TUCIDIDE, NICIA E LA RELIGIONE. SULLA TRADIZIONE DI TH. 7, 86, 5.

This paper discusses the exegetical implications of the longstanding acceptance of the incorrect reading ἐς τὸ θεῖον in the context of Thucydides famous eulogy of Nikias (VII.86.5). Included in the editio princeps (Venice 1502), probably on the basis of a conjectural emendation by Aldus Manutius, the sequence ἐς τὸ θεῖον was never challenged until the early nineteenth century and it was often cited, from the Renaissance onwards, to enhance the traditional view of Thucydides as a pious and devout historian. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]