Thuccydides and Herodotus Compared

A detailed Summary of Thuccydides and Herodotus Compared

With the work of Herodotus there appeared one of the two main types of historical writing: the inclusive approach, with its wide rang of interest and detail. Herodotus tells himself, "My History has sought out digressions from the beginning." The other kind of historical writing, narrowly focused and exclusive, was invented a few years later by his younger contemporary Thucydides. There are distinct differences in each work, and are clearly evident in a direct comparison of their works. Both authors exploit different literary methods, content, use of sources, and information to illustrate their stories and themes.

Thucydides is a rational, not to say scientific, historian interested in nothing but politics, economics, and war. There are no co

Thucydides begins his history by explaining why he thinks that this War is the greatest in which the Greeks were ever involved, even greater than the Trojan War and the Persian Wars, which was Herodotus' focus. He then explains the principles upon which he evaluates evidence; his basic perspective is that human nature is the basic cause of historical events. Thucydides attributes no historical event to either the gods or to fate. He declares that his History will not be so entertaining as some others, such as Herodotus', but instead be a rational analysis that will be useful to those who wish to understand the way things happen, since events similar to those of the past will certainly recur in the future because human nature is unchanging. He analyzes the events of this War, he tel

Some common words found in the essay are:
Compared Herodotus, Wars Herodotus', Herodotus Thucydides, Dissimilar Thucydides, Peloponnesian War, War Greeks, historical writing, historical events, herodotus thucydides, human nature,

Approximate Word count = 528
Approximate Pages = 2 (250 words per page double spaced)

Category: History

join now Save Paper

Saved Paper

Save your papers so you can locate them quickly!

Newest Essays

Testimonials

"Thank You So Much!!! You have saved me once again!!!"
Jack M.
"With so many papers to chose from, I was able to get ideas to help me with all of my classes. Thank You!"
Brian P.
"I've used this site for the last 3 years to help me come up with ideas for my papers."
Sara J.
"I use this site every week to help me write my own papers!"
Rachel W.
"I love this site!!!"
Marie N.