Interpretations of Athen’s defeat in the Peloponnesian war

Interprétations de la défaite d’Athènes dans la guerre du Péloponnèse

Edith Foster (1)

1 UNISTRA - Université de Strasbourg

The defeat of Athens in the Peloponnesian War was a central focus of contemporary historians. Thucydides’ History and the first two books of Xenophon’s Hellenica offered detailed accounts of the dramatic events: where the former offered an extensive description of the agonies of Athens’ Sicilian expedition and of the rebellions and warfare that followed, the latter showed Athens’ progress toward final defeat, the slow starvation of the city before capitulation, the ensuing tyranny and civil war. Historiography was newly invented in the period before the Peloponnesian War began, so that the unprecedented availability of detailed descriptions of Athens’ defeat comprises an historical event in its own right.

Mots clés: Peloponnesian War; Athens; Thucydide; Defeat; Historiography; Xenophon

Domaines: Histoire; Littératures

Edith Foster. Interpretations of Athen’s defeat in the Peloponnesian war. Ktèma : Civilisations de l'Orient, de la Grèce et de Rome antiques, 2017, 42, pp.7-8. ⟨halshs-01669145⟩