Abstract
XENOPHON'S Hellenika 2. 2. 19-20 helps to throw some light, not only on the much discussed date of the Melian dialogue (5. 91) , but, more generally, also on the grave irony with which Thucydides views the characters in his History who argue either for or against the merit of the Athenian achievements during the crisis of the Persian War. On closer examination of the 17 political speeches which contain direct or indirect allusions to the Persian War, the historian's deliberate manner in handling the theme can be elucidated. Often the Persian War marks the horizon of the historical perspective each speaker is aware of, and the speaker's attitude to the War falls within the scope of his political views on contemporary affairs. Such is the first speech of Perikles in 432 (1. 144.4-5), and also of Alkibiades in Athens in 415 (6. 17. 7), where the War seen as having been defensive by the former turns offensive by the latter's zeal to launch upon a new expansion. The Athenians are the first who aim at the most profit out of the logos on the Persian War (1. 73-78; 6. 82-87), but the Peloponnesians and the Syracusans are not much behind either. The Lakedaimonians find it expedient to recapitulate the dubious role of the Liberator of Hellas (2. 8. 5; 4. 85-87; 4. 114. 3). Hermokrates draws a remarkable parallel between the War and the Expedition (6. 33. 5-6; 76. 3-4), and exploits a markedly biased distinction between the two (6. 77. 1). His remarks may be taken to show that the comparable aspects of the two Wars first dawned upon Thucydides and his contemporaries after the catastrophe in Sicily. Thucydides leaves us in doubt if in truth so much of the Plataian dabate of 427 was taken up by the theme of the Persian War. His choice, however, becomes somewhat more transparent, if we assume that he telescoped the event after the capitulation of Athens, with the full knowledge of the scene reported by Xenophon (op. cit., loc. cit.). That he knew it seems to be reflected in his analysis of the Lakedaimonian sense of justice (3. 68. 1-3, 6; 5. 105. 4): they needed the Thebans then, now they hold up the merit of the Athenians since they no longer need to coax the Thebans. The allusions to the Persian War are the eloquent index to show that man remodels history after his experience and need. None of the logos presents an unbiased image; every speaker mirrors his political outlook on the broad term, the Persian War. Obviously Thucydides and his contemporaries thought it their problem how to overcome the variegated conflicts left unsettled by the War. Thucydides in particular deemed it his singular task to record the flickering images of the War within the context of his 27 years war, apart from keeping his precious memory of the numbers of ships and soldiers.
