Now, I've always been a fan of the classics from Greece and Rome, but I've found it difficult to find good translations of Thucydides. My preferred copy of "The History of the Peloponnesian War" is awkward to read, yet it's chock-full of maps and annotations. I do own another copy whose prose is simple, but it's short on maps, making it difficult to follow the action.
I know I have a lot of followers who are fans of Thucydides. What's your favorite version of this classic?
5 comments:
Yeah, I have the Penguin edition and it can be difficult following the actions (and where towns/peoples are based). Could translate my own, but all I can remember from Greek classes is that 'hippopotamus' means 'river horse'...
I have in hardcover Landmark Thucydides, a lot of maps and such.
Which I now see comes in a Kindle version. I have loved Greek History since I was a kid.
Penguin editions of...well...anything, are best avoided. They're what you buy in high school, or as an undergrad, when you are broke and don't know any better. Good translations are worth the extra ten dollars or so.
I am with Limabeanium in voting for The Landmark Thucydides.
you are too smart for me, my friend. I blog about Transformers and humvees, you do ancient Greek philosophy. Though I did read him back in the day. And it is amazing.
Recent "New York Review of Books" suggests that all translations are at best paraphrases - Thucydides's Greek is apparently inpenetrable.
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