Imagens das páginas
PDF
ePub

examination, and the opinions of others have been weighed and compared impartially, and honored as their intrinsic worth appeared to demand.

The same plan has been pursued in the preparation of the notes, which I adopted in my previous publications, and it is hoped that this volume will betray no marks of less care and attention, in the selection of words and passages requiring comment, or in the kind and degree of assistance furnished to the student, than is manifest in those editions. To some it may appear at first sight that too much aid has been furnished the student. It will be seen upon examination, however, that it has not been indiscriminately bestowed, but in a way which always leaves much for the student himself to do. It will also appear, that I have not proceeded on the plan of selecting a few chapters on which to give a full commentary, and of leaving the other portions comparatively untouched, but have aimed to bestow upon every chapter and every section throughout the whole text, the amount of illustration which its difficulties seemed to require.

The general observations on the orations and other portions of the history, together with the argument affixed to each chapter, I hope will be found of great service to the student. They have cost much labor, owing to the excessive brevity of style which characterizes Thucydides, and which renders it extremely difficult to reduce his writings to a much shorter compass than he has left them, and yet retain the leading ideas.

In respect to the punctuation of the text it may be remarked, that at the instance of several eminent professors,

a more free use of punctuation-marks has been made than is found to have been done in Dindorf's edition, although not to the degree in which they are found in the older editions. In revising the punctuation of Dindorf, I have been guided mainly by my own sense of the wants of the text, although in many instances my views have been modified by the usage of other editors.

The basis of grammatical reference is the grammar of E. A. Sophocles (new edition), and Kühner's School Grammar published at Andover, 1844. References also have been freely made to the grammars of Crosby, Buttmann, Matthiæ, Rost, Krüger, and Jelf's Kühner (Oxford edition, 1842).

The map prefixed to this edition, although of necessity reduced in size, is an exact reprint of Kiepert's Map of Greece at the beginning of the Peloponnesian war. It is unnecessary to inform scholars of the high estimation in which the maps of this geographer are held throughout the civilized world. It would be desirable for each student to have in his possession a complete set of Kiepert's maps; but as this cannot be expected, the map accompanying this edition will be found to meet all his wants as far as relates to Greece in the times of Thucydides, Xenophon, Plato, etc. For much that pertains to geographical and topographical matters, I must acknowledge my indebtedness to Col. Leake's "Travels in Northern Greece and the Morea," and "Topography of Athens," books which Bloomfield justly says are indispensable to the student or reader of Thucydides, and of so masterly a character as fairly to entitle the writer to the appellation of the first geographer of our age.

I take occasion again to return my thanks to the classical professors and teachers, for the favor with which they have received my previous publications, and for the friendly interest which they have manifested in the present work. As soon as my avocations will permit, I intend, if my life and health are spared, to offer them another volume, containing the remaining text of Thucydides, brief annotations, and copious verbal, historical, and grammatical indices of the whole work. Meanwhile I commit to their kind regards this volume, with the hope that it will contribute somewhat to the cause of classical learning in this country, and serve to introduce to more general use the writings of the man, to whom by common consent has been given the appellation PRINCEPS HISTORICUM

Cornelius Institute, May 4th, 1848.

[merged small][merged small][merged small][ocr errors][merged small][ocr errors][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][ocr errors][merged small][merged small][ocr errors][ocr errors][merged small][ocr errors][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][ocr errors][merged small][ocr errors][merged small][merged small][ocr errors][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small]

The references to Kühner are made to his School Grammar, translated by Messrs. Edwards and Taylor, Andover. Whenever Jelf's edition of Kühner is referred to, the name is fully given. The references to Butt mann are made to his Larger Grammar, translated by Dr. Robinson.

« AnteriorContinuar »