Synopses & Reviews
This book analyzes the narrative technique of Thucydides, relating his shifting uses of various techniques to his explanatory aims, and showing how he narrates the progression of one war and at the same time exposes various truths about the human condition.
Review
"Stimulating and important.... Rood has much to say that is new and exciting. He has brought to the task wide reading and a great sensitivity to his author, and he has applied the techniques of narratology to Thucydides' text (dare I say, to any ancient historical text) more expertly than anyone before.... A rich and sensitive reading of Thucydides.... The fundamental starting point for future analyses."--Bryn Mawr Classical Review
"A careful and subtle book, and a very important one for historians as well as literary students of Thucydides.... A really accomplished work of scholarship."--Classical Philology
"A fascinating and important work."--Classical Review
"Rood succeeds admirably and convincingly in showing how internal disunity led to Athens' defeat in war.... The real merit of Rood's study consists in the detail with which he supports his contentions."--Classical World
"All students of Thucydides will benefit from this book, and undergraduates will be particularly well served by the introduction, which offers an unbeatable summary of the Peloponnesian War and overview of Thucydides' oeuvre."--The Classical Outlook
"Rood makes the case for a fresh reading of the great Greek historian, literary stylist, and student of human nature using the tools of modern narratology....Upper-division undergraduates and above."--Choice
About the Author
Tim Rood is Lecturer in Classical Languages and Literature at the University of Oxford.