Crowds of grieving families are gathering, volatile feelings towards war are bubbling, a desire for peace could be surfacing; yet the sparkling words of one man change it all. The Funeral Oration presented by Pericles, an Athenian statesman of Greek’s Golden Age, is perhaps one of the most evocative rhetorical displays of all time. Given around 410 B.C.E., the speech was made in commemoration of warriors killed in the early stages of the Peloponnesian War between the staunch city-states of Sparta and Athens. Although technically a eulogy, the words are indisputably used to persuade: Athens is admired, encouraging patriotism to continue the war effort; and the dead are applauded, prompting listeners to sacrifice their all, just as the soldiers did. While occasional tones of arrogance can create the impression of propaganda, the confidence and aspiration in democratic society radiates through, rousing ambition to protect the great city of Athens.
From the outset, Pericles remembers those who have lived before them including Solon who made this speech not only custom, but law. Pleated in between the recollections, a humble apology for the inadequacy of his own words on such a sensitive occasion, Pericles demonstrates a capacity for empathy. He continues to build upon the prestige of the forefathers saying, “they, with great effort, added the empire we now possess to their inheritance and left it as a legacy for us, the living.” This allusion to ancient pedigree is a powerful technique utilized by politicians and speakers to this day, exercising its effects to swell the audience with pride in who they were, are, and can become, as proven by their heritage. Nevertheless, Pericles does not accept past eminence as a surrogate for...
... middle of paper ...
...Funeral Oration of Pericles offers a glimpse into the progressive world of the ancient Greeks, an excerpt of the grandiloquence of a statesman, and one answer to the longstanding question, “Why do we fight?” While words of loftiness and excessive self-importance saunter throughout the speech, the value of democratic life is pristinely acclaimed in this inspirational debut. The intentions of a perfected city can be commended, as this state of excellence would consequently promote the quality of life for each and every inhabitant. Filled with rhetorical skills any politician could gleam from, even in the modern age, the speech reveals that patriotism is often a deep-rooted matter of the heart, not a mere governmental tool. With stunning persuasion, Pericles reminds audiences of every era to embrace their role in life for the uplifting of others, no matter their duty.
Throughout Aristophanes’ “Clouds” there is a constant battle between old and new. It makes itself apparent in the Just and Unjust speech as well as between father and son. Ultimately, Pheidippides, whom would be considered ‘new’, triumphs over the old Strepsiades, his father. This is analogous to the Just and Unjust speech. In this debate, Just speech represents the old traditions and mores of Greece while the contrasting Unjust speech is considered to be newfangled and cynical towards the old. While the defeat of Just speech by Unjust speech does not render Pheidippides the ability to overcome Strepsiades, it is a parallel that may be compared with many other instances in Mythology and real life.
Pericles’ Funeral Oration is a speech given by the Athenian leader Pericles, at a funeral, after the first battle of the Peloponnesian war. Pericles used this public funeral to make a statement and praise the Athenian people. “Our constitution does not copy the laws of neighboring states; we are rather a pattern to others than imitators ourselves”. Pericles believes Athens is original. They do not have to conform, they make the rules and other countries follow. “Its
The first year of fighting between Athens and Sparta is drawing to a close. As is customary during war, Athens holds a public funeral to both celebrate and mourn their fallen soldiers. Such ceremonies typically feature an oration given by a respected Athenian – with this year’s coming from renowned statesman Pericles. Previous orations had focused on celebrating the Athenian military by recounting their trials and accomplishments. Pericles decided to depart from this convention, believing it was no longer novel, nor necessary, “That part of our history which tells of the military achievements which gave us our several possessions, or of the ready valor with which either we or our fathers stemmed the tide of Hellenic or foreign aggression, is a theme too familiar to my hearers for me to dwell upon, and I shall therefore pass it by.”
Pericles' Funeral Oration as recorded by Thucydides in the History of the Peloponnesian War and Theodore Roosevelt's Citizenship in a Republic were delivered in vastly different contexts, but have some similarities. Pericles gave his eulogy for the Athenian war-dead at a public funeral that took place around 430 BC, at the end of the first year of the Peloponnesian War, while Roosevelt gave his speech before a packed auditorium on April 23rd, 1910, by invitation of the University of Paris. It is interesting to read and analyze these two speeches in light of each other because both were offered by a leader of a democratic government and both contain reflections on the topic of citizenship. To introduce this topic, both Pericles and Roosevelt challenge the preconceptions and sensibilities of their audience and, to support the claims they make, both use the idea of the common man as a unifying motif as well as maxims, enthymemes, and examples from history. Careful analysis of these two speeches reveals that while Pericles argues why democracy should be defended and Roosevelt speaks to h...
It is widely known that the Athenians highly valued their warrior class, and they saw the warriors as a ring of the higher circle of the society. The Athenians were very proud of Athena and its traditions, as well. Athenian’s thought that Athena was the best, none could be better. The funeral oration was aimed to respect the fallen as well as to keep up the national pride and its passion to protect their nation. The speech was a eulogy which focused on the eminence of Athens and its predecessors. Usually a son was chosen to give the eulogy. The law required the speech to have several essential components. The speech had to concerning the lives of the deceased. At his eulogy’s end, Pericles spoke in regard to the soldiers. The speech talked about the life that the departed lived and the achievements which they gained. Pericles wanted the citizens to recall the soldiers but to forget about the tragedy that had occurred. He wanted the departed’s lives to be remembered, but not their demise. The speech helped the Athenians appreciate what their ancestors had died for and how they shou...
