Portrait of Lord Melvyn Bragg, host of In Our Time

Classical-era Greek historians

Thucydides (Greek: Θουκυδίδης; c. 460 – c. 400 BC) was an Athenian historian and general. His History of the Peloponnesian War recounts the fifth-century BC war between Sparta and Athens until the year 411 BC. Thucydides has been dubbed the father of "scientific history" by those who accept his claims to have applied strict standards of impartiality and evidence-gathering and analysis of cause and effect, without reference to intervention by the deities, as outlined in his introduction to his work.He also has been called the father of the school of political realism, which views the political behavior of individuals and the subsequent outcomes of relations between states as ultimately mediated by, and constructed upon, fear and self-interest.

3 episodes

Episodes in this category also belong to the following categories:

  1. Herodotus

    Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the Greek writer whose Histories aimed to 'preserve the great and marvellous deeds of Greeks and barbarians, especially why they fought each other'.

    23 September 2021

    listen ↗

    Featuring: Tom Harrison, Esther Eidinow, Paul Cartledge

     
  2. Thucydides

    Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the ancient Greek historian Thucydides and his work entitled The History of the Peloponnesian War.

    29 January 2015

    listen ↗

    Featuring: Paul Cartledge, Katherine Harloe, Neville Morley

     
  3. Xenophon

    Melvyn Bragg and his guests discuss the life and work of the ancient Greek historian and soldier Xenophon.

    26 May 2011

    listen ↗

    Featuring: Paul Cartledge, Edith Hall, Simon Goldhill