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1 Chapter 1 : Funeral oration (ancient Greece) - Wikipedia Thucydides and the Tradition of Funeral Speeches at Athens. John E. Ziolkowski. Wilhelm Kierdorf "Thucydides and the Tradition of Funeral Speeches at Athens. Power and Preparedness in Thucydides. Johns Hopkins UP, Word and Concept in Thucydides. Progress in the Greece of Thucydides. Noord-Hollandsche Uitgevers Maatschappij, Studies in Greek and Roman Historical Writing. U of Chicago P, Ideology and Policy in Thucydides. Papers Presented to A. Hellenic studies Presented to Bernard M. Knox on the Occasion of his 65th Birthday. Studies in Honor of Gerald F. Thucydides and the Ancient Simplicity: The Limits of Political Realism. U of California P, A Historical Commentary on Thucydides, V: Chance and Intelligence in Thucydides. Content and Form in the Speeches. A Historical Commentary on Thucydides. A New Answer to the Problem. Past and Process in Herodotus and Thucydides. Issues in Greek Rhetoric and Oratory. State U of New York P, The Comparison of Cities and Individuals. Rereading the Corcyrean Conflict 1. The Case of the Mytilenaian Debate. Love of Glory and the Common Good: Aspects of the Political Thought of Thucydides. UP of America, Logos and ergon in Thucydides. The Necessities of War: The Experience of Thucydides. Aris and Phillips, A Comment on W. Pericles on the Athenian Character Thucydides 2. Diplomacy and Policy, B. The Speeches in Thucydides: A Collection of Original Studies with a Bibliography. U of North Carolina P, Three Views of Athens. In Defense of Thucydides. Studies in Thucydides and Greek History. Bristol Classical P, Constitutions and Reconstitutions of Language, Character, and Community. Fact Grubber or Philosopher? A Study in Thucydides. Strategy and Tactics in the Peloponnesian War. Thucydides on the Nature of Power. Thucydides and the Tradition of Funeral Speeches at Athens. Page 1

2 Chapter 2 : Pericles' Funeral Oration - Classical Wisdom Weekly Add tags for "Thucydides and the tradition of funeral speeches at Athens". Be the first. Blake Tyrrell and Larry J. His advice to women, in particular, has been severed from its intended audience and reduced to an ideological prescription calling for silence and only silence from Athenian women. Whatever Pericles intended for women that day in B. Would silence on the part of the women achieve this? Did Pericles demand that women remove themselves totally from the activities of the community? Or did he appeal to them, rather, to restrain themselves in public? Women in his audience and across Attica perhaps were divided among themselves over how to receive his advice. Still, modern scholars with near unanimity have heard only one tone in his voice, the stern dictate for silence and obscurity. In light of this critical dilemma, the present study restores the speech to its historical context. We also offer an alternative reading that is more sensitive to the roles of women whose cooperation and contribution were essential for success of his strategy against the Peloponnesians. His epitaphios logos nearly complete, Pericles addressed the widows of men killed during the first year of the war with the Peloponnesians and their allies. As they proceeded, they sang laments and mourned their dead Thuc. After consoling the parents, children, and brothers of the dead, Pericles broke from the formula of the consolation: If I must recall something about the excellence of those women who will now be widows, I will point out everything with brief advice. Great is the glory for you not to become worse than your innate nature, and hers is the great reputation whose fame, whether for excellence or blame, is spread least among the males Thuc. Athenians had celebrated many public funerals in the past, and the new conflict promised more. In overlooking this, scholars have reduced his advice, as Nicole Loraux exemplifies, to "the reverse of male virtue. Although this can be true of a mythic construct like the Amazons, it is palpably untrue of living women. Growing up as Athenian women, they, too, were formed by gender expectations that they internalized, adopted, and in some ways, perhaps, sought to modify or reject. They had to have learned how to manipulate gender codes and exploit them in asserting power over the spheres open or left to them. In the circumstances under which Pericles was speaking, namely, the upheaval caused by the beginning of the war and the expectation of its endurance, he could not have stood in aloof disregard of women. Thus, we must seek another message in his advice. He demanded self-control, calculation of long-term advantage, and courage of conviction, for victory would be slow in coming. In effect, Pericles asked of Athenians what Andromache asked from her husband: Station your host near the fig tree where the city is especially approachable and the wall may be scaled" Hom. Gomme remarks of earlier attacks and B. Lewis observes, and it also called Athenian manliness into question. Yet those same voices, if not muted and restrained, could imperil his victory against the Peloponnesians. In praising men who had paid for his strategy with their