Thucydides' War Narrative

by Dewald, Carolyn J.

• ISBN13: 9780520241275
• ISBN10: 0520241274
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2006-01-30
• Publisher: Univ of California Pr

Summary

As a sustained analysis of the connections between narrative structure and meaning in the History of the Peloponnesian War, Carolyn Dewald's study revolves around a curious aspect of Thucydides' work: the first ten years of the war's history are formed on principles quite different from those shaping the years that follow. Although aspects of this change in style have been recognized in previous scholarship, Dewald has rigorously analyzed how its various elements are structured, used, and related to each other. Her study argues that these changes in style and organization reflect how Thucydides' own understanding of the war changed over time. Throughout, however, the History's narrative structure bears witness to Thucydides' dialogic efforts to depict the complexities of rational choice and behavior on the part of the war's combatants, as well as his own authorial interest in accuracy of representation. In her introduction and conclusion, Dewald explores some ways in which details of style and narrative structure are central to the larger theoretical issue of history's ability to meaningfully represent the past. She also surveys changes in historiography in the past quarter-century and considers how Thucydidean scholarship has reflected and responded to larger cultural trends.

Table of Contents

List of Tables	ix
Preface	xi
Introduction	1	(24)
PART ONE
1. An Overview of the Archidamian Narrative Structure (ii.I—v.24)	25	(10)
2. Introductory Sentences (ii.I—v.24)	35	(13)
2.1 Subjects in Introductory Sentences	37	(2)
2.2 Verbs in Introductory Sentences	39	(2)
2.3 Settings in Introductory Sentences	41	(2)
2.4 Time in Introductory Sentences	43	(5)
3. Internal Structure of the Unit of Action (ii.I—v.24)	48	(38)
3.1 Simple Picture Units 5o
3.2 Developed Picture Units	53	(12)
3.3 List Units	65	(4)
3.4 Extended Narrative Units	69	(8)
3.5 Complex Units	77	(9)
4. Patterns Formed by Units of Action in the Archidamian Narrative (ii.I—v.24)	86	(29)
4.1 Significant Juxtaposition	87	(14)
4.2 Larger Connections	101	(14)
PART TWO
5. The Years of the Peace (v.25—vi.7): The Unit of Action Changing us	115	(29)
5.1 Introductory Sentences of Units of Action (v.25—vi.7)	116	(4)
5.2 Unit Arrangement (v.25—vi.7)	120	(17)
5.3 Connections among Units (v.25—vi.7)	137	(2)
5.4 The Narrative of the Years of the Peace (v.25—vi.7)	139	(5)
6. Years Seventeen through Twenty-one (v.8—viii.109): The Unit of Action Transformed	144	(11)
7. Some Conclusions: Thucydides' Narrative Structures (ii.I—viii.109)	155	(10)
Appendix A. Narrative Units and Narrative Scenes (ii.I—viii.109)	165	(14)
Appendix B. Introductory Sentences of Units of Action (ii.I—v.24)	179	(12)
Appendix C. Time Formulae in Introductory Sentences (ii.I—viii.109)	191	(2)
Notes	193	(36)
Bibliography	229	(12)
General Index	241	(8)
Index Locorum	249