Contract and Design: Thucydides’ Writing

Abstract

This chapter explores way in which Thucydides presents his The War of Peloponnesians and Athenians in relation to writing. It examines verb's syntax, semantics, and pragmatics in search of an understanding of Thucydides' writing. The chapter explores Loraux's idea of author's self-inscription and subsequent self-effacement by bringing in writing of self-commemorative inscriptions. It addresses question of reader who is confronted with a war that is turned into a written monument: did Thucydides really want to present to his temporally distant readers the war itself ? Finally, chapter returns to central notion of writing: understanding of Thucydidean writing that suggests itself in course of preceding argument appears to be supported by a body of evidence that so far has not been taken into consideration. Keywords: Thucydides' writing; War of Peloponnesians and Athenians

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