( Log Out /  Excerpt from Assessment : Pericles' Funeral Oration Pericles, the most revolutionary figure ever found in the history of Ancient Greece was born of a distinguished family about 494 B.C. It might have inspired Abraham Lincoln's "Funeral Oration" supposedly delivered in winter, 430 (from Thucydides, History of the Peloponnesian War, book 2) Retold in English by Stan Rummel Section 01: Thucydides' Introduction In the same winter the Athenians gave a funeral at the public cost to those who had first fallen in this war. [5] He spent the rest of his life observing the Peloponnesian War closely and writing his ambitious history of the events, which he confidently declared would be a “possession for all time.”[6] As Victor Davis Hanson notes in his introduction to The Landmark Thucydides, Thucydides “clearly outlined his own methods of historical inquiry, offering a self-conscious candor rare in ancient narrative writing.”[7] The broad range of data and modes of research that Thucydides used to support the facts given in his history lend themselves to the conclusion that Thucydides truly sought to be as objective as possible. Oration About Environment ... in funeral speech) – Spartans are better fighters * So many people behind the walls, ... metaphors, imagery and anaphora. “In short,” Pericles offers, “I say that as a city we are the school of Hellas; while I doubt if the world can produce a man, who where he has only himself to depend upon, is equal to so many emergencies, and graced by so happy a versatility as the Athenian.”[9]. At such a time of high emotions and patriotism – Pericles has not one theme but several. I have performed it to the best of my ability, and in word, at least, the requirements of the law are now satisfied. “Further, we provide plenty of means for the mind to refresh itself from business. Pericles’ funeral oration. The epainesis in Pericles’ oration continues with a remark on arete, that is, the excellence of the dead in battle: But the valor of these men and their peers gave the city her beauty…The death of these, in my judgment, revealed the courage of some at their first encounter, or conformed the others’ established record (Pericles, 21). I feel like the metaphors and similes give the speech that sort of feel. That part of our history which tells of the military achievements which gave us our several possessions, or of the ready valour 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 dilate on, and I shall therefore pass it by. “At Athens, we live exactly as we please, and yet are just as ready to encounter every legitimate danger.” He describes how “equal justice to all” under the law affords opportunity and merit-based reward to everyone, regardless of social standing. After his account of Pericles’ final speech, he provides a glowing account of Pericles’ character: “Pericles…by his known integrity, was enabled to…lead them instead of being led by them; for as he never sought power by improper means, he was never compelled to flatter them, but, on the contrary, enjoyed so high an estimation that he could afford to anger them by contradiction. Barbarossa to ‘Berlog’ – Soviet Air Force, Rome Military mid-fourth century to the mid-third century BC, Rommel Recaptures Cyrenaica, January 1942, Russian Weapons, that are currently in service…, A Lesson of History: The Luftwaffe and Barbarossa. At the end of the first year of the 27-year Peloponnesian War between Athens and Sparta, the Athenian General Pericles gave a panegyric for the dead soldiers of Athens. 31 - 40 of 500 . He begins the oration by discussing the difficulty of honouring the dead, for to speak too little will offend those who knew them best and to speak too highly will cause envy among those … A great amount of lives of Athenians were lost, and the city of Athens held a public funeral to keep up with the traditions. In the Funeral Oration Pericles’ contrasts between Athens and Sparta challenge Sparta’s prestige in every 18 95507_01_Superpower:Layout 1 29/5/18 11:06 Page 19 Sparta in Pericles’ funeral oration aspect of life on the grounds that the Athenians can do everything the Spartans can, but can do … Study 66 Final Exam flashcards from Amanda S. on StudyBlue. They dwelt in the country without break in the succession from generation to generation, and handed it down free to the present time by their valour. Pericles’ Funeral Oration. The Suomen Ilmavoimat (Finnish Air Force). At such a time of high emotions and patriotism – Pericles has not one theme but several. Still I know that this is a hard saying, especially when those are in question of whom you will constantly be reminded by seeing in the homes of others blessings of which once you