Battle reports Calamity and suffering Heroes
7. Man Gods and sophists Biographical approaches Herodotus' image of man: Kroisos Human nature: the pathology of Thucydides
8. Highlights: Two Conversations on War and Power The Crown Council Scene The Melier Dialogue
9. Conclusion and Conclusion Thucydides: An Inner Biography Herodotus: The Final Chapters
10. Reception from Antiquity to Modern Times Epilogue: What Remains Appendix Notes Glossary A Selection from Thucydides Bibliography Acknowledgements Index of Proper Names Subject Index.