Book contents
- The Cambridge Companion to Thucydides
- Cambridge Companions to Literature
- The Cambridge Companion to Thucydides
- Copyright page
- Dedication
- Contents
- Contributors
- Preface
- Abbreviations
- 1 Introduction
- Part I Context and Method
- 2 Establishing a New Genre
- 3 Thucydidean Self-Presentation
- 4 Thucydides’ Use of Evidence and Sources
- 5 Rhetorical History
- 6 Prolegomena to the Peloponnesian War
- 7 Time and Foresight in Thucydides
- 8 Labouring for Truth in Thucydides
- Part II Themes and Content
- Part III After Thucydides
- Bibliography
- Index Locorum
- Subject Index
- Cambridge Companions To …
5 - Rhetorical History
Speeches in Thucydides
from Part I - Context and Method
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 02 March 2023
- The Cambridge Companion to Thucydides
- Cambridge Companions to Literature
- The Cambridge Companion to Thucydides
- Copyright page
- Dedication
- Contents
- Contributors
- Preface
- Abbreviations
- 1 Introduction
- Part I Context and Method
- 2 Establishing a New Genre
- 3 Thucydidean Self-Presentation
- 4 Thucydides’ Use of Evidence and Sources
- 5 Rhetorical History
- 6 Prolegomena to the Peloponnesian War
- 7 Time and Foresight in Thucydides
- 8 Labouring for Truth in Thucydides
- Part II Themes and Content
- Part III After Thucydides
- Bibliography
- Index Locorum
- Subject Index
- Cambridge Companions To …
Summary
This chapter investigates the function of speeches in Thucydides’ work. It shows how speeches are used to advance the action of the story (using the examples of Brasidas’ speeches in Book 4 to illustrate this) and how they play on the expectations and assumptions of Thucydides’ rhetorically aware audience. The function of messengers is also discussed, along with the ‘soundscape’ evoked by less formal speech. Finally, the long-standing debate about of the composition and selection of the speeches is addressed, along with the question of how the speeches (and what Thucydides claims for his speeches) bear on the wider problem of the purpose of the work.
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- The Cambridge Companion to Thucydides , pp. 63 - 76Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2023