The Political Tragedy of Aeschylus and Thucydides

For a long time now, readers of Thucydides have noticed the "poetic" aspects of his work. Those expecting to find a dry account of the past within the pages of his Peloponnesian War are startled when his representation of... [ view full abstract ]

For a long time now, readers of Thucydides have noticed the "poetic" aspects of his work. Those expecting to find a dry account of the past within the pages of his Peloponnesian War are startled when his representation of speeches and deeds moves them close to tears. Despite the great distance of space and time which separates us from the defeated Athenians in Sicily, we pity their suffering. In his Poetics, Aristotle argues that the poet deals in universals by means of a particular subject. Perhaps, then, Thucydides touches upon something which transcends the bounds of his time by displaying Athens' trajectory in the Peloponnesian War. Indeed, Thucydides calls his work a "possession for all time." 

If one admits that Thucydides utilizes poetic art in the composition of his work, it becomes necessary to investigate his poetic models. The most immediate is Aeschylus, to whom Thucydides alludes at critical points in his work and whose tragic narrative techniques, scholars have argued, have influenced Thucydides. Although numerous scholars have recognized Thucydidean allusions to Aeschylus, they have all to my knowledge either explained them as unconscious or relegated them to footnotes. None have examined the consequences for our understanding of Thucydides if he includes them for a specific purpose. Thus, in my research, I have endeavored to explore the importance of conceptual and textual allusions to Aeschylus in Thucydides. This, I believe, will aid us in understanding Thucydides not despite but in light of his poetic art.