lives, Pericles could hardly lecture those upon whom he might call for that same sacrifice on the ideal Athens that has charmed modern readers of Thucydides. Bravery and its passions are conceded to the dead Thuc. To underline their superiority, Pericles assures Athenians of the harmony among citizens made possible by their democracy. Poverty cannot keep a man from seeking distinction 2. Athenians interact freely, tolerating privately the peculiarities of others and obeying publicly those in office 2. On the other hand, despite their open city and relaxed way of life, when exposed to danger, Athenians do not prove inferior to those who practice warfare continuously 2. Unlike others, they "judge or deliberate properly" before acting, "believing that speeches do not harm action but, rather, the lack of instructive discussion before entering upon what must be done is harmful" 2. In sum, Pericles encourages Athenians not to feel unmanned behind the walls, to pursue the contest for honor and wealth within the city, and to enjoy its diversions from those rivalries. In this way they could head off aggression and the impulse to act rashly, and be the kind of men who would submit to his strategy. Similarly, Pericles was trying to fashion in the context of a funeral and mourning the dead the kind of women he needed for success. If, as was surely the case, his oration was directed at all Athenians, not just those in the Kerameikos, his advice was offered to all Athenian women, not the widows alone. These women, Page 2

3 during the celebration of, could have been worried for their house and land, angry at their men for removing them from their homes, and bitter over a new intrusive strategy-whatever its merits-proposed by a politician from the city. His advice to them comes after the formulaic consolation to the living. In comforting the survivors, Pericles consoles individuals for their loss and then relates their loss to the city as a whole. Young parents have the hope of new children, an aid to them in forgetting the old and the means for keeping the city strong and allowing the fathers of the new children to maintain a share in its decisions 2. Older parents have past happiness and, for the short time left them, honor among citizens conferred by their dead sons 2. Sons and brothers of the dead have a contest with the dead over excellence, a contest that the citizens will not let them win 2. Pericles maintains the pattern in his advice, addressing the welfare of individuals in the first element of his advice and their behavior as it pertains to the city in the second. Pericles, as Haacke states, "does not want them to be utterly depressed," vult ut ne sint abiecto prorsus animo, that is, Pericles cautions them against becoming disheartened and succumbing to their fates. Silence among women over the dead would be the worst of calamities. In her study of modern funeral practices among the Inner Mani, Nadia Seremetakis relates the incident of an old woman who had been living in the city and, upon her death, was returned to her natal village for burial. The woman had no living relatives in the village and only one niece from the city to mourn her: The rural women who attended did not make any declarations of shared substance. The entire weight of the ceremony was taken by an urban niece of the deceased who had retained all the skills of lamentation, appropriate body gestures and behavior. She was mourning, wailing, and talking to the dead for at least seven hours in an incredible effort to create and maintain a center for the ceremony. She wanted to avoid a "silent" death, so her aunt would "not go discontented," alone and unscreamed. They would not step over the boundary, Seremetakis points out, "defined by the absence of past reciprocity, the absence of close kin. A silent death expresses for Clytemnestra the hatred she harbors for the husband and father who sacrificed her daughter like a young female goat Aesch. The severity of the imagined consequences underlines the importance placed on mourning by society. Both sexes participated in mourning, but men readily handed over to women the work of tending the corpse and emoting grief. Vase paintings of the prothesis rarely show a single woman beside the deceased. Funeral legislation was based on this assumption, and legislators could not exclude women as remote as children of first cousins Dem. Women performed a valued and necessary service that mediated between the community and its gods, the living and the dead, the present and the hereafter. He does not want to silence women; far from it, he needs their voices for the dead to be laid to rest properly and to preserve the welfare of the community. Ideally, women were watched constantly, but in everyday life men were engaged in their own activities away from the house, and women left their houses for many reasons. Women worked in fields and vineyards, sold goods in the agora, participated in funerals and festivals, visited relatives, and gossiped with friends in the neighborhood and at fountains. In social practice, the posturing of male ideology aside, women could become known outside the family. Pericles wanted the widows to be "moderate" in their