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A Primary Text Analysis: The Funeral Oration Of Pericles

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The Funeral Oration of Pericles: A Primary Text Analysis

In Pericles’ Funeral Oration, the famous and influential text in 430 B.C was given by Pericles to traditionally honor the death of the soldiers that fought in war and serviced in the Athenian military. This interpretation of the oration is written by Thucydides, as it is a manuscript of what Pericles said to the Athenian public. Through this text, Pericles focuses on honoring the fallen soldiers, but he also emphases the values of Athenian society and the social structure of the invention of democracy, as it is introduced for the first time ever in history. The Funeral Oration of Pericles expresses the distinct values of strong moral standards for social structure and introduces democracy, as it reinforces laws and the need for equal justice. …show more content…

Pericles argues that Athens has become a model for others, and articulates what it is to be a good citizen. This can be seen when he says, “although the eyes of an enemy may occasionally profit by our liberality; trusting less in system and policy than to the native spirit of our citizens; while in education, where our rivals from their very cradles by a painful discipline seek after manliness, at Athens we live exactly as we please, and yet are just as ready to encounter every legitimate danger.” (Thucydides, 2.39) It proves that Ancient Athens’ valued greatness and worked in order to achieve the excellence of the state, by focusing on rebuilding themselves back up after the Persian war. Pericles played a big role in this because he showed his ambitions to rebuild Athens, which lead to the thriving of other subjects such as literature, philosophy, science, art, and religion. Without the courage to rebuild Athens through the foundations of democracy, the structure of the modern world would not have discourses built from those established in the ancient Greek

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First of all, the economy was very strong in Athens. Athens is located in the gulf, and the transportation was very convenient, so development in industry and commerce increased rapidly. What’s more, Democracy was rising in Athens.

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Pericles, who was Greek, can be biased in his statement because as a leader, he needs to win the people’s support. Therefore, he can only say the glories of Athens. Document 5 supports Document 4’s statement. Document 5 talks about the details of the Athenian government. It tells the reader “No one remained in power long enough to entrench himself”

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Thucydides’ placement of Perikles’ “Funeral Oration” followed by the account of the plague is in every sense a “dramatic juxtaposition”[1]. The deliberate binary opposition of logos and ergon, and nomos and physis between the speech and plague makes these two events the antithesis of his work. With both the eulogy and the narrative that follows, the reader should understand a point of truth in human nature, and teach them something that time with never change, the past gives way to the events of the future. In his writing, Thucydides uses words and phrases to contrast Perikles’ speech with the plague in such a jarring way.

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Speeches for the Fallen: Pericles vs. Reagan Countless events throughout history have led to the much appreciated sacrifices of fellow humans, and one way for the community to honor this is to speak about it. Speeches such as Pericles’ Funeral Oration and Ronald Reagan’s Address to the Nation on the Explosion of the Space Shuttle Challenger have been influenced by the same ideas and structures that created a lasting effect on their audiences. Both men talk about very grave subjects: honoring men and women lost performing their duties. Pericles addressed the loss of Athenian soldiers to battles against Sparta in ancient Greek times, while Ronald Reagan gave an on-the-spot speech over the relatively recent loss of astronauts during NASA’s Challenger mission.

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In Richard Crawley’s translated version of The History of the Peloponnesian War by Thucydides the “Funeral Oration of Pericles” and “The Melian Conference” share the similarity of the Athenian representative using rich rhetoric and the differences of perspective of Athens. In both the “Funeral Oration of Pericles” and “The Melian Conference,” the Athenians uses graceful rhetoric in order to disguise its military intentions. Before Pericles acknowledges the dead soldiers and their mourning family, he praises Athens on their beauty and intellect (Book 2 Funeral Oration of Pericles 40). He also denounces Sparta, the enemy, for their military policies.

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He instituted democracy and allowed for people to have a say in how the city was run. Without these things, Athens could never have entered the Golden Age and would have remained just another polis in the great fabric of Greek history. " All who have taken it upon themselves to rule over others have incurred hatred and unpopularity for a time; but if one has a great aim to pursue, this burden of envy must be accepted, and it is wise to accept it." (Pericles, n.d).

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Unlike the Romans, Athenians had a strict but fair schedule that allowed them to enjoy citizenship equally. Equally, hard workers have brought Athens power just as much as hereditary leaders. According to Document B all citizens should be allowed to speak their opinion and have a share in election because of the hard work they do to make the city powerful. Athenians allowed poor and common men to win a position in government which was a transition from the wealthy having power to everyone having power.

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Many see love as a positive quality and for the most part it is. It gives us compassion for our fellow man, allows us to bond with each other, and care for our families. But it also has self-destructive properties too. In Thucydides History of the Peloponnesian War, the Athenians feel a really strong patriotism to their city and empire.

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Athens, located in southern Greece, experienced an expansion in culture and education during the years between the Persian War and Peloponnesian War (477-431 BC) which set the stage for future expansions of culture in civilizations like Ancient Rome and Europe during the Renaissance. Although Athens was very prosperous, innovative and ruled by strong leaders during their Golden Age, they still didn’t have a perfect government or social structure which puts into question how successful this period actually was. 1st Paragraph (Outline) Pericles 's had great success in beautifying Athens and increasing its culture, through innovative art and architecture, as well advances in theater, which created a Golden Age because the people of Athens experienced

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Socrates and Pericles had extremely differing views about Athenian life. Pericles was a Politician, whereas Socrates was a philosopher. In “The Funeral Oration of Pericles”, Pericles contradicts himself a lot. While in “The Apology of Socrates”, Socrates does not go back on what he said in the past. He stands by everything he has said.

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In this essay, I would like to answer and discuss the following questions: How did the people in Athens and Sparta obtain the right to participate in public life and make decisions affecting the community? Who held public office? What rules governed the selection of public office holders? How were two city-states similar in their governmental structures and how did they differ with each other? For the Spartans the right to participate and made important decisions from the entire community were only exercised by the adult and legitimate male citizens of Sparta.

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Without his leadership, Greece suffered a depression for 30 years, wars were lost, and most important of all, Pericles glory was never regained again. The years that Pericles was leader of Athens has two titles; “The Golden Age of Athens” and “The Age of Pericles”. These titles are used because during these 32 years, Athens had tremendous economic growth and cultural flourishing. Pericles introduced direct democracy, made Athens the “Intellectual Center of the Ancient World”, led Athens through

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Pericles, a key political figure of 5th century Athens states, “Our constitution does not copy the laws of neighboring states; we are rather a pattern to others than imitators ourselves.” The Athenians had no desire to follow what appeared as mediocre government, the Athenians pushed for the best form they could find. Arete, for Athens, meant every person had a voice in politics. Politics embraces the reason of the mind as well as the emotion of the heart. Therefore, the very essence of a good human being would lie in being a politically active person.

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Pericles ' viewpoint is nevertheless argued in The Republic, juxtaposing the qualifications of the ruling power and their competence versus the incapability of the general public to foster such a magnitude of power. Using "Socrates" as a fictional protagonist, Plato critiques democracy in The Republic. Through this protagonist, he reflects on the value of merits such as ‘justice, ' that are prevalent in the configuration of society as a whole and in the character of an individual being. He condemns societal democracy due to its foremost features such as freedom and equality. Although freedom is of utmost value to Plato, he is of the faith that freedom concocted with such a form of governance may run the risk of chaotic mobocracy.

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Undoubtedly it helped the citizens of Athens to broaden their minds, their cultural awareness and, what was probably most important, to develop

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