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Plutarch Thucydides (1 Viewer)
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classics_chic
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Plutarch: doesn't really understand the times because he lived so far afterwards. Also he moulded his Nine Greek Lives and Nine Roman Lives to fit each other: therefore the facts are a bit dodgy. Also he's a real moraliser (writes didactic history) and therefore everyone's either really good or really evil.
Thucydides: lived at the time, Athenian general. Therefore pro-Athenian, even though he spent some time in Sparta (doesn't really understand Sparta, but then again there's so little evidence so who does?). Tries to fit things into his grand scheme of things (most famously the speeches of Perikles- he made things up to fit the situation- but also 'quotes' other people when there's no way he could have spoken to them). Claims to write accurate history but uses all kinds of methodology foreign to our notion of 'scientific history'. Like Plutarch, writes didactic history (tries to teach lessons, sometimes also moralistic).
With all sources from the time (and even as recently as 30 years ago) remember that 'history' wasn't what it is today. The word 'history' ('historia') in Ancient Greek means 'inquiry', and it was Herodotos (not long before Thucydides) who used the term in a way that might mean history (hence he's considered the 'father of history') in the modern sense.
Good luck!
Thucydides: lived at the time, Athenian general. Therefore pro-Athenian, even though he spent some time in Sparta (doesn't really understand Sparta, but then again there's so little evidence so who does?). Tries to fit things into his grand scheme of things (most famously the speeches of Perikles- he made things up to fit the situation- but also 'quotes' other people when there's no way he could have spoken to them). Claims to write accurate history but uses all kinds of methodology foreign to our notion of 'scientific history'. Like Plutarch, writes didactic history (tries to teach lessons, sometimes also moralistic).
With all sources from the time (and even as recently as 30 years ago) remember that 'history' wasn't what it is today. The word 'history' ('historia') in Ancient Greek means 'inquiry', and it was Herodotos (not long before Thucydides) who used the term in a way that might mean history (hence he's considered the 'father of history') in the modern sense.
Good luck!
silvermoon
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the aim of thucydides was to understand the spartan's political, social and military systems because they had beat the athenians. He IS biased twoards his native homeland, however he did greatly admire the spartans, his work was an attempt to learn from them so that the greeks could improve their own society.
classics_chic is right, plutarch IS out of his time period, however, it depends on who ur comparing him to: plutarch would still be considered a fairly contemporary, primary source even though he is writing after this time period - the distance between him and the times and modern writers and the times means that he is still considered a valuable primary source.
try lookin in the hist ext forum if u need more info - these historians r studied as part of the 'history and historians' course.
classics_chic is right, plutarch IS out of his time period, however, it depends on who ur comparing him to: plutarch would still be considered a fairly contemporary, primary source even though he is writing after this time period - the distance between him and the times and modern writers and the times means that he is still considered a valuable primary source.
try lookin in the hist ext forum if u need more info - these historians r studied as part of the 'history and historians' course.