behavior in mourning, neither shirking their duties nor indulging in them. Laments gave women a voice that reached the public. When Andromache laments Hector, for example, she bemoans her own lot by rebuking him for deserting her and her son and leaving them to slavery or worse Hom. Analogy with lamentation among women of modern Greece suggests that Athenian women shared a repertory of laments, developed and handed down over generations, that allowed individual singers to stand out for inventing new laments, adapting known ones, and revealing poetic merit and emotional intensity in performance. With the war just beginning, women had much to comment upon in their laments, adding to, and gaining power from, traditional songs. First among their grievances could be the removal of their families from ancestral farms and homes, deprivations of life in the city, and the loss of husbands, sons, and other menfolk to the war. Absences necessitated by service in the navy or army could inspire laments. As an Athenian of his years and experience, Pericles knew that women could not be silenced and that their voices were essential for mourning the dead. But he knew equally well the dangers in not moderating those voices among men who resented, even feared, them. With his advice in the epitaphios logos, he hoped to encourage Page 3

4 their laments while muting their voices. Random House,, The dead include Athenians slain in the rout of the cavalry near Rheitoi Thuc. Nicole Loraux in The Invention of Athens: The Funeral Oration in the Classical City, trans. Harvard University Press,, 24, citing Thuc. Blackwell,, still stands: If it is true. The Ayer Company, ], 53 observes that "a separate exhortation to the women" seems traditional, although he admits that no other epitaphios logos has this feature. The actual time of its inauguration is likely much later, during the s Christoph W. Routledge,, ; Richard Seaford, Reciprocity and Ritual: Oxford University Press,, Fant Baltimore and London: For example, Kakridis, Epitaphios, For reversals in the myth of Amazons, see Wm. The Johns Hopkins University Press,, Lewis, John Boardman, J. Hanson, Other Greeks, Introduction and Commentary on Book I Oxford: Lewis, "Archidamian War," The Free Press,, Nadia Seremetakis, The Last Word: The University of Chicago Press,, Unless otherwise indicated, the quotations in this paragraph are found on page Seremetakis, Last Word, Page 4

5 Chapter 3 : Thucydides Reference List Enter your mobile number or address below and we'll send you a link to download the free Kindle App. Then you can start reading Kindle books on your smartphone, tablet, or computer - no Kindle device required. Funeral oration ancient Greece It was an established Athenian practice by the late 5th century to hold a public funeral in honour of all those who had died in war. Then a funeral procession was held, with ten cypress coffins carrying the remains, one for each of the Athenian tribes, and another for the remains that could not be identified. Finally they were buried at a public grave at Kerameikos. The last part of the ceremony was a speech delivered by a prominent Athenian citizen. Although Thucydides records the speech in the first person as if it were a word for word record of what Pericles said, there can be little doubt that he edited the speech at the very least. Thucydides says early in his History 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". 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: Content of the speech[ edit ] The Funeral Oration is significant because it differs from the usual form of Athenian funeral speeches. The greatness of Athens[ edit ] "If we look to the laws, they afford equal justice to all in their private differences 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 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 Praise for the military of Athens[ edit ] 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 was speaking of gave their lives to a cause to protect the city of Athens, its citizens, and its freedom. 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. 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 â 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. 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. The audience is then dismissed. The style is deliberately elaborate, in accord with the stylistic preference associated with the sophists. There are several different English translations of the speech available. Peter Aston wrote a choral version, So they gave their bodies, [22] published in Begins with an acknowledgement of revered predecessors: The world will little note, nor long remember what we say here, but it can never forget what they did here. Wills never claims that Lincoln drew on it as a source, though Edward Everett, who delivered a lengthy oration at the same ceremony at Gettysburg, began by describing the "Athenian example". Page 5

