248:
was speaking of gave their lives to a cause to protect the city of Athens, and its freedom. He praised Athens for its attributes that stood out amongst their neighbours such as its democracy when he elaborates that trust is justly placed on the citizens rather than relying only on the system and the policy of the city. Where citizens boast a freedom that differs from their enemies' the
Lacedaemonians. He regards the soldiers who gave their lives as truly worth of merit. That if anyone should ask, they should look at their final moments when they gave their lives to their country and that should leave no doubt in the mind of the doubtful. He explained that fighting for one's country was a great honour, and that it was like wearing a cloak that concealed any negative implications because his imperfections would be outweighed by his merits as a citizen. He praises the soldiers for not faltering in their execution during the war. That the soldiers put aside their desires and wishes for the greater cause. Because as they are described by Pericles, Athenian citizens were distinct from the citizens of other nations – they were open minded, tolerant, and ready to understand and follow orders. Where their system of democracy allowed them to have a voice amongst those who made important decisions that would affect them. Therefore, he proceeds to point out that the greatest honour and act of valour in Athens is to live and die for freedom of the state Pericles believed was different and more special than any other neighbouring city.
239:
Finally, Pericles links his praise of the city to the dead
Athenians for whom he is speaking, "...for the Athens that I have celebrated is only what the heroism of these and their like have made her...none of these men allowed either wealth with its prospect of future enjoyment to unnerve his spirit, or poverty with its hope of a day of freedom and riches to tempt him to shrink from danger. No, holding that vengeance upon their enemies was more to be desired than any personal blessings, and reckoning this to be the most glorious of hazards, they joyfully determined to accept the risk... Thus, choosing to die resisting, rather than to live submitting, they fled only from dishonour..." The conclusion seems inevitable: "Therefore, having judged that to be happy means to be free, and to be free means to be brave, do not shy away from the risks of war". With the linkage of Athens' greatness complete, Pericles moves to addressing his audience.
235:." The liberality of which Pericles spoke also extended to Athens' foreign policy: "We throw open our city to the world, and never by alien acts exclude foreigners from any opportunity of learning or observing, although the eyes of an enemy may occasionally profit by our liberality ..." Yet Athens's values of equality and openness do not, according to Pericles, hinder Athens' greatness, indeed, they enhance it, "...advancement in public life falls to reputations for capacity, class considerations not being allowed to interfere with merit...our ordinary citizens, though occupied with the pursuits of industry, are still fair judges of public matters...at Athens we live exactly as we please, and yet are just as ready to encounter every legitimate danger."
31:
231:"If we look to the laws, they afford equal justice to all in their private differences...if a man is able to serve the state, he is not hindered by the obscurity of his condition. The freedom we enjoy in our government extends also to our ordinary life. 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..." These lines form the roots of the famous phrase "
1176:
90:
It was an established
Athenian practice by the late BC 5th century to hold a public funeral in honour of all those who had died in war. The remains of the dead were left in a tent for three days so that offerings could be made. Then a funeral procession was held, with ten cypress coffins carrying the
197:
The speech begins by praising the custom of the public funeral for the dead, but criticises the inclusion of the speech, arguing that the "reputations of many brave men" should "not be imperilled in the mouth of a single individual". Pericles argues that the speaker of the oration has the impossible
247:
In his speech, Pericles states that he had been emphasising the greatness of Athens in order to convey that the citizens of Athens must continue to support the war, to show them that what they were fighting for was of the utmost importance. To help make his point he stated that the soldiers whom he
238:
In the climax of his praise of Athens, Pericles declares: "In short, 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."
260:
Pericles addresses the widows of the dead only here, telling them that "the greatest glory for a woman is not to be spoken of at all, either for good or ill." This passage is often cited as characteristic of
Athenian attitudes to women's role in public life, but is also connected to the standard
218:
or foreign aggression, is a theme too familiar to my hearers for me to dwell upon, and I shall therefore pass it by." Instead, Pericles proposes to focus on "the road by which we reached our position, the form of government under which our greatness grew, and the national habits out of which it
213:
At this point, however, Pericles departs most dramatically from the example of other
Athenian funeral orations and skips over the great martial achievements of Athens' past: "That part of our history which tells of the military achievements which gave us our several possessions, or of the ready
256:
Pericles then turns to the audience and exhorts them to live up to the standards set by the deceased, "So died these men as becomes
Athenians. You, their survivors, must determine to have as unfaltering a resolution in the field, though you may pray that it may have a happier outcome."
137:. It is possible that elements of both speeches are represented in Thucydides's version. Nevertheless, Thucydides was extremely meticulous in his documentation, and records the varied certainty of his sources each time. Significantly he begins recounting the speech by saying: "
132:
delivered a speech at the end of the first year of the war, but there is no consensus as to what degree
Thucydides's record resembles Pericles's actual speech. Another confusing factor is that Pericles is known to have delivered another funeral oration in BC 440 during the
389:
Contrasts the efficacy of words and deeds, "The brave men, living and dead, who struggled here, have consecrated it, far above our poor power to add or detract...The world will little note, nor long remember what we say here, but it can never forget what they did
127:
that the speeches presented are not verbatim records, but are intended to represent the main ideas of what was said and what was, according to
Thucydides, "called for in the situation". We can be reasonably sure that
206:
Pericles begins by praising the dead, as the other
Athenian funeral orations do, by regard for the ancestors of present-day Athenians (2.36.1 – 2.36.3), touching briefly on the
380:: "...a new nation, conceived in liberty and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal...government of the people, by the people, and for the people..."
