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.
To illustrate, in the Gettysburg Address, Lincoln says that there “shall be a new birth of freedom and that the people shall not perish from the earth.” Lincoln tells the audience that if they help and don’t let the soldiers “die in vain” that in the end, they will have freedom and liberty. This speech was given in 1863 and the war did not end until 1865, meaning that the audience needed to hear words that would help them keep fighting. As well as the Gettysburg Address, Pericles’ Funeral Oration also gives its people hope. Pericles starts off by telling the Athenians that Athens is worth fighting for to reach freedom.
While talking about the end of the Greek democracy, we have to talk about the Pericles, Thucydides, and "The Peloponnesian Wars". Ordinarily, Pericles was the famous Democratic leader of the Athens. He was also well known for this great speech. Regardless of being the famous leader, talented politicians like Pericles and Themistocles mostly dominated the Athenian politics in order to get supported on their own agenda and policies by the majority in the assembly.
Pericles even gave the wealth of the Athens and offered dinner to those that need it. This document is a secondary source. Purpose: Pericles was a man who
With his charisma, martial and political skills Pericles managed to secure reelection to the office of strategos on an annual basis. For more than twenty years Pericles would lead a multitude of martial expeditions, most of them seas based, to extend and safeguard Athenian interests. Much of his success at battle came from his cautious nature. Pericles endeavored to avoid battles that he considered to a favorable outcome but the chance of failure too high, too risky, and too uncertain. He also refused to be swapped up by the citizens’ vain desires.
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.
Considering that both speeches used logos, Pericles’ Funeral Oration presented a better logical appeal because he brings forth hypothetical examples. In the speech, Pericles says " I would ask you to count as gain the greater part of your life, in which you have been happy, and remember that what remains is not long," ( page 77, 32-34), he creates a valid argument using logic saying if you are sad because your son died just remember the parts of your life where you were happy and don’t worry because you don’t have much left to live. Furthermore, Susan B. Anthony uses logos too, for example, “It was, we the people; not we, the white male citizens… but we, the whole people, who formed the Union” (Copeland 321), she uses logos to emphasize how
Pericles’ Funeral Oration, written by Thucydides, is Pericles’ speech directed at the Athenians intended to persuade and encourage them to continue fighting through the Peloponnesian War. Pericles utilizes composition and division of declarative statements to convince the Athenians to keep faith in the ongoing war. As readers of Pericles’ oration, we can judge simple propositions to be true or false. Through Pericles’ use of simple propositions and conditional statements, the Athenian people are motivated to continue fighting in the war.
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.
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.
Pericles’s “Funeral Oration” describes the people of Athens’s during a time of war, after lives had been lost. His ideals of Athenian conduct and culture was one of the highest esteem; holding every citizen to the highest standard. Athens was to be the example for every other Grecian city. After losing the Peloponnesian War, the Athenians lost some of what Pericles would have considered the standard of thought from the people. After 30 years of damning oligarchy, the people of Athens wish to be as they once were before the war.
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.
In addition, Thucydides and Plutarch shared the same unifying message. In “Pericles’ Funeral Oration”, Thucydides quotes Pericles stating “Make up your minds that happiness depends on being free, and freedom depends on being courageous.” This quote was meant to create a sense of patriotism
Government is a form of political structure that rules over a group of specific people and while stability is important, in most societies government is fluid in its form and changes over time. As different forms of government take power, typically one demographic is favored over another. While the Athenian democracy favored the masses, oligarchic sympathizers like Pseudo-Xenophon, displayed their discontent with it. In his negative critique of Athenian democracy titled “The Constitution of the Athenians,” Pseudo-Xenophon supports the oligarchic system over the democratic one, yet still maintains a respect for the Athenian’s democracy as he comments on its longevity and stability.
Pericles was an Athenian Statesman born in 495 BC in a small town named Holoros, north of Athens. He came from a family of rich Aristocrats, and was deeply involved with changing the structure of Greek government. In 461 BC, Pericles was pronounced the leader of Athens. He created laws that allowed every citizen to be a part of the government, and laws that balanced the rich and the poor. Pericles strengthened Athens by creating and introducing direct democracy to them, and also by valuing their arts and literature.
