Issue #26

Abstract: By this article an American political philosopher Leo Strauss is trying to enrich his analysis of Thucydides’ History, which he partly made in his book The City and Man. The article by itself is a peculiar answer to the questions on the theological aspect of Thucydides’ philosophy which Strauss received during his classes, in particular from Timothy Burns. In order to reveal it Strauss analyses crucial speeches made by Thucydides’ characters and mentions of the gods and sacred things that are appearing in those speeches as well as in the text of the History. The key thought of the article is reflected not through the speeches in which the gods and sacred things are mentioned, but through the speeches in which they are not mentioned at all. The most important things here are the selection of speeches, Strauss’ allusions on why do some heroes of the History, including Thucydides himself refer to the gods altogether, and the comparison of the two theologies: the theology, articulated by the Athenian ambassadors during the Melian dialogue and the theology of Nikias. Strauss says that Thucydides’ theology is based somewhere between these two opposites.