394:
It is uncertain to what degree, if any, Lincoln was directly influenced by Pericles's funeral oration. Wills never claims that Lincoln drew on it as a source, though
198:
task of satisfying the associates of the dead, who would wish that their deeds be magnified, while everyone else might feel jealous and suspect exaggeration.
95:, and another left symbolically empty for the missing or those whose remains were unable to be recovered. Finally they were buried at a public grave (at
386:
Exhorts the survivors to emulate the deeds of the dead, "It is for us the living, rather, to be dedicated here to the great task remaining before us"
269:
Pericles ends with a short epilogue, reminding the audience of the difficulty of the task of speaking over the dead. The audience is then dismissed.
189:
describes it as "a eulogy of Athens itself...". The speech glorifies Athens' achievements, designed to stir the spirits of a state still at war.
383:
Addresses the difficulties faced by a speaker on such an occasion, "...we cannot dedicate, we cannot consecrate, we cannot hallow this ground"
17:
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Begins with an acknowledgement of revered predecessors: "Four score and seven years ago, our fathers brought forth upon this continent..."
327:" ) at the climax of the speech (43.4). The style is deliberately elaborate, in accord with the stylistic preference associated with the
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Ancient History Sourcebook: Thucydides (c. 460/455 – c. 399 BC): Pericles's Funeral Oration from the Peloponnesian War (Book 2.34–46)
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1074:"Louis Warren, "Abraham Lincoln's Gettysburg Address: An Evaluation" (Charles E. Merrill Publishing Co. 1946), p. 18"
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sprang". This amounts to a focus on present-day Athens; Thucydides's Pericles thus decides to praise the war dead by
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The bodies of the dead were cremated soon after death. The bones were kept for the funeral at the end of the year.
398:, who delivered a lengthy oration at the same ceremony at Gettysburg, began by describing the "Athenian example".
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99:). The last part of the ceremony was a speech delivered by a prominent Athenian citizen chosen by the state.
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857:
858:"Thucydides (c. 460/455 – c. 399 BC): Pericles's Funeral Oration from the Peloponnesian War (Book 2.34–46)"
684:
123:
said, there can be little doubt that he edited the speech at the very least. Thucydides says early in his
119:. Although Thucydides records the speech in the first person as if it were a word for word record of what
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The Funeral Oration is significant because it differs from the usual form of Athenian funeral speeches.
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Several funeral orations from classical Athens are extant, which seem to corroborate
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106:'s assertion that this was a regular feature of Athenian funerary custom in wartime.
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is considered by many to be the most difficult and virtuosic passage in the
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Monoson, Sara (2002). "Plato's Opposition to the Veneration of Pericles".
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1090:(New York: Simon and Schuster 1992) pp. 182, 212 and appendix IIIb.
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this". Had he quoted the speech verbatim, he would have written "
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1107:
McPherson, James (July 16, 1992). "The Art of Abraham Lincoln".
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authored a possibly satirical version of a funeral oration, the
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valour with which either we or our fathers stemmed the tide of
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have addressed the parallels of Pericles's funeral oration to
324:τὸ εὔδαιμον τὸ ἐλεύθερον, τὸ δ' ἐλεύθερον τὸ εὔψυχον κρίναντες
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427:
164:
159:" ("like this" or "words like these"). The authorship of the
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991:
Burial and Ancient Society: The Rise of the Greek City-State
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1127:"The New York Review of Books: The Art of Abraham Lincoln"
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Thucydides and the Tradition of Funeral Speeches at Athens
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Thucydides and the Tradition of Funeral Speeches at Athens
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348:
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was recorded by Thucydides in book two of his famous
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An English translation of Pericles's Funeral Oration
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Praises the uniqueness of the State's commitment to
313:, and others; most famously the rapid succession of
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behaviour of women as mourners at private funerals.
242:
64:. The speech was supposed to have been delivered by
1198:
54:: Περικλέους Επιτάφιος) is a famous speech from
173:, ascribes authorship to Pericles's companion,
994:. Cambridge University Press. pp. 31–32.
281:is notoriously difficult, but the language of
1017:"What new music are you singing these days?"
272:
143:", i.e. "Pericles, son of Xanthippos, spoke
72:(BC 431–404) as a part of the annual public
445:The bibliography on this topic is enormous.
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153:" ("this", or "these words") instead of "
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252:Exhortation to the living (2.43 – 2.45)
202:Praise of the dead in war (2.36 – 2.42)
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987:
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91:remains, one for each of the Athenian
1192:The original Greek text of the speech
1015:Shenton, Andrew (28 September 2012).
