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Thucydides, Historical Geography and the ‘Lost Years’ of Perdikkas II

  • Miltiades B. Hatzopoulos
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Sidelights on Greek Antiquity
This chapter is in the book Sidelights on Greek Antiquity

Abstract

Thucydides’ well-deserved reputation in his quest for the truth (1.20.3) and for his exactitude in the narration of events (1.22.2) does not necessarily signify that the great Athenian historian never resorted, not to deliberate lies, but to misleading obscurity in order to obfuscate events in which his or Athens’ good name was at stake. A case in point is the section on the responsibilities for the beginning of hostilities in Northern Greece (1.58.2-61.5) with the famous crux in 1.61.3-5. The aim of the present article is to show that historical geography and epigraphy can significantly contribute in making sense of a passage that pure philology has failed to clarify. Moreover, new knowledge acquired thereby makes possible a tentative reconstruction of the first part (354-332) of Perdikkas II’s reign.

Abstract

Thucydides’ well-deserved reputation in his quest for the truth (1.20.3) and for his exactitude in the narration of events (1.22.2) does not necessarily signify that the great Athenian historian never resorted, not to deliberate lies, but to misleading obscurity in order to obfuscate events in which his or Athens’ good name was at stake. A case in point is the section on the responsibilities for the beginning of hostilities in Northern Greece (1.58.2-61.5) with the famous crux in 1.61.3-5. The aim of the present article is to show that historical geography and epigraphy can significantly contribute in making sense of a passage that pure philology has failed to clarify. Moreover, new knowledge acquired thereby makes possible a tentative reconstruction of the first part (354-332) of Perdikkas II’s reign.

Chapters in this book

  1. Frontmatter I
  2. Preface V
  3. Contents XI
  4. List of Figures XIII
  5. Tabula Gratulatoria XIX
  6. Vasileios Petrakos: A Life Dedicated to the Service of Greek Archaeology XXIII
  7. Part I: Epigraphy and Ancient History
  8. Thucydides, Historical Geography and the ‘Lost Years’ of Perdikkas II 3
  9. Athens, Samothrace, and the Mysteria of the Samothracian Great Gods 17
  10. De quelques épitaphes d’étrangers et d’étrangères au Musée d’Érétrie 45
  11. Φυτωνυμικά τοπωνύμια Κωμών της Αργολίδος 103
  12. Le recours à l’arbitrage privé dans les actes d’affranchissement delphiques 117
  13. Προξενικό ψήφισμα από την Αιτωλία 137
  14. Women’s Religion in Hellenistic Athens 145
  15. Notes on Athenian Decrees in the Later Hellenistic Period 159
  16. “Those Who Jointly Built the City” 179
  17. Part II: Archaeology
  18. Attica and the Origins of Silver Metallurgy in the Aegean and the Carpatho-Balkan Zone 197
  19. Cultural Variation in Mycenaean Attica. A Mesoregional Approach 227
  20. Mythical and Historical Heroic Founders: The Archaeological Evidence 299
  21. Das Volutenkapitell aus Sykaminos 321
  22. Dionysos Lenaios at Rhamnous. Lenaia ἐν ἀγροῖς and the “Lenaia vases” 359
  23. Philoktet in Attika 383
  24. Part III: History of Greek Archaeology
  25. Peiraieus in 1805 411
  26. Karl Otfried Müller in Marathon, Rhamnus und Oropos 423
  27. Spyridon Marinatos and Carl Blegen at Pylos: A Happy Collaboration 441
  28. Vassilis Petrakos et les fouilles suisses d’Érétrie 451
  29. List of Contributors 465
  30. Index of Epigraphical Texts 469
  31. Index Locorum 477
  32. Index of Mythological Names 483
  33. Index of Geographic Names (Place Names, Ethnic and Demotic Adjectives) 485
  34. Index of Ancient Personal Names 499
  35. Index Rerum 505
  36. Index of Modern Personal Names 515
https://doi.org/10.1515/9783110699326-005

Chapters in this book

  1. Frontmatter I
  2. Preface V
  3. Contents XI
  4. List of Figures XIII
  5. Tabula Gratulatoria XIX
  6. Vasileios Petrakos: A Life Dedicated to the Service of Greek Archaeology XXIII
  7. Part I: Epigraphy and Ancient History
  8. Thucydides, Historical Geography and the ‘Lost Years’ of Perdikkas II 3
  9. Athens, Samothrace, and the Mysteria of the Samothracian Great Gods 17
  10. De quelques épitaphes d’étrangers et d’étrangères au Musée d’Érétrie 45
  11. Φυτωνυμικά τοπωνύμια Κωμών της Αργολίδος 103
  12. Le recours à l’arbitrage privé dans les actes d’affranchissement delphiques 117
  13. Προξενικό ψήφισμα από την Αιτωλία 137
  14. Women’s Religion in Hellenistic Athens 145
  15. Notes on Athenian Decrees in the Later Hellenistic Period 159
  16. “Those Who Jointly Built the City” 179
  17. Part II: Archaeology
  18. Attica and the Origins of Silver Metallurgy in the Aegean and the Carpatho-Balkan Zone 197
  19. Cultural Variation in Mycenaean Attica. A Mesoregional Approach 227
  20. Mythical and Historical Heroic Founders: The Archaeological Evidence 299
  21. Das Volutenkapitell aus Sykaminos 321
  22. Dionysos Lenaios at Rhamnous. Lenaia ἐν ἀγροῖς and the “Lenaia vases” 359
  23. Philoktet in Attika 383
  24. Part III: History of Greek Archaeology
  25. Peiraieus in 1805 411
  26. Karl Otfried Müller in Marathon, Rhamnus und Oropos 423
  27. Spyridon Marinatos and Carl Blegen at Pylos: A Happy Collaboration 441
  28. Vassilis Petrakos et les fouilles suisses d’Érétrie 451
  29. List of Contributors 465
  30. Index of Epigraphical Texts 469
  31. Index Locorum 477
  32. Index of Mythological Names 483
  33. Index of Geographic Names (Place Names, Ethnic and Demotic Adjectives) 485
  34. Index of Ancient Personal Names 499
  35. Index Rerum 505
  36. Index of Modern Personal Names 515
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