6 Chapter 4 : II Context and Meaning Department of Classics and Ancient History University of Bristol Athenian Funeral Speeches - John E. Ziolkowski: Thucydides and the Tradition of Funeral Speeches at Athens. (Monographs in Classical Studies.) Pp. viii + ; 4 tables. New York: Arno Press, It is unlikely that Pericles uttered precisely these words, since it was customary for ancient historians to invent the speeches of the figures they wrote about, based on what they knew about them; but it certainly reflects the attitudes of many Athenians. What are the main virtues that Pericles praises as characteristic of the Athenians? How does he contrast Athens with Sparta? What does he say is the proper role of women? Most of those who have spoken here before me have commended the lawgiver who added this oration to our other funeral customs. 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. Then the reputation of many would not have been imperiled on the eloquence or want of eloquence of one, and their virtues believed or not as he spoke well or ill. For it is difficult to say neither too little nor too much; and even moderation is apt not to give the impression of truthfulness. The friend of the dead who knows the facts is likely to think that the words of the speaker fall short of his knowledge and of his wishes; another who is not so well informed, when he hears of anything which surpasses his own powers, will be envious and will suspect exaggeration. Mankind are tolerant of the praises of others so long as each hearer thinks that he can do as well or nearly as well himself, but, when the speaker rises above him, jealousy is aroused and he begins to be incredulous. However, since our ancestors have set the seal of their approval upon the practice, I must obey, and to the utmost of my power shall endeavor to satisfy the wishes and beliefs of all who hear me. I will speak first of our ancestors, for it is right and seemly that now, when we are lamenting the dead, a tribute should be paid to their memory. There has never been a time when they did not inhabit this land, which by their valor they will have handed down from generation to generation, and we have received from them a free state. But if they were worthy of praise, still more were our fathers, who added to their inheritance, and after many a struggle transmitted to us their sons this great empire. And we ourselves assembled here today, who are still most of us in the vigor of life, have carried the work of improvement further, and have richly endowed our city with all things, so that she is sufficient for herself both in peace and war. Of the military exploits by which our various possessions were acquired, or of the energy with which we or our fathers drove back the tide of war, Hellenic or Barbarian, I will not speak; for the tale would be long and is familiar to you. But before I praise the dead, I should like to point out by what principles of action we rose to power, and under what institutions and through what manner of life our empire became great. For I conceive that such thoughts are not unsuited to the occasion, and that this numerous assembly of citizens and strangers may profitably listen to them. Our form of government does not enter into rivalry with the institutions of others. It is true that we are called a democracy, for the administration is in the hands of the many 1 and not of the few. But while there exists equal justice to all and alike in their private disputes, the claim of excellence is also recognized; and when a citizen is in any way distinguished, he is preferred to the public service, not as a matter of privilege, but as the reward of merit. Neither is poverty an obstacle, but a man may benefit his country whatever the obscurity of his condition. There is no exclusiveness in our public life, and in our private business we are not suspicious of one another, nor angry with our neighbor if he does what he likes; we do not put on sour looks at him which, though harmless, are not pleasant. While we are thus unconstrained in our private business, a spirit of reverence pervades our public acts; we are prevented from doing wrong by respect for the authorities and for the laws, having a particular regard to those which are ordained for the protection of the injured as well as those unwritten laws which bring upon the transgressor of them the reprobation of the general sentiment. And we have not forgotten to provide for our weary spirits many relaxations from toil; we have regular games and sacrifices throughout the year; our homes are beautiful and elegant; and the delight which we daily feel in all these things helps to banish sorrow. Because of the greatness of our city the fruits of the whole earth flow in upon us; so that we enjoy the goods of other Page 6

