Summary
Melvyn Bragg and his guests discuss the ancient Greek historian Thucydides. In the fifth century BC Thucydides wrote The History of the Peloponnesian War, an account of a conflict in which he had himself taken part. This work is now seen as one of the first great masterpieces of history writing, a book which influenced writers for centuries afterwards. Thucydides was arguably the first historian to make a conscious attempt to be objective, bringing a rational and impartial approach to his scholarship. Today his work is still widely studied at military colleges and in the field of international relations for the insight it brings to bear on complex political situations.
With:
Paul Cartledge Emeritus Professor of Greek Culture and AG Leventis Senior Research Fellow at Clare College, Cambridge
Katherine Harloe Associate Professor in Classics and Intellectual History at the University of Reading
Neville Morley Professor of Ancient History at the University of Bristol
Producer: Thomas Morris.
Transcript
Click on a timestamp to play from that location
| 0:00.0 | Just before this BBC podcast gets underway, here's something you may not know. |
| 0:04.7 | My name's Linda Davies and I Commission Podcasts for BBC Sounds. |
| 0:08.5 | As you'd expect, at the BBC we make podcasts of the very highest quality featuring the most knowledgeable experts and genuinely engaging voices. |
| 0:18.0 | What you may not know is that the BBC makes podcasts about all kinds of things like pop stars, |
| 0:24.6 | poltergeist, cricket, and conspiracy theories and that's just a few examples. |
| 0:29.7 | If you'd like to discover something a little bit unexpected, find your next podcast over at BBC Sounds. |
| 0:36.0 | Thank you for downloading this episode of In Our Time. |
| 0:38.7 | For more details about in our time and for our terms of use please go to BBC.co. |
| 0:43.2 | UK slash radio 4. I hope you enjoy the program. |
| 0:47.1 | Hello, Thucydides and Athenian wrote the history of the war between the |
| 0:51.9 | Peloponnesians and the Athenians, |
| 0:53.7 | beginning at the moment that it broke out and believing that it would be a great war |
| 0:57.9 | and more worthy of relation than any that had preceded it. |
| 1:00.9 | This belief was not without its grounds. So begins one of the earliest |
| 1:05.6 | and greatest works of history, Thucydides history of the Peloponnesian War. |
| 1:09.3 | Written in the 5th century BC, it recounts the events of a major conflict in which its author took part. |
| 1:16.0 | Like his predecessor Herodotus, Thucydides has come to be seen as one of the founders of the Western tradition of history writing. |
| 1:22.0 | His rigorous approach |
| 1:23.7 | to evidence and attempt to provide an objective view of events provided a model for |
| 1:28.4 | later historians which was influential many centuries after his death. |
| 1:32.2 | With me to discuss the life and work of Thucydides eventual many centuries after his death. |
| 1:33.0 | With me to discuss the life and work of Thucydides are Paul Cartilage, |
... |
Please login to see the full transcript.
Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from BBC, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.
Generated transcripts are the property of BBC and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.
Copyright © Tapesearch 2025.