The historians Herodotus and Thucydides, in their lives and works, both exemplify and challenge certain ideals of fifth century Athenian/Greek culture and thought. While it is dangerous to try to claim that either is a perfect symbol – or a complete antithesis – of the spirit of Greece, it is through this balance of exemplifying and challenging ideals that they can both be said to symbolize this Greek spirit more than not.
Herodotus both exemplifies certain aspects of fifth century Greece but also represents a marked departure from other aspects; like so much else in the study of a culture as dynamic as this, there is little room for either-or absolutes. On the one hand, through his writings Herodotus demonstrates that he “was” in many ways …show more content…
Thucydides, while maybe not an atheist per se, considers the gods to be uninvolved in the narrative of history; historical “responsib[ility]” belongs to humans and their “actions” (textbook 199). Such a view – like Herodotus’ view on other cultures and women – would undoubtedly incur displeasure among the majority of Thucydides’ contemporaries. However, this view is not unprecedented. For example, adherents to Leucippus’ remarkably enlightened theory of atomic matter posit that “whatever was active in shaping the form of matter was a natural force and not a divine being” (textbook 195). Anaxagoras, moreover, believes “the sun…was not a deity but rather a white-hot stone” (textbook 194). Such views on the non-divine origin of physical phenomena have clear parallels with Thucydides’ views on the non-divine origin of historical phenomena. As such, while Thucydides and his ideas may not have been accepted by common Greek thought, because his ideas are not singular by nature, they must represent a sector – albeit a small one – of Greek …show more content…
A balance of opposites forms the core of Greek spirit, the core of what makes a Greek a Greek: there is a balance of individualism and community, a balance of rashness and reflection (e.g. Athens in the Mytilene debate (textbook 224)). Herodotus and Thucydides represent just such a balance – between consistency and inconsistency with respect to Greek ideals – in their lives, and as such they can be considered adequate symbols of the spirit of Greece. They deviate from and subscribe to Greek thought and habits in so many ways, and this contradiction ironically suggests they are apt symbols of Greek
Herodotus both exemplifies certain aspects of fifth century Greece but also represents a marked departure from other aspects; like so much else in the study of a culture as dynamic as this, there is little room for either-or absolutes. On the one hand, through his writings Herodotus demonstrates that he “was” in many ways …show more content…
Thucydides, while maybe not an atheist per se, considers the gods to be uninvolved in the narrative of history; historical “responsib[ility]” belongs to humans and their “actions” (textbook 199). Such a view – like Herodotus’ view on other cultures and women – would undoubtedly incur displeasure among the majority of Thucydides’ contemporaries. However, this view is not unprecedented. For example, adherents to Leucippus’ remarkably enlightened theory of atomic matter posit that “whatever was active in shaping the form of matter was a natural force and not a divine being” (textbook 195). Anaxagoras, moreover, believes “the sun…was not a deity but rather a white-hot stone” (textbook 194). Such views on the non-divine origin of physical phenomena have clear parallels with Thucydides’ views on the non-divine origin of historical phenomena. As such, while Thucydides and his ideas may not have been accepted by common Greek thought, because his ideas are not singular by nature, they must represent a sector – albeit a small one – of Greek …show more content…
A balance of opposites forms the core of Greek spirit, the core of what makes a Greek a Greek: there is a balance of individualism and community, a balance of rashness and reflection (e.g. Athens in the Mytilene debate (textbook 224)). Herodotus and Thucydides represent just such a balance – between consistency and inconsistency with respect to Greek ideals – in their lives, and as such they can be considered adequate symbols of the spirit of Greece. They deviate from and subscribe to Greek thought and habits in so many ways, and this contradiction ironically suggests they are apt symbols of Greek