Classics Revisited Webinar Series: History of the Peloponnesian War by Thucydides

Thucydides’ History of the Peloponnesian War recounts the War between Sparta and Athens 431-404 BC from the perspective of an Athenian general. It is the first work of political science in the Western tradition. It is the great statement of Realpolitik in the ancient world. Students beginning graduate studies in International Relations usually begin their reading with Thucydides, who offers tough minded observations on political order and change which he thought permanent truths because human nature was fixed. His History treats the history of Athens as a giant collective tragedy. He created speeches for the addresses of which he only knew the outcome and the foibles of the speaker. This borrowing from Greek drama makes his History as much art as science and his work is fatalistic about politics and ethics. “The strong do what they can, the weak do what they must.”