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Herodotus Compared With Thucydides

Continued from: Comparison of Herodotus & Thucydides: Part 1

Both the historians give us some background to the period they write about, however, Thucydides tries not to give us any information he is not sure about. As a result, he covers the period of Pentacontaetia rather briefly. His possible reasoning: he did not live during this period, his knowledge about it was not first hand - he decided not to give us the information that he was not completely sure about.

Now we wish that Thucydides had given us a more complete account of the period. For any account from him would have been better than the limited information he have. For us a more extensive account would have been very valuable, for the information from Thucydides, as a person living only a short time later, would be better than nothing. It seems that for Thucydides, however, the information about a period of time that started out fifty years before the he became an adult man would not be reliable enough. As a result, we are missing the account by Thucydides we would really like to have. The historian himself explains not going into too much detail on Pentacontaetia so:

"For though the events of remote antiquity, and even those that more immediately precede the war, could not from lapse of time be clearly ascertained, yet the evidences which an inquiry carried as far back as was practicable lead me to trust, all point to the conclusion that there was nothing on a greater scale, either in war or in other matters." ¹¹

Herodotus was writing for his contemporaries, while Thucydides - for the future generations. For Herodotus his work is clearly a literary work rather than just a list of events. He makes a significant effort to make it sound engaging and exercises his literary talent on it. His naming the nine books of his work by the names of the nine muses speaks exactly about it. The muses, in the first place, were supporters of art not the historical narration.

Herodotus' history also had to be entertaining, for he published his work¹². A work published orally had to be entertaining for it was to be listened to - the audience needed to feel engaged in the events. This is most likely one of the reasons why Herodotus included so many anecdotes into his Histories. Thucydides, on the contrary states that he had written his "work, not as an essay which is to win the applause of the moment, but as a possession for all time"¹³

The published work of Herodotus influenced the future opinion of Thucydides on what a history account should be like. Thucydides had consciously modeled his own writings on Herodotus /as an opposite to Herodotus' work. In The Peloponnesian War 1.22.2 Thucydides says that he did not let himself to accept any description of events from the first source that came to his attention, not trusting even his own impression, but tried "the accuracy of the report... by the most severe and detailed tests possible."

Even though Herodotus has been called the Father of History he has also been called the Father of Lies. Thucydides is considered to be the first critic on Herodotus because in his Peloponnesian War he commented on the style of Herodotus without actually, though not naming the first historian:

"The absence of romance in my history will, I fear, detract somewhat from its interest; but if it be judged useful by those inquirers who desire an exact knowledge of the past as an aid to the understanding of the future, which in the course of human things must resemble if it does not reflect it, I shall be content." ¹⁴

Thucydides is a disillusioned man. He does not believe that people's nature will ever permit them to solve their problems without waging a war. I remember that I started reading Chapter One of The Peloponnesian War in the beginning of September this year. Having realized his lack of belief in the humanity, I thought, "No, Thucydides, this is not possible. We are civilized people now. No major war will happen just because we do not agree with each other. Not anymore. Besides being a great historian, you are simply a depressed man because of all the war and pain you have seen in your life." However, almost the next day, the events of Tuesday, September the eleventh proved me wrong. Now I am guessing nervously, "Was Thucydides really right? Will we never learn to solve anything without war?"

As a writer, it is definitely easier to favour Herodotus, as he is easier to read and is more entertaining. Thucydides, on the other hand, makes us think about the nature of humanity - he is a more challenging writer.