I came across an interesting misattribution to Thucydides today in the New Yorker: “The Greeks did not understand each other any longer, though they spoke the same language.”
A quick search in Google books points to it originating in 19th century America; the earliest source I could find is in an 1896 edition of Modern Culture. There, the quote is longer and is explicitly attributed to Pericles:
“The Greeks did not understand each other any longer, though they spoke the same language; words received a different meaning in different parts.”
In Thucydides, Pericles doesn’t say anything like this.
However, there is an important line in Book 3.82, in which Thucydides is describing a revolution on the island of Corcyra, he makes this remark about language:
• καὶ τὴν εἰωθυῖαν ἀξίωσιν τῶν ὀνομάτων ἐς τὰ ἔργα ἀντήλλαξαν τῇ δικαιώσει.
• The received value of names imposed for signification of things was changed into arbitrary. trans. Thomas Hobbes
• Words had to change their ordinary meaning to take that which was now given them. trans. Richard Crawley
• And they reversed the usual way of using words to evaluate activities. Trans. Paul Woodruff
He then provides some specific examples, such as how recklessness was considered loyalty, prudence was considered cowardice, and moderation considered unmanly. He also notes how the two factions in the revolution describe their actions with moderate sounding slogans, but are nonetheless willing to commit extreme violence.
So what is different about the misattribution from Thucydides comments about Corcyra? First, the misattribution applies it to all the Greeks, rather than just the Corcyrans, thereby implying that Thucydides thought that the Greeks were united prior to the outbreak of the Peloponnesian War. This ignores Thucydides’ history of the fifty years between the end of the Persian War and the Peloponnesian War, in which he is very aware that the Greeks were not united during this time.
Second, the misattribution implies that Thucydides thought that misunderstanding was at the heart of why the Greeks fought each other. Thucydides famously argues that the truest reason for the Peloponnesian War was in 1.23.6:
• τὴν μὲν γὰρ ἀληθεστάτην πρόφασιν, ἀφανεστάτην δὲ λόγῳ, καὶ φόβον παρέχοντας τοῖς Λακεδαιμονίοις ἀναγκάσαι ἐσ τὸ πολεμεῖν – αἱ δ᾽ ἐς τὸ φανερὸν λεγόμανι αἰτίαι αἵδ᾽ἦσαν ἑκατέρων , ἀφ᾽ ὧν λύσαντες τὰς σπονδὰς ἐς τὸν πόλεμον κετέστησαν.
• I believe that the truest reason for the quarrel, though least evident in what was said at the time, was the growth of Athenian power, which put fear into the Lacedaemonians, while the explanations both sides gave in public for breaking the Peace and starting the war are as follows. trans. Woodruff
Notably, there is nothing about misunderstanding here. Thucydides shows that the Athenians were gaining more power. While fear is not an emotion easily compatible with thinking, Thucydides never says that the Spartans were mistaken in their fear of the Athenians. trans. Woodruff
Ι highlighted a part of this passage that also seems relevant to me: how Thucydides argues that the truest causes of the war were least apparent during the moment. This goes against the idea of the misattribution, where misunderstanding would presumably be clear in the moment.
A quick search in Google books points to it originating in 19th century America; the earliest source I could find is in an 1896 edition of Modern Culture. There, the quote is longer and is explicitly attributed to Pericles:
“The Greeks did not understand each other any longer, though they spoke the same language; words received a different meaning in different parts.”
In Thucydides, Pericles doesn’t say anything like this.
However, there is an important line in Book 3.82, in which Thucydides is describing a revolution on the island of Corcyra, he makes this remark about language:
• καὶ τὴν εἰωθυῖαν ἀξίωσιν τῶν ὀνομάτων ἐς τὰ ἔργα ἀντήλλαξαν τῇ δικαιώσει.
• The received value of names imposed for signification of things was changed into arbitrary. trans. Thomas Hobbes
• Words had to change their ordinary meaning to take that which was now given them. trans. Richard Crawley
• And they reversed the usual way of using words to evaluate activities. Trans. Paul Woodruff
He then provides some specific examples, such as how recklessness was considered loyalty, prudence was considered cowardice, and moderation considered unmanly. He also notes how the two factions in the revolution describe their actions with moderate sounding slogans, but are nonetheless willing to commit extreme violence.
So what is different about the misattribution from Thucydides comments about Corcyra? First, the misattribution applies it to all the Greeks, rather than just the Corcyrans, thereby implying that Thucydides thought that the Greeks were united prior to the outbreak of the Peloponnesian War. This ignores Thucydides’ history of the fifty years between the end of the Persian War and the Peloponnesian War, in which he is very aware that the Greeks were not united during this time.
Second, the misattribution implies that Thucydides thought that misunderstanding was at the heart of why the Greeks fought each other. Thucydides famously argues that the truest reason for the Peloponnesian War was in 1.23.6:
• τὴν μὲν γὰρ ἀληθεστάτην πρόφασιν, ἀφανεστάτην δὲ λόγῳ, καὶ φόβον παρέχοντας τοῖς Λακεδαιμονίοις ἀναγκάσαι ἐσ τὸ πολεμεῖν – αἱ δ᾽ ἐς τὸ φανερὸν λεγόμανι αἰτίαι αἵδ᾽ἦσαν ἑκατέρων , ἀφ᾽ ὧν λύσαντες τὰς σπονδὰς ἐς τὸν πόλεμον κετέστησαν.
• I believe that the truest reason for the quarrel, though least evident in what was said at the time, was the growth of Athenian power, which put fear into the Lacedaemonians, while the explanations both sides gave in public for breaking the Peace and starting the war are as follows. trans. Woodruff
Notably, there is nothing about misunderstanding here. Thucydides shows that the Athenians were gaining more power. While fear is not an emotion easily compatible with thinking, Thucydides never says that the Spartans were mistaken in their fear of the Athenians. trans. Woodruff
Ι highlighted a part of this passage that also seems relevant to me: how Thucydides argues that the truest causes of the war were least apparent during the moment. This goes against the idea of the misattribution, where misunderstanding would presumably be clear in the moment.