[eBook] [PDF] For Style and Necessity in Thucydides 1st Edition By Tobias Joho

[eBook] [PDF] For Style and Necessity in Thucydides 1st Edition By Tobias Joho

Ancient critics of literature noticed that Thucydides had a special way of writing, which they called his “nominal style.” This means he liked to use phrases made up mostly of nouns instead of verbs. In his writing, people often seem less active. Instead of making things happen, they seem to just experience events happening to them. This style makes us think about whether the events in his stories were necessary or if people could have made different choices.

Thucydides sometimes uses language that shows how people are controlled by larger forces, like group emotions or the way events naturally unfold. These forces shape the lives of people and take the place of the idea that the gods control everything, which was common in earlier Greek stories. But Thucydides doesn’t believe everything is fixed. His ideas are similar to those of Homer and Herodotus, who said that while fate or the gods can decide the biggest events, there is still room for people to make choices about how things happen. The Greeks believed that fate set the main events, but people still had some control over what happened within that framework.

Pericles, an important leader in Thucydides’ story, is a good example of someone who used the choices left by fate to make smart decisions and guide events in a positive way.