6 - Prolegomena to the Peloponnesian War

Summary

This chapter offers an analysis of the first book of the History, paying particular attention to the distinctive structure of Book 1. Thucydides’ plan of narrating the war chronologically, by summers and winters, is announced only at the start of Book 2; the structure of Book 1 is much more complex. The chapter starts by exploring ancient critics’ reactions to Book 1’s unusual form, and then it goes on to analyse each of the disruptions to chronological sequence in the book and the reasons for them. It compares these chronological disruptions to other sorts of disjunction (e.g. in style and mode of historical writing) in Book 1. Finally, it raises the question of whether similar disruptions and disjunctions might be found elsewhere in the work.