40 pages • 1 hour read
Transl. Paul Woodruff, ThucydidesA modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Published in 1993, Paul Woodruff’s Thucydides: On Justice, Power, and Human Nature, Selections from The History of the Peloponnesian War is a curated collection of translations from Thucydides’s work about the Peloponnesian War. Woodruff includes key speeches and debates such as Pericles’s Funeral Oration, the Mytilenean debate, and the Melian dialogue, and his summaries and excerpts explore themes of justice, power, and human nature. Topics covered include war, plague, and civil unrest.
On Justice Power and Human Nature by Paul Woodruff and Thucydides is praised for its accurate translation and insightful commentary, offering a profound understanding of Thucydides' work on political philosophy and human behavior. Some readers find it dense and challenging, but the intellectual rewards are widely recognized by scholars.
A reader fascinated by classical history, political philosophy, and the ethical dimensions of power would relish On Justice, Power, and Human Nature. Comparable works include Machiavelli's The Prince and Hobbes's Leviathan, ideal for those who appreciate profound insights into human behavior and governance.
Ancient Greece
Philosophy
Military / War
Social Justice
Society: Community
Values/Ideas: Justice & Injustice
Values/Ideas: Order & Chaos