Thucydides, History of the Peloponnesian War, BOOK I, chapter 22

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22. As to the speeches which were made either before or during the war, it was hard for me, and¹ for others who reported them to me, to recollect the exact words. I have therefore put into the mouth of each speaker the sentiments proper to the occasion, expressed as I thought he would be likely to express them, while at the same time I endeavoured, as nearly as I could, to give the general purport of what was actually said. [2] Of the events of the war I have not ventured to speak from any chance information, nor according to any notion of my own; I have described nothing but what I either saw myself, or learned from others of whom I made the most careful and particular enquiry. [3] The task was a laborious one, because eye-witnesses of the same occurrences gave different accounts of them, as they remembered or were interested in the actions of one side or the other. [4] And very likely the strictly historical character of my narrative may be disappointing to the ear. But if he who desires to have before his eyes a true picture of the events which have happened, and of the like events which may be expected to happen hereafter in the order of human things, shall pronounce what I have written to be useful, then I shall be satisfied. My history is an everlasting possession, not a prize composition which is heard and forgotten.

1 The speeches could not be exactly reported. Great pains taken to ascertain the truth about events.

Thucydides translated into English; with introduction, marginal analysis, notes, and indices. Volume 1. Thucydides. Benjamin Jowett. translator. Oxford. Clarendon Press. 1881.

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Commentary references to this page (21):
- Sir Richard C. Jebb, Commentary on Sophocles: Oedipus Tyrannus, 216-462
- E.C. Marchant, Commentary on Thucydides: Book 2, 2.8
- E.C. Marchant, Commentary on Thucydides: Book 6, 6.80
- E.C. Marchant, Commentary on Thucydides: Book 7, 7.48
- C.E. Graves, Commentary on Thucydides: Book 4, CHAPTER CXXVI
- C.E. Graves, Commentary on Thucydides: Book 4, CHAPTER XXIII
- C.E. Graves, Commentary on Thucydides: Book 4, CHAPTER LXIII
- C.E. Graves, Commentary on Thucydides: Book 5, 5.26
- C.E. Graves, Commentary on Thucydides: Book 5, 5.74
- E.C. Marchant, Commentary on Thucydides Book 1, 1.22
- E.C. Marchant, Commentary on Thucydides Book 1, 1.36
- Harold North Fowler, Commentary on Thucydides Book 5, 5.74
- Charles D. Morris, Commentary on Thucydides Book 1, 1.33
- Charles D. Morris, Commentary on Thucydides Book 1, Introduction
- Charles F. Smith, Commentary on Thucydides Book 7, 7.15
- Charles F. Smith, Commentary on Thucydides Book 7, 7.19
- Charles F. Smith, Commentary on Thucydides Book 7, 7.2
- Charles F. Smith, Commentary on Thucydides Book 7, 7.42
- Charles F. Smith, Commentary on Thucydides Book 7, 7.57
- Sir Richard C. Jebb, Selections from the Attic Orators, 1
- Sir Richard C. Jebb, Selections from the Attic Orators, 2.1
Cross-references to this page (9):
- Herbert Weir Smyth, A Greek Grammar for Colleges, ADJECTIVE CLAUSES (RELATIVE CLAUSES: 2488-2573）
- Raphael Kühner, Bernhard Gerth, Ausführliche Grammatik der griechischen Sprache, KG 1.3.1
- Raphael Kühner, Bernhard Gerth, Ausführliche Grammatik der griechischen Sprache, KG 3.2.4
- Raphael Kühner, Bernhard Gerth, Ausführliche Grammatik der griechischen Sprache, KG 3.6.1
- Raphael Kühner, Bernhard Gerth, Ausführliche Grammatik der griechischen Sprache, KG 3.pos=7.2
- William Watson Goodwin, Syntax of the Moods and Tenses of the Greek Verb, Chapter IV
- Basil L. Gildersleeve, Syntax of Classical Greek, Tenses
- Basil L. Gildersleeve, Syntax of Classical Greek, Tenses of the Moods
- Basil L. Gildersleeve, Syntax of Classical Greek, The Article
Cross-references in notes to this page (2):
- Thomas R. Martin, An Overview of Classical Greek History from Mycenae to Alexander, The Peloponnesian War and Athenian Life
- Charles D. Morris, Commentary on Thucydides Book 1, Introduction
Cross-references in general dictionaries to this page (25):
- LSJ, ἀγών-ισμα
- LSJ, ἀκρι?β-εια
- LSJ, ἀληθ-ής
- LSJ, ἀνθρώπ-ειος
- LSJ, ἀνθρώπ-ινος
- LSJ, ἀρκεόντως
- LSJ, ἀτερπ-ής
- LSJ, δέον
- LSJ, διαμνημον-εύω
- LSJ, ἔχω
- LSJ, ἐπεξ-έρχομαι
- LSJ, ἐπίπον-ος
- LSJ, εὔνοια^
- LSJ, γνώμ-η
- LSJ, κτῆμα
- LSJ, λόγος
- LSJ, παραπλήσιος
- LSJ, παρατυγχάνω
- LSJ, παραχρῆμα
- LSJ, πράσσω
- LSJ, πυνθάνομαι
- LSJ, σα^φής
- LSJ, σύγκειμαι
- LSJ, σύμπα_ς
- LSJ, ὠφέλ-ι^μος

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Thucydides, History of the Peloponnesian War
Benjamin Jowett, Ed.

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Thucydides, History of the Peloponnesian War Benjamin Jowett, Ed.

This text is part of:

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Table of Contents:

Thucydides, History of the Peloponnesian War
Benjamin Jowett, Ed.