7 countries as freely as our own. Then, again, our military training is in many respects superior to that of our adversaries. Our city is thrown open to the world, though and we never expel a foreigner and prevent him from seeing or learning anything of which the secret if revealed to an enemy might profit him. We rely not upon management or trickery, but upon our own hearts and hands. And in the matter of education, whereas they from early youth are always undergoing laborious exercises which are to make them brave, we live at ease, and yet are equally ready to face the perils which they face. And here is the proof: Our enemies have never yet felt our united strength, the care of a navy divides our attention, and on land we are obliged to send our own citizens everywhere. But they, if they meet and defeat a part of our army, are as proud as if they had routed us all, and when defeated they pretend to have been vanquished by us all. If then we prefer to meet danger with a light heart but without laborious training, and with a courage which is gained by habit and not enforced by law, are we not greatly the better for it? Since we do not anticipate the pain, although, when the hour comes, we can be as Brave as those who never allow themselves to rest; thus our city is equally admirable in peace and in war. For we are lovers of the beautiful in our tastes and our strength lies, in our opinion, not in deliberation and discussion, but that knowledge which is gained by discussion preparatory to action. For we have a peculiar power of thinking before we act, and of acting, too, whereas other men are courageous from ignorance but hesitate upon reflection. And they are surely to be esteemed the Bravest spirits who, having the clearest sense both of the pains and pleasures of life, do not on that account shrink from danger. In doing good, again, we are unlike others; we make our friends by conferring, not by receiving favors. We alone do good to our neighbors not upon a calculation of interest, but in the confidence of freedom and in a frank and fearless spirit. I say that Athens is the school of Hellas, and that the individual Athenian in his own person seems to have the power of adapting himself to the most varied forms of action with the utmost versatility and grace. This is no passing and idle word, but truth and fact; and the assertion is verified by the position to which these qualities have raised the state. For in the hour of trial Athens alone among her contemporaries is superior to the report of her. No enemy who comes against her is indignant at the reverses which he sustains at the hands of such a city; no subject complains that his masters are unworthy of him. And we shall assuredly not be without witnesses; there are mighty monuments of our power which will make us the wonder of this and of succeeding ages; we shall not need the praises of Homer or of any other panegyrist whose poetry may please for the moment, although his representation of the facts will not bear the light of day. For we have compelled every land and every sea to open a path for our valor, and have everywhere planted eternal memorials of our friendship and of our enmity. Such is the city for whose sake these men nobly fought and died; they could not bear the thought that she might be taken from them; and every one of us who survive should gladly toil on her behalf. I have dwelt upon the greatness of Athens because I want to show you that we are contending for a higher prize than those who enjoy none of these privileges, and to establish by manifest proof the merit of these men whom I am now commemorating. Their loftiest praise has been already spoken. For in magnifying the city I have magnified them, and men like them whose virtues made her glorious. And of how few Hellenes 2 can it be said as of them, that their deeds when weighed in the balance have been found equal to their fame! For even those who come short in other ways may justly plead the valor with which they have fought for their country; they have blotted out the evil with the good, and have benefited the state more by their public services than they have injured her by their private actions. None of these men were enervated by wealth or hesitated to resign the pleasures of life; none of them put off the evil day in the hope, natural to poverty, that a man, though poor, may one day become rich. But, deeming that the punishment of their enemies was sweeter than any of these things, and that they could fall in no nobler cause, they determined at the hazard of their lives to be honorably avenged, and to leave the rest. They resigned to hope their unknown chance of happiness; but in the face of death they resolved to rely upon themselves alone. And when the moment came they were minded to resist and suffer, rather than to fly and save their lives; they ran away from the word of dishonor, but on the battlefield their feet stood fast, and in an instant, at the height of their fortune, they passed away from the scene, not of their fear, but of their glory. Such was the end of these men; they were worthy of Page 7