680:A Historical Commentary On Thucydides
369:. Lincoln's speech, like Pericles's:
1154:(New York: Simon and Schuster 1992)
349:Comparison to the Gettysburg Address
27:Speech during the Peloponnesian War
24:
333:English translations of the speech
264:
192:
140:Περικλῆς ὁ Ξανθίππου… ἔλεγε τοιάδε
25:
1238:
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243:Praise for the military of Athens
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936:History of the Peloponnesian War
918:History of the Peloponnesian War
842:History of the Peloponnesian War
824:History of the Peloponnesian War
806:History of the Peloponnesian War
788:History of the Peloponnesian War
770:History of the Peloponnesian War
752:History of the Peloponnesian War
731:History of the Peloponnesian War
713:History of the Peloponnesian War
650:On the degree of departure, see
631:Plato's Democratic Entanglements
559:History of the Peloponnesian War
522:History of the Peloponnesian War
503:thereof available online at the
492:History of the Peloponnesian War
287:History of the Peloponnesian War
116:History of the Peloponnesian War
86:Funeral oration (ancient Greece)
61:History of the Peloponnesian War
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331:. There are several different
223:the city for which they died.
18:Pericles' Funeral Oration
13:
1:
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79:
36:Perikles hält die Leichenrede
34:Pericles's Funeral Oration (
1109:The New York Review of Books
685:University of Michigan Press
7:
1222:History of Classical Athens
1051:Christ's College, Cambridge
1021:Massachusetts Chapter, ACDA
601:. Harvard University Press.
466:"Pericles' Funeral Oration"
10:
1243:
1227:Speeches by heads of state
1181:Pericles's Funeral Oration
856:Thucydides (August 2000).
677:Cartwright, David (1997).
357:scholars Louis Warren and
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48:Pericles's Funeral Oration
1162:pp. 41–42, appendix IIIa.
1044:So they gave their bodies
809:, 2.37.1, 2.40.2, 2.39.1.
652:Ziolkowski, John (1981).
572:Ziolkowski, John (1981).
343:So they gave their bodies
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273:Language and translations
208:acquisition of the empire
155:
149:
139:
414:The funeral orations of
401:
341:wrote a choral version,
289:. The speech is full of
283:Pericles Funeral Oration
894:sourcebooks.fordham.edu
599:The Invention of Athens
597:Loraux, Nicole (1986).
233:equal justice under law
227:The greatness of Athens
1217:Ancient Greek orations
949:Harvey, David (1985).
43:
1152:Lincoln at Gettysburg
1088:Lincoln at Gettysburg
951:"Women in Thucydides"
525:, 2.34.1–6. See also
345:, published in 1976.
317:words beginning with
181:Content of the speech
163:is also not certain.
33:
988:Morris, Ian (1989).
633:. Hackett Publish.
495:, 2.34–2.46. Greek
468:. the-athenaeum.org
367:Gettysburg Address
355:American Civil War
291:rhetorical devices
76:for the war dead.
44:
1212:Peloponnesian War
1179:Works related to
1001:978-0-521-38738-5
639:978-0-691-04366-1
70:Peloponnesian War
16:(Redirected from
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35:
501:translation
420:Demosthenes
359:Garry Wills
339:Peter Aston
335:available.
299:anacoluthon
1201:Categories
1137:2005-12-18
1058:28 January
1026:28 January
931:Thucydides
913:Thucydides
899:2016-12-04
837:Thucydides
819:Thucydides
801:Thucydides
783:Thucydides
765:Thucydides
747:Thucydides
726:Thucydides
708:Thucydides
554:Thucydides
517:Thucydides
487:Thucydides
453:References
365:'s famous
311:hyperbaton
307:anastrophe
295:antithesis
293:, such as
221:glorifying
135:Samian War
104:Thucydides
97:Kerameikos
80:Background
56:Thucydides
967:0004-0975
921:, 2.43.1.
827:, 2.41.1.
791:, 2.39.1.
755:, 2.36.4.
734:, 2.35.2.
716:, 2.35.1.
562:, 1.22.1.
532:Menexenus
472:1 January
433:Menexenus
424:Hyperides
378:democracy
303:asyndeton
170:Menexenus
167:, in his
975:44578356
955:Arethusa
617:Pericles
612:Plutarch
329:sophists
216:Hellenic
130:Pericles
121:Pericles
66:Pericles
1076:. 1946.
620:, 28.4.
175:Aspasia
125:History
74:funeral
1158:
1094:
998:
973:
965:
939:, 2.45
691:
660:
637:
580:
422:, and
416:Lysias
390:here."
156:τοιάδε
93:tribes
42:(1852)
1115:(13).
1054:. n.d
971:JSTOR
527:Plato
428:Plato
402:Notes
279:Greek
165:Plato
38:) by
1156:ISBN
1092:ISBN
1060:2014
1028:2014
996:ISBN
963:ISSN
869:2016
689:ISBN
658:ISBN
635:ISBN
578:ISBN
497:text
474:2015
353:The
150:τάδε
145:like
109:The
58:'s
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