
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
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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
Featuring: Tom Harrison, Esther Eidinow, Paul Cartledge
Thucydides
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the ancient Greek historian Thucydides and his work entitled The History of the Peloponnesian War.
29 January 2015
Featuring: Paul Cartledge, Katherine Harloe, Neville Morley
Xenophon
Melvyn Bragg and his guests discuss the life and work of the ancient Greek historian and soldier Xenophon.
26 May 2011
Featuring: Paul Cartledge, Edith Hall, Simon Goldhill