In the opening chapters Thucydides

In the opening chapters Thucydides frequently states a thesis, proves it, and then restates the thesis. An example in miniature is provided by one sentence at 1.1.1. The thesis is that shortage of supply was responsible for the small scale of the expedition to Troy: this is stated in the opening words, is substantiated in the body of the sentence, and is restated in the closing words. Further, this sentence being introduced by yap is itself a part of the proof of a main contention which is stated in the previous sentence. When this main contention is substantiated, it is restated in the last sentence of I.2.2. Here then we have two examples of an idiom of arrangement which may be succinctly described as thesis-proof-thesis. Moreover, as the one example is subsidiary in thought to the other, we find that the one is set within the other so that the order of thought is 'main contention-proof including subsidiary thesis--proof thesis--restatement of main contention'. The same arrangement is apparent in I.3.1-4. Here the weakness of the early period is the main contention; the proof introduced by yap starts with the thesis that Greece undertook no joint operation before the Trojan War; when this is demonstrated, the main contention is restated within the sentence containing the restatement of the thesis.