8 Athens, and the living need not desire to have a more heroic spirit, although they may pray for a less fatal issue. The value of such a spirit is not to be expressed in words. Any one can discourse to you for ever about the advantages of a Brave defense, which you know already. But instead of listening to him I would have you day by day fix your eyes upon the greatness of Athens, until you become filled with the love of her; and when you are impressed by the spectacle of her glory, reflect that this empire has been acquired by men who knew their duty and had the courage to do it, who in the hour of conflict had the fear of dishonor always present to them, and who, if ever they failed in an enterprise, would not allow their virtues to be lost to their country, but freely gave their lives to her as the fairest offering which they could present at her feast. The sacrifice which they collectively made was individually repaid to them; for they received again each one for himself a praise which grows not old, and the noblest of all tombsâ I speak not of that in which their remains are laid, but of that in which their glory survives, and is proclaimed always and on every fitting occasion both in word and deed. For the whole earth is the tomb of famous men; not only are they commemorated by columns and inscriptions in their own country, but in foreign lands there dwells also an unwritten memorial of them, graven not on stone but in the hearts of men. Make them your examples, and, esteeming courage to be freedom and freedom to be happiness, do not weigh too nicely the perils of war. The unfortunate who has no hope of a change for the better has less reason to throw away his life than the prosperous who, if he survive, is always liable to a change for the worse, and to whom any accidental fall makes the most serious difference. To a man of spirit, cowardice and disaster coming together are far more bitter than death striking him unperceived at a time when he is full of courage and animated by the general hope. Wherefore I do not now pity the parents of the dead who stand here; I would rather comfort them. You know that your dead have passed away amid manifold vicissitudes; and that they may be deemed fortunate who have gained their utmost honor, whether an honorable death like theirs, or an honorable sorrow like yours, and whose share of happiness has been so ordered that the term of their happiness is likewise the term of their life. I know how hard it is to make you feel this, when the good fortune of others will too often remind you of the gladness which once lightened your hearts. And sorrow is felt at the want of those blessings, not which a man never knew, but which were a part of his life before they were taken from him. Some of you are of an age at which they may hope to have other children, and they ought to bear their sorrow better; not only will the children who may hereafter be born make them forget their own lost ones, but the city will be doubly a gainer. She will not be left desolate, and she will be safer. To those of you who have passed their prime, I say: For the love of honor alone is ever young, and not riches, as some say, but honor is the delight of men when they are old and useless. To you who are the sons and brothers of the departed, I see that the struggle to emulate them will be an arduous one. For all men praise the dead, and, however preeminent your virtue may be, I do not say even to approach them, and avoid living their rivals and detractors, but when a man is out of the way, the honor and goodwill which he receives is unalloyed. And, if I am to speak of womanly virtues to those of you who will henceforth be widows, let me sum them up in one short admonition: To a woman not to show more weakness than is natural to her sex is a great glory, and not to be talked about for good or for evil among men. I have paid the required tribute, in obedience to the law, making use of such fitting words as I had. The tribute of deeds has been paid in part; for the dead have them in deeds, and it remains only that their children should be maintained at the public charge until they are grown up: For where the rewards of virtue are greatest, there the noblest citizens are enlisted in the service of the state. And now, when you have duly lamented every one his own dead, you may depart. Translated by Benjamin Jowett 1 Defined as the free adult males of pure Athenian descent, and therefore still excluding the majority of the population. But even this degree of democracy was highly unusual in the ancient world. Page 8

9 Chapter 5 : Thucydides and the tradition of funeral speeches at Athens - John E. Ziolkowski - Google Book BOOK REVIEWS Thucydides and the Tradition of Funeral Speeches at Athens. By JOHN E. ZIOL- KOWSKI. Monographs in Classical Studies. New York: Arno Press, Athens, no stranger to war, finds itself mourning those who had fallen on the field of battle, the sons and fathers lost. As was customary in Athens the bodies of the deceased had been collected and displayed under a tent for three days. During this time, various citizens paid tribute and the families were allowed to say goodbye to their loved ones. After the tree days, a funeral procession would be held where an esteemed citizen would make some small speech on behalf of the lost. Thucydides would have written the funeral oration some time after the actual speech, giving him ample time to reword and edit anything he pleased. However we can still be reasonably sure that the text by Thucydides is a faithful representation of the actual funeral oration. As Pericles takes the stage, he makes clear his concerns about such a speech. While the funeral procession is surely a noble tribute for such courageous souls, Pericles believes that the words of any many will often fall short of accurately describing the deeds of the dead. Pericles believes he runs the difficult task of balancing a speech so as not to undercut