In Thucydides and the Pursuit of Freedom, Mary P. Nichols argues for the centrality of the idea of freedom in Thucydides' thought. Through her close reading of his History of the Peloponnesian War, she explores the manifestations of this theme. Cities and individuals in Thucydides' history take freedom as their goal, whether they claim to possess it and want to maintain it or whether they desire to attain it for themselves or others. Freedom is the goal of both antagonists in the Peloponnesian War, Sparta and Athens, although in different ways. One of the fullest expressions of freedom can be seen in the rhetoric of Thucydides' Pericles, especially in his famous funeral oration.

More than simply documenting the struggle for freedom, however, Thucydides himself is taking freedom as his cause. On the one hand, he demonstrates that freedom makes possible human excellence, including courage, self-restraint, deliberation, and judgment, which support freedom in turn. On the other hand, the pursuit of freedom, in one's own regime and in the world at large, clashes with interests and material necessity, and indeed the very passions required for its support. Thucydides' work, which he himself considered a possession for all time, therefore speaks very much to our time, encouraging the defense of freedom while warning of the limits and dangers in doing so. The powerful must defend freedom, Thucydides teaches, but beware that the cost not become freedom itself.

About the Author

Mary P. Nichols is Professor of Political Science at Baylor University. She is the author of Socrates on Friendship and Community: Reflections on Plato's Symposium, Phaedrus and Lysis; and Citizens and Statesmen: A Study of Aristotle's Politics and cotranslator of Plato's Euthydemus.

Reviews

Mary Nichols has reinvigorated the Straussian tradition of Thucydidean exegesis and the detailed exploration of the relationship between the city and man, mapping contemporary concerns about the freedom of individuals to a narrative about two cities, their conflict and conflicting values.

-- Carol Atack * POLIS, The Journal for Ancient Greek Political Thought *

Alternately beautiful and enigmatic, Nichols' Thucydides and the Pursuit of Freedom explores the themes of freedom and statesmanship in Thucydides' History.... her explorations of this topic have paved the way for future work on it. For this reason among others, the book merits a wide readership among classicists and political theorists.

* JOURNAL OF HELLENIC STUDIES *

The obvious audience for this book is for those who read Tyucydides in the tradition so dependent on Strauss, who can see how the current discussion of Thucydides sees limits to the depiction of Thucydides as an ideologically pure realist. However, it is also important for other students of Thucydides to be aware of the concepts and values that the political science community applies in their reading of this endlessly challenging author.

-- Michael Shaw * Classical Journal *

[Readers] will not be disappointed if they are looking for a fresh, if selective, exegesis of Thucydides' History.... Nichols' intense scrutiny of particular forms of diction, literary parallels and contrasts, and characterization often leads to provocative and novel ideas.... Even experienced readers will be provoked and enlightened by Nichols' erudite study.

-- Ryan Balot, University of Toronto * The Philosophical Quarterly *



Book Information
ISBN 9780801453168
Author Mary P. Nichols
Format Hardback
Page Count 208
Imprint Cornell University Press
Publisher Cornell University Press
Weight(grams) 454g