The theatricality of human affairs: Thucydides in Arendt, Thucydides with Arendt

This paper explores an aspect of Hannah Arendt’s references to antiquity that has received little scholarly attention: her use of Thucydides’ History of the Peloponnesian War. The paper has two interrelated aims: first, to contribute to a better understanding of Arendt’s notion of history and her concept of political action, by examining how she develops her theatrical metaphors for the political sphere through her engagement with Pericles’ Funeral Oration; second, to probe the potential of Arendt’s interpretation of Greek antiquity for a better understanding of Thucydides.