Great Books Ep 119. Thucydides - The Peloponnesian War - Book 1 - Ch 1 - About Rewriting the Past
People love history. So we keep retelling the myths from the past and rewriting history not only to fit the current narratives but also to bring out the original truth based on new discoveries.
“The goodness of the land favoured the aggrandizement of particular individuals, and thus created faction which proved a fertile source of ruin. It also invited invasion.”
~ ‘The History of the Peloponnesian War’ (Book 1) by Thucydides (Richard Crawley translation GB6 - p. 349)
Recently, someone asked me about areas for improvement in one of the software systems we work on. I said that rather than specific improvements in parts of the system, we could rethink holistically and reimplement, since technology has evolved, we have better tools available, and many of the original assumptions made 4-5 yrs ago have changed. Having rewritten and migrated large codebases many times in the last couple of decades, I’m glad that it is possible for software, though unknown challenges always come up. And AI makes this whole thing so much less daunting now.
I think the same applies to history and many other disciplines. We can always question the original assumptions with the new knowledge that we have now and rewrite history more accurately because we keep discovering new archaeological evidence and keep inventing new technologies and keep developing new frameworks and tools. Of course, this argument hinges on the naïve assumption that every subsequent generation is more logical and objective than the previous ones. But humans being human and mercurial have written, rewritten, distorted or even tried to erase historical records to fit their ideological narratives at that point in time. This is mostly fueled by religious fervor, but even communists and others have done it. Even then, if you take a broad and overarching view of history, things have generally progressed towards facts, I think. That’s why I think even if there is WW3 and if most nations are managed by autocrats who commit genocide and try to selectively erase parts of history, at some point in the future, we’ll get back to democracy, have scientists, writers, thinkers, etc., who will seek to understand the past better and build societies based on truth and facts. We don’t have to lose hope when things keep swinging to one side - right or left, the pendulum always swings back.
People love history. Rewriting myths and stories from the past has been a constant theme throughout history. We discover new insights from the past, and they often pave the way to new discoveries in the future. The stories of the Iliad and the Odyssey have been retold so many times and will be in the future, too. More than 90% of my X feed today is about how great Christopher Nolan’s “The Odyssey” is. The presales numbers were staggering, and it looks poised to be a great hit.
Both Herodotus and Thucydides talk about the Trojan War in the first few paragraphs of their respective Histories. Herodotus says this was a pivotal moment in the East-West divide. He says the people in the East were confused as to why the Greeks took so much trouble and amassed such an army for the sake of just one woman.
“Now as for the carrying off of women, it is the deed, they say, of a rogue: but to make a stir about such as are carried off, argues a man a fool. Men of sense care nothing for such women, since it is plain that without their own consent they would never be forced away. The Asiatics, when the Greeks ran off with their women, never troubled themselves about the matter; but the Greeks, for the sake of a single Lacedaemonian girl, collected a vast armament, invaded Asia, and destroyed the kingdom of Priam. Henceforth they ever looked upon the Greeks as their open enemies.”
Thucydides looks at the Trojan War with a critical eye and presents a very different picture from the poetic historical narrative. He says the number of people and ships was exaggerated and that the Trojan War lasted for ten years, probably because the Greeks didn’t have provisions to sustain themselves. They reached Troy and had to start farming or plundering coastal villages/towns to provide for themselves.
“This was what really enabled the Trojans to keep the field for ten years against them; the dispersion of the enemy making them always a match for the detachment left behind. If they had brought plenty of supplies with them, and had persevered in the war without scattering for piracy and agriculture, they would have easily defeated the Trojans in the field, since they could hold their own against them with the division on service.”
Thucydides talks about immigration and why people move from one place to another. He says the more fertile the land, the more fighting. The “goodness of the land” leads to disproportionate wealth, creates factions, there is constant civil strife, and this also invites foreign invasion. Athens had relative peace since the land was rugged and less fertile. Long periods of uninterrupted stability enabled Athens to build sound institutions, strict laws and a unified culture. But as they became better, people started migrating to Athens to flee from war zones. He says piracy was the norm in the past, and most people carried weapons with them. He says life itself became more luxurious after people laid down their weapons and stopped focusing on appropriating others’ things or being on guard at all times.
I feel good about having started the journey to read Thucydides. There’s a lot more to think and learn.
Chapter 1 - Quotes
(The State of Greece from the earliest Times to the Commencement of the Peloponnesian War)
The goodness of the land favoured the aggrandizement of particular individuals, and thus created faction which proved a fertile source of ruin. It also invited invasion.
The Athenians were the first to lay aside their weapons, and to adopt an easier and more luxurious mode of life;
A modest style of dressing, more in conformity with modern ideas, was first adopted by the Lacedaemonians, the rich doing their best to assimilate their way of life to that of the common people.
As communication by sea became more common, were tempted to turn pirates, under the conduct of their most powerful men; the motives being to serve their own cupidity and to support the needy.
For the love of gain would reconcile the weaker to the dominion of the stronger, and the possession of capital enabled the more powerful to reduce the smaller towns to subjection.
If they had brought plenty of supplies with them, and had persevered in the war without scattering for piracy and agriculture, they would have easily defeated the Trojans in the field, since they could hold their own against them with the division on service.
Again, wherever there were tyrants, their habit of providing simply for themselves, of looking solely to their personal comfort and family aggrandizement, made safety the great aim of their policy, and prevented anything great proceeding from them;
The way that most men deal with traditions, even traditions of their own country, is to receive them all alike as they are delivered, without applying any critical test whatever.
The absence of romance in my history will, I fear, detract somewhat from its interest; but if it be judged useful by those inquirers who desire an exact knowledge of the past as an aid to the interpretation of the future, which in the course of human things must resemble if it does not reflect it, I shall be content.