The Sicilian Expidition

The Sicilian Expedition is the decisive event in the Peloponnesian war, and in his account, Thucydides makes sure the reader is aware of this fact. Thucydides conveys the importance of this event through direct statements and also literary and narrative techniques in his writing.

In the beginning of book six of his history, Thucydides makes an allusion to Troy, which stresses an air of historical importance for the narration of the Sicilian expedition. Although the Trojan war and the campaign in Sicily are very different in respect to time period and outcome, they do contain several similarities. One similarity is the size of the armies in both expeditions . Although most likely exaggerated, the multitude that left to sack Troy was definitely a sizable force involving enough men for ten years of war. The numbers that Thucydides gives in his account of the Athenian host shows that it too was a large army prepared for a long battle over seas. Another parallel is the purpose of fighting an opponent so far from home. Achilles voices this theme in the Iliad, when he questions Agamemnon in the first book: "...never in Phthia where the soil is rich and men grow great did they / spoil my harvest, since indeed there is much that lies between us, / the shadowy mountains and the echoing sea;" (Iliad. Lines 155-157) The Athenian general Nicias puts forth a similar idea when he questions the making and fighting a new enemy across the sea when they have enough enemies in the Peloponnese: " `...we have not yet come safely into harbour, and this is no time for running risks or for grasping at a new empire before we have secured the one we have already.' " (History Of The Peloponnesian War. Book six, paragraph 10) This connection with Troy effectively puts emphasis on the Sicilian expedition because the Trojan war and the events surrounding it were a very popular theme in Greek history and literature and the events after the Trojan war were the subject of many famous tragedies by authors such as Aeschylus, Sophocles, and Euripides.

Characters, and their speeches are another device that Thucydides uses to help stress the importance of the Sicilian expedition. These speeches, which Thucydides admits are not word for word, help focus the reader on an important idea and also help the story flow, yet allow Thucydides room to create an atmosphere similar to a historical poem or play.