also boasted: for grief is felt not so much for the want of what we have never known, as for the loss of that to which we have been long accustomed. And yet if with habits not of labour but of ease, and courage not of art but of nature, we are still willing to encounter danger, we have the double advantage of escaping the experience of hardships in anticipation and of facing them in the hour of need as fearlessly as those who are never free from them. History 2700 (Chapters 1-4) 730 Terms. After the bodies have been laid in the earth, a man chosen by the state, of approved wisdom and eminent reputation, pronounces over them an appropriate panegyric; after which all retire. Pericles’ funeral oration is long and complex. The Menexenus of P Such metaphors occur principally in two sections of the History: the Funeral Oration in book 2 and the account of the Sicilian Expedition in book 6. For myself, I should have thought that the worth which had displayed itself in deeds would be sufficiently rewarded by honours also shown by deeds; such as you now see in this funeral prepared at the people’s cost. Socrates here delivers to Menexenus a speech that he claims to have learned from Aspasia, a consort of Pericles and prominent female Athenian intellectual. As might be expected of a noted classicist, Everett 201 Pericles at Gettysburg and Ground Zero May 2007 identified the Greek pedigree for both the commem- identifying the causes of the war and the conditions for oration and his oration, invoking and quoting Pericles peace, and the funeral oration at Gettysburg provided in his closing remarks. ldallett17. in the Periclean Funeral Oration S. SARA MONOSON Northwestern University AT A KEY POINT IN THE FUNERAL oration Thucydides has Pericles urge his fellow citizens "to gaze, day after day, upon the power of the city and become her lovers (erastai)" (II.43.1).1 This article investigates the implications and resonances of Pericles' use of this metaphor. torts, “Like Pericles, I lost them ‘for what was necessary.’”5 Aristotle in his Rhetoriccites Pericles for his use of two striking similes and two arresting metaphors. In the funeral speech he gave probably in 439 over the dead in the Samian War, Pericles said that “the youth who had perished in the war had vanished Pericles is here making a claim of propaganda for the democratic idealism of Athens. He included the name and words of Pericles in many of his speeches on art, culture, and education in America. Our united force was never yet encountered by any enemy, because we have at once to attend to our marine and to dispatch our citizens by land upon a hundred different services; so that, wherever they engage with some such fraction of our strength, a success against a detachment is magnified into a victory over the nation, and a defeat into a reverse suffered at the hands of our entire people. Today, I read The Funeral Oration of Pericles. Pericles begins his oration by setting out the difficulty of his task: to please those in the audience who were close to the dead with tales of glory and honor without dismissing the citizens of Athens, who Pericles claims only want to hear praise of the dead so long as they can feel satisfied that they are equally great, (II.35). Like other wartime wisdom, it contains spiritual lessons for those of us on the spritual path, which I want to record. famous passage in this respect: Pericles’ exhortation in the funeral oration to become erastai of Athens. He introduces repetition twice in the speech. Despite the words of Pericles, Athens would suffer greatly in the coming years. Reliable and interpretive attempts, founded on assiduous studies, detailed and intense investigation, The Athenians, whom Pericles has just described as “ready to encounter every legitimate danger” and “equal to so many emergencies,” buckle in every way under the onset of a devastating illness. The speakers are Socrates and Menexenus, who is not to be confused with Socrates' son Menexenus. Unlike Lincoln’s address, however, which was documented verbatim immediately and reported in newspapers across the country within twenty-four hours, Pericles’ oration is brought to us by Thucydides’ pen, writing decades after the speech. Pericles’ Funeral Oration In his oration, Pericles sheds new light on traditional Greek virtues by examining not only the accomplishments of the Athenian empire, but the particular qualities and institutions that have facilitated […] The first evocation of eros occurs precisely in the epitaphios logos which Pericles delivered for the men who had fallen in the first year of the war with Sparta. Quotes Pericles Funeral Oration. The language of Pericles’ Funeral Oration, and its placement