nt. Also, if he felt able to manufacture parts of what was said to furnish a speech, or to achieve antitheses, then he may of invented some of the speeches entirely; especially as they all appear in his style with no attempt to reproduce any of the speakers' idiosyncrasies, he thus conceals their individuality so they can conform to his stereotype's of them. The dramatisation of events and manipulation of characters is to fit his narrative and far from there being an:"Absence in it of a Romantic element." He is in actuality not that different than the poets he derides for exaggerating their themes; indeed he relies on them for much of his introduction. Thucydides views on society dictated to his history. The factors that make a society grow and prosper and those that make it fall are all alluded to in his account. As a result of this he excludes references to the family and the individual. "Thucydides defined his work as much by the topics he excluded as by those issues he chose to address" .Thucydides lack of interest in women and the family is striking , even within the realms of the patriarchical nature of Greek society. He speaks through Pericles on this matter: "If I must say anything on the subject of female excellencegreat be your glory in not falling short of your national character; and greatest will be hers who is least talked of among the men whether for good or for bad." Throughout the History women are only referred to as wives and children as sons (never daughters). Thucydides suppresses evidence when it doesn't correspond to the story he wants to write. This makes him an unsatisfactory historian. One of the consequences of the suppression of evidence by Thucydides is that: "We are soon tempted to talk about the author and his personality, rather than about the work and its complexities" For a writer who mentions himself so infrequently he comes across very strongly, for instance at the start of the book: "Thucydides the...
