Thucydides and the Ancient Simplicity: The Limits of Political Realism - Couverture rigide

Crane, Gregory

 
9780520207899: Thucydides and the Ancient Simplicity: The Limits of Political Realism
Couverture rigide
ISBN 10 : 0520207890 ISBN 13 : 9780520207899
Editeur : University of California Press, 1998

Synopsis

Thucydides' History of the Peloponnesian War is the earliest surviving realist text in the European tradition. As an account of the Peloponnesian War, it is famous both as an analysis of power politics and as a classic of political realism. From the opening speeches, Thucydides' Athenians emerge as a new and frightening source of power, motivated by self-interest and oblivious to the rules and shared values under which the Greeks had operated for centuries. Gregory Crane demonstrates how Thucydides' history brilliantly analyzes both the power and the dramatic weaknesses of realist thought.

The tragedy of Thucydides' history emerges from the ultimate failure of the Athenian project. The new morality of the imperialists proved as conflicted as the old; history shows that their values were unstable and self-destructive. Thucydides' history ends with the recounting of an intellectual stalemate that, a century later, motivated Plato's greatest work.

Thucydides and the Ancient Simplicity includes a thought-provoking discussion questioning currently held ideas of political realism and its limits. Crane's sophisticated claim for the continuing usefulness of the political examples of the classical past will appeal to anyone interested in the conflict between the exercise of political power and the preservation of human freedom and dignity.

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À propos de l'auteur

Gregory Crane is Associate Professor of Classics at Tufts University and author of The Blinded Eye: Thucydides and the New Written Word (1995) among other publications.

Les informations fournies dans la section « A propos du livre » peuvent faire référence à une autre édition de ce titre.

Éditeur
University of California Press
Date d'édition
1998
Langue
anglais
ISBN 10 
0520207890
ISBN 13 
9780520207899
Reliure
Relié
Nombre de pages
330
Coordonnées du fabricant
non disponible
Personne responsable
non disponible