adjacent in his history to a description of the plague that killed one-third of Athens’ population, shows that Thucydides intended to use this part of his narrative … war. And if a test of worth be wanted, it is to be found in their closing scene, and this not only in cases in which it set the final seal upon their merit, but also in those in which it gave the first intimation of their having any. Study 60 Final Review flashcards from Meghan M. on StudyBlue. For men can endure to hear others praised only so long as they can severally persuade themselves of their own ability to equal the actions recounted: when this point is passed, envy comes in and with it incredulity. What the Greeks called the “plague” ( loimos) features in some memorable passages in Greek literature. A.B. But what is more inspiring is the way Pericles delivered the speech in the Greek famous War. It is a subject that admits not the flights of fancy, nor the charms of eloquence. Download Citation | On Nov 1, 2000, AB Bosworth published The Historical Context of Thucydides' Funeral Oration | Find, read and cite all the research you need on ResearchGate nelson_o. Pericles says that Athenians regard those who take no part in his democratic duties not as un-ambitious but as useless. Pericles' Funeral Oration: HistoryWiz Primary Source. ― Pericles, The Funeral Oration of Pericles. “If we turn to our military policy, there also we differ from our antagonists. It seemed to them a worthy thing that such an honor should be given at their burial to the dead who have fallen on the field of battle. Upon analyzing the specifics of Athens’ moral and social breakdown that Thucydides describes, the ironic parallels with Pericles’ Funeral Oration become clear. Post was not sent - check your email addresses! Our public men have, besides politics, their private affairs to attend to, and our ordinary citizens, though occupied with the pursuits of industry, are still fair judges of public matters; for, unlike any other nation, regarding him who takes no part in these duties not as unambitious but as useless, we Athenians are able to judge at all events if we cannot originate, and, instead of looking on discussion as a stumbling-block in the way of action, we think it an indispensable preliminary to any wise action at all. Yet it is Demosthenes who is remembered as the greatest orator of Greece and perhaps all time. Funeral Oration of Pericles (431 BCE) Commentary by Todd W. Ewing, Williams Baptist College. Did this speech inspire others? Correspondingly, Pericles’ “Funeral Oration” also includes a form alliteration and repetition, as well as two metaphors. THE WAR OF THE SPANISH SUCCESSION – FRANCE. 1. But the palm of courage will surely be adjudged most justly to those, who best know the difference between hardship and pleasure and yet are never tempted to shrink from danger. A deadly disease spread in Athens, that led the leader Pericles to his death, as well as a quarter of the people in the country, yet they continued fighting vigilantly against the Spartans. And where the rewards for merit are greatest, there are found the best citizens. Many historians believe that Thucydides likely edited the speech to some extent. Fill in your details below or click an icon to log in: You are commenting using your WordPress.com account. Thucydides’ subtle editorializing can be detected both in the words he puts in the mouths of his speech-givers and in his selective inclusion and arrangement of historical details. The Menexenus consists mainly of a lengthy funeral oration, referencing the one given by Pericles in Thucydides' account of the Peloponnesian War. Free Daily Quotes. Thucydides (c.460-400BC) and Sophocles (490-406BC) would have known one another in Athens, although it is hard to say much more than that for a lack of evidence. 3 examples of metaphors/fig. For it is not the miserable that would most justly be unsparing of their lives; these have nothing to hope for: it is rather they to whom continued life may bring reverses as yet unknown, and to whom a fall, if it came, would be most tremendous in its consequences. “[Our] administration favors the many instead of the few; this is why it is called a democracy,” Thucydides’ Pericles declares. Any citizen or stranger who pleases, joins in the procession: and the female relatives are there to wail at the burial. The reader who would interpret the Funeral Oration as a resounding war cry for the excellence of democracy need only read Thucydides’ next few chapters to realize the futility of such an attempt. Now, at the burial of those who were the first to fall in the war Pericles…was chosen to make the speech. There, far from exercising a jealous