A Note on the Theiasmos of Nicias in Thucydides

Abstract

Thucydides criticises Nicias for being too partial to divination (7.50.4). It is suggested here through the examination of the linguistic nuances of θειασμός and the verb προσκείμενος, that Thucydides assessed him negatively primarily because he took the side of the army-seers. Yet, this criticism ought not to be blown out of proportion. Thucydides’ portrait differs significantly from Plutarch’s who describes Nicias as a diffident man easily gripped by fear and addicted to prophecies. Consequently, Thucydides’ criticism is a small parenthesis in his overall presentation of the Athenian general’s career whose decisions were based on skill, rational criteria and experience (5.16.1).