The Peloponnesian War was fought from 431-409 BC. It was a civil war between the Greek city-states and was lead by Sparta and it’s allies against the dominating Athenian government. The Athenian leader, Pericles, was a learned scholar and an ingenious military general. His speeches were known for their ability to motivate and give courage to a crowd whether it was to his soldiers in the final moments right before a battle or to a gathering in the streets of Athens. After the first few battles of the Peloponnesian War, Pericles was asked to give the funeral oration for those that were slain in defense of Athens. He did not offer his condolences to the families of those that died, but he offered them comfort. He did this because the men that died in those battles did not do so in vain, for dying in defense of one’s city-state had nothing to do with vanity in the eyes of the ...
The book written by Thucydides, History of the Peloponnesian War, contains two controversial debates between distinguished speakers of Athens. The two corresponding sides produce convincing arguments which can be taken as if produced as an honest opinion or out of self-interest. The two debates must be analyzed separately in order to conclude which one and which side was speaking out of honest opinion or self-interest, as well as which speakers are similar to each other in their approach to the situation.
This statement is due to a former version of the legislation of Solon, which forbade speaking people who had not completed their 50th year of age. This provision had languished in the 4th century but kept rather only ceremonial. Even states that will speak first compared with those who they used previously and obviously meant people who played a significant role in the politics of Athens and they were offered each time issues, which would discuss the ecclesia. Between and on top of the crowd will be standing Eyboulos, which Demosthenes was a supporter until recently and with that of the declaration for leniency from the side of the audience wants to show his respect for his political opponents. Another reason for this is the statement and why to succeed the favor of the public will have a direct impact on the attack which will immediately proceed after against his political opponents. We see him said he would have avoided the Athenians this state, they are now if they had been properly advised and had their lead to many mistakes. Amazingly, as says Mr. Tsatsos, seeing Demosthenes within three dense sentences, stating only what must be running through all the psychological scale. Starts from modesty, perhaps cowardice and concludes with a sword in the unlikely face of his opponent. This underlines Demosthenes is the wrong policy of the past in contrast with what he proposes. This contrast
The Peloponnesian War is the conflict between the pelopoponesians league led by Sparta and the Delian league, led by Athens. Much of our knowledge on the causes and events of the Peloponnesian War, depends on the Athenian Thucydides 460-400 BC, writer of the History of the Peloponessian War. He servd as an Athenian commander in Northern Greece during the early years of the war until the assembly exiled him as he lost an outpost to the enemy. During this exile, he was able to interview witnesses on both sides of the conflicted. Unlike Heredotus he concentrated on contemporary history and presented his account of the war in an annalistic framework that only occasionally diverts from chronological order. In his account, he discuses the precursors to the war, including the 30 years truce and revolutions, such as the stasis in Corcyra. When looking at wars, the primary focus is normally the fighting itself, such as what we see for World War II. However, it is important to look at the anatomy of war, meaning what effect the war has on the people who are experiencing it first hand, and the consquences that the conflict has on the rest of the world. Therefore in this essay I shall discuss, drawing directly from Thucydides, The History of the Peloponnesian War, how the civilians reacted to the war, their involvement and socio economic factors. Furthermore, the first section of my essay shall focus on the direct effect of war on the people, regarding the plague, and violence and hopelessness that was experienced. Then I shall go on to discuss more general effects of the war and how it affected the Greek world, discussing the social and economic losses that occurred such as the cost of the war in attica, the coup d’etat that occurred in gove...
For Pericles, Athenian values are realized through culture and “daily devotion.” He claims that Athenian citizens obey both “the laws themselves” and “agreed-on social values (which need no specific legislation),” not requiring legislation to uphold their values. Accordingly, Pericles views exceptionalism as intrinsic to Athenians. Boasting about the city, Pericles questions “how else did she become great but by this genius in her citizens?” A recommitment to civic values, therefore, is simple to Pericles: Athenians are exceptional at the moment of his speech, and must simply continue their past conduct in order to achieve future
In the first of the two texts, Pericles is making a very bold statement on the state of the Athens. “Our constitution does not copy the laws of neighbouring states; we are rather a pattern to others than imitators ourselves.” In his speech, Pericles is trying to rally the Athenians to support the new democracy and to make them feel important by being associated with
The death of Pericles was a significant event in the course of the Peloponnesian War; however, even without Pericles' leadership the Athenian Assembly had countless opportunities to prevent their loss and chose not to take them. The fickleness and inefficiency of democracy ('the mob') allowed the Athenians to be easily influenced and therefore electing populists such as Cleon, Lysicles and Hyperbolus into dominant leadership roles. Election, via democratic means, of such populists, meant that the Athenians would take a much more aggressive approach to the war and therefore abandon the policies that Pericles had previously established. So in turn, democracy the institution for which the Athenians fought tirelessly to protect, rather than the death of Pericles, ironically became the dominant factor influencing the final outcome of this Ancient Greek civil war.
Thucydides’ version of Pericles’ “Funeral Oration” can be read as more of an ironic rendering of Pericles’ original speech since The History of the Peloponnesian War is not just considered to be a historical account but also a “highly imaginative piece of work” in which Thucydides made characters involved in the war say what he believed they actually meant instead of what they might have originally said (Thucydides Introduction pg. x). In the “Funeral Oration”, Pericles praises certain
One of Plato's goals in The Republic, as he defines the Just City, is to illustrate what kind of leader and government could bring about the downfall of his ideal society. To prevent pride and greed in leaders would ensure that they would not compromise the well being of the city to obtain monetary gains or to obtain more power. If this state of affairs becomes firmly rooted in the society, the fall to Tyranny begins. This is the most dangerous state that the City become on i...
Robinson, Charles Alexander. Athens in the age of Pericles. Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 1959.