surveillance over each other, we do not feel called upon to be angry with our neighbour for doing what he likes, or even to indulge in those injurious looks which cannot fail to be offensive, although they inflict no positive penalty. On the one hand, the friend who is familiar with every fact of the story may think that some point has not been set forth with that fullness which he wishes and knows it to deserve; on the other, he who is a stranger to the matter may be led by envy to suspect exaggeration if he hears anything above his own nature. funeral oration in isolation from Pericles. Totally Free Essays, Research Papers, Term Papers, Courseworks used in both BY and IHAD? His famous “Gettysburg Address” has been analyzed and memorized by schoolchildren for generations. Funeral Oration on Ephraim Simonds August, 1801 Source: W&S v. 15 487-493 No one ever ascended the stage to speak on a more delicate subject than the loss of a companion. ( Log Out /  Like “Time is the wisest counselor of all” ― Pericles 2 likes. Rather than give in to a tendency to portray the Athenians or Pericles as legendary figures or moral heroes, he crafts his writing in a way that reminds the reader of the Athenians’ humanity and their susceptibility to normal human weaknesses and impulses. to compete with the orators and to write a funeral oration of his own, and since, moreover, the main lines of Pericles' oration must have been well remembered and probably preserved in the writings of some of his critics or biographers. Correspondingly, Pericles’ “Funeral Oration” also includes a form alliteration and repetition, as well as two metaphors. In my estimation, this fact, rather than making Thucydides more biased or less credible as a historian, actually increases the objectivity and realism of his account. Three days before the ceremony, the bones of the dead are laid out in a tent which has been erected; and their friends bring to their relatives such offerings as they please. In this country, it would be almost political suicide to say such a thing. "Pericles Funeral Oration" Essays and Research Papers . And not contented with ideas derived only from words of the advantages which are bound up with the defence of your country, though these would furnish a valuable text to a speaker even before an audience so alive to them as the present, you must yourselves realize the power of Athens, and feed your eyes upon her from day to day, till love of her fills your hearts; and then, when all her greatness shall break upon you, you must reflect that it was by courage, sense of duty, and a keen feeling of honour in action that men were enabled to win all this, and that no personal failure in an enterprise could make them consent to deprive their country of their valour, but they laid it at her feet as the most glorious contribution that they could offer. Change ), You are commenting using your Google account. Pericles says “public life falls to reputation for capacity class considerations…” this line contains a repetition of the letter c. Because the letter c is repeated, it forms a piece of a repetition. BAD: Pericles is the speaker at the funeral for the Athenian soldiers who died in the first year of the Peloponnesian War… GOOD: Pericles devotes much of his oration not to the memory of those Athenians who fell in the first year of the Peloponnesian War, but in praise of the city for which they died. Social Movements Exam 2: Quotes Only 46 Terms. Several funeral orations from classical Athens are extant, which seem to corroborate Thucydides' assertion that this was a regular feature of Athenian funerary custom in wartime. They allow the audience member to determine meaning from the rhetorical devices, and that freedom to interpret sits well with most people. Latin America Final Exam 74 Terms. Such is the Athens for which these men, in the assertion of their resolve not to lose her, nobly fought and died; and well may every one of their survivors be ready to suffer in her cause. The bravery and the strength of the warrior is not undermined, but given greater depth and meaning by an appreciation of the beauty of the world. He celebrates how the Athenians “cultivate refinement without extravagance and knowledge without effeminacy,” in an attempt to convey how Athenians can possess power and wealth without losing their basically good moral character. Analysis of Thucydides’ accounts of Pericles’ Funeral Oration and The Plague, so vividly juxtaposed with one another, leads to the conclusion that Thucydides did indeed have an agenda beyond merely providing a description of historical events. What if Eisenhower Had Driven On to Berlin? 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