After Etudes sur lâaspect verbal chez Platon (Saint-Etienne, 2000), the international âGroupe de recherche sur lâaspect verbal en grecâ now presents a second volume on verbal aspect in (Ancient) Greek, which is devoted to the function(s) of the Historical Present in Thucydides. In nine chapters the authors approach this subject from a variety of angles, focusing inter alia on the HP of particular verbs and on its use in battle narratives, or investigate Thucydidesâ use of the HP from a comparative perspective. They share one important assumption, viz. that the primary function of the HP is to mark events that were, according to Thucydides, of decisive importance for the development of the Peloponnesian War. By its rich and detailed analyses the book provides important new insights into Thucydidesâ narrative technique.
Albert Rijksbaron (Ph.D. 1976) is Emeritus Professor of Ancient Greek Linguistics at the University of Amsterdam. His publications include The Syntax and Semantics of the Verb in Classical Greek (1984, 20023), Grammatical Observations on Euripidesâ Bacchae (1991), and an edition with commentary of Platoâs Ion (2007).
Michel Buijs, Ph.D. (2003) in Ancient Greek, Leiden University, teaches Greek and Latin at Utrecht University and Leiden University. He is author of Clause Combining in Ancient Greek Narrative Discourse (2005) and co-editor of The Language of Literature. Linguistic Approaches to Classical Texts (2007).
the present volume is an important contribution to Thucydidean scholarship. (...) Personally, I have been using it since its publication and I fearlessly recommend it to everyone. Vasileios Liotsakis, BMCR 2012.04.55.