I've never read Thucydides (not bragging--confessing), but I remember an allusion to him related to sports at the University of Chicago. The article was making the point that at U of C, athletes were still scholars first, athletes only afterwards. And it quoted the U of C football quarterback on the great value and interest of reading Thucydides on the Pelopponisian war. If i should live so long...
Thank you very much for your e-book, Massimo. After reading it I started reading The Peloponnesian War. As you mentioned, there are many references to nowadays in your text. I'm only at the beginning of the book. Still, my attention was drawn to the speech of the Corinthians (68-71) to the Lacedaemonians, where they contrasted the indecisive action of the Spartans with the decisive action of Athens. They spoke of the slowness in providing aid to the allies fighting against Athens.
It reminds me of the situation in Ukraine. While one might assume that democratic Athens is now the USA or Europe and oligarchic Sparta is now Russia, in this case, it is rather the opposite. History really likes to repeat itself.
Eliza, glad to have inspired you to read the original! And yes, that speech is one of many places where one can perceive echoes of currently relevant situations!
I've never read Thucydides (not bragging--confessing), but I remember an allusion to him related to sports at the University of Chicago. The article was making the point that at U of C, athletes were still scholars first, athletes only afterwards. And it quoted the U of C football quarterback on the great value and interest of reading Thucydides on the Pelopponisian war. If i should live so long...
Since U Chicago eliminated football back before WWII, it must be a somewhat ancient article.
Nice!
great idea. I hope that your e-book, Massimo, will help me finally decide to read the work of Thucydides
Eliza, I highly recommend reading the original. Not a short thing, but it's one of the all-time classics. Let me know if you decide to do it!
Thank you very much for your e-book, Massimo. After reading it I started reading The Peloponnesian War. As you mentioned, there are many references to nowadays in your text. I'm only at the beginning of the book. Still, my attention was drawn to the speech of the Corinthians (68-71) to the Lacedaemonians, where they contrasted the indecisive action of the Spartans with the decisive action of Athens. They spoke of the slowness in providing aid to the allies fighting against Athens.
It reminds me of the situation in Ukraine. While one might assume that democratic Athens is now the USA or Europe and oligarchic Sparta is now Russia, in this case, it is rather the opposite. History really likes to repeat itself.
Eliza, glad to have inspired you to read the original! And yes, that speech is one of many places where one can perceive echoes of currently relevant situations!