History of the Peloponnesian War

Thucydides introduces himself as an Athenian, explains his method, and provides an overview of the Hellenic people and their history. He chose to write about the war, he says, because it is the most significant one that has yet occurred: It broke out when Sparta and Athens were at the height of their powers, and the entire “Hellenic world” was on “one side or the other” (36).

He contrasts his method with that of poets, who exaggerate and thus cannot be trusted: Their goal is to create a pleasing story for the moment, whereas Thucydides aims to create a document that will “last forever” (48). He asserts that his evidence is more credible than the verses of poets because he relies on eye-witness accounts that he cross-references. He also reproduces speeches he heard delivered before and during the war, though he admits he cannot remember their exact wording. With speeches he heard from informants, he attempts to keep “as closely as possible to the general sense of the words” actually used but “to make the speakers say what, in my opinion, was called for by each situation” (47). Though he acknowledges his factual account may be less enjoyable to read, he will be happy if his words prove useful to people who want to understand past events that will likely repeat, since human nature does not change.