A New History of the Peloponnesian War
1. Auflage November 2009
314 Seiten, Softcover
Wiley & Sons Ltd
This stimulating new study provides a narrative of the monumental conflict of the Peloponnesian War between Athens and Sparta, and examines the realities of the war and its effects on the average Athenian.
* A penetrating new study of the Peloponnesian War between Athens and Sparta by an established scholar
* Offers an original interpretation of how and why the war began
* Weaves in the contemporary evidence of Aristophanes in order to give readers a new sense of how the war affected the individual
* Discusses the practicalities and realities of the war
* Examines the blossoming of culture and intellectual achievement in Athens despite the war
* Challenges the approach of Thucydides in his account of the war
List of maps x
List of abbreviations xi
Chronology xiii
Acknowledgments xix
Preface xxi
Prelude - a band of brothers 1
1 'From this the Corinthians developed their bitter hatred for the Athenians' 4
2 'Give the Greeks their freedom' 25
3 'Our city is an education to Greece' 44
4 'War is a violent teacher' 67
5 'Spindles would be worth a lot' 85
6 'Weeping for joy' 111
7 'The strong do what they have the power to do' 132
8 'What of us then who for our children must weep?' 144
9 'The whole of Greece against Athens' 165
10 'Ships gone . . . don't know what to do' 186
11 'Athens is taken' 205
12 'Here's to the noble Critias!' 223
Epilogue 241
Appendix A: A note on sources 243
Appendix B: Who's who in the Peloponnesian War 248
Appendix C: A Peloponnesian War glossary 258
Bibliography 263
Index 275
Peloponnesian War more accessible to those unfamiliar with
classics, and on the whole I believe he succeeds. His tone
throughout is quite relaxed...but for those unfamiliar with
classical Greek history and/or the Peloponnesian war Tritle's book
is a good starting place." (Bryn Mawr Classical Review,
December 2010)
"Recommended. Undergraduate libraries and above". (Choice, 1
November 2010)
"An insightful, highly readable history of the first all-out
war in western history. Tritle knows Greek history and he knows
what war does to soldiers and civilians alike."
Tom Palaima, University of Texas at Austin
"Not another paraphrase of Thucydides, Tritle's sensitive
new history of the great war between Athens and Sparta marshals the
literary and material evidence to explore the human and societal
experience, showing once again that military history extends far
beyond the battlefield."
Waldemar Heckel, University of Calgary
"Swift narrative, mastery of modern scholarship, and
unusual integration of classical literature. Like his great source
Thucydides, the author was a soldier, and the terrible brutality of
war is immanent."
Mortimer Chambers, UCLA
"By helping us understand broadly and deeply the human and
social dimension of this war, Tritle's book brilliantly
justifies its ambitious title of a 'new history' of an
often-treated old war."
Kurt A. Raaflaub, Brown University