the valor of the warriors while simultaneously not appearing to exaggerate. These concerns noted, he declares that it is tradition for words to be spoken on such an occasion, so he hesitantly obliges. Pericles goes to great lengths to detail the glory and the esteem of the Athenian empire. With a government that pursues liberty and gives power to the many and not the few, Athenian democracy has become a model for success for all the Greek city-states. A system of government where the weak are empowered and public office is achieved through merit and not a matter of privilege. Pericles describes that in Athens any man, no matter his station in life, can find a way to strive within society. Even the Spartans who come upon their land often find themselves retreating from Athenian spears. And the brave Athenian soldiers, even when fighting on foreign soil, have little trouble overcoming their adversaries. Pericles continues by declaring that Athens also excels in times of peace, holding several games and sacrifices throughout the year. It would appear that the empire of Athens has found prosperity in all measures of life. I say that Athens is the school of Hellas, and that the individual Athenian in his own person seems to have the power of adapting himself to the most varied forms of action with the utmost versatility and grace. This is no passing and idle word, but truth and fact; and the assertion is verified by the position to which these qualities have raised the state. Remember that this is not a political rally, but rather a funeral procession. It is likely the Pericles would have been thoughtful of Athenian moral at this time. On the precipice of a great war, Pericles would have done well to bolster the spirits of the living while commemorating the sacrifices of the departed. Pericles gives another explanation by explaining that the merits of the great city reflect the merits of the lost. And the greatness of Athens is only possible through bloody sacrifice and steeled determination. Pericles considers this bravery to be the truest form of a mans worth. He spends ample time detailing the fear that must have raced through their minds, and how they swiftly abandoned that fear for courage and valor. A rather eloquent and concise summary of a warriors sacrifice, Pericles subtly mourns the lost men while taking note of their willingness to lay down their lives for the homeland. This message has been repeated through the ages. Despite the words of Pericles, Athens would suffer greatly in the coming years. The Peloponnesian war would continue for several years. Untold numbers would die and Athens itself would suffer a great plague and an eventual defeat at the hands of the Spartans. It is fortunate however that the great city would allowed to live and eventually recover. And while we might enjoy several luxuries within our own lifetime, there are often those who suffer selflessly on our behalf; falling again and again under the blows of outrageous fortunes so that we might live contently, peacefully. Page 9

10 Chapter 6 : Pericles' Funeral Oration - Simple English Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Get Textbooks on Google Play. Rent and save from the world's largest ebookstore. Read, highlight, and take notes, across web, tablet, and phone. Athens, no stranger to war, finds itself mourning those who had fallen on the field of battle, the sons and fathers lost. As was customary in Athens the bodies of the deceased had been collected and displayed under a tent for three days. During this time, various citizens paid tribute and the families were allowed to say goodbye to their loved ones. After the tree days, a funeral procession would be held where an esteemed citizen would make some small speech on behalf of the lost. Thucydides would have written the funeral oration some time after the actual speech, giving him ample time to reword and edit anything he pleased. However we can still be reasonably sure that the text by Thucydides is a faithful representation of the actual funeral oration. As Pericles takes the stage, he makes clear his concerns about such a speech. While the funeral procession is surely a noble tribute for such courageous souls, Pericles believes that the words of any many will often fall short of accurately describing the deeds of the dead. Pericles believes he runs the difficult task of balancing a speech so as not to undercut the valor of the warriors while simultaneously not appearing to exaggerate. These concerns noted, he declares that it is tradition for words to be spoken on such an occasion, so he hesitantly obliges. Pericles goes to great lengths to detail the glory and the esteem of the Athenian empire. With a government that pursues liberty and gives power to the many and not the few, Athenian democracy has become a model for success for all the Greek city-states. A system of government where the weak are empowered and public office is achieved through merit and not a matter of privilege. Pericles describes that in Athens any man, no matter his station in life, can find a way to strive within society. Even the Spartans who come upon their land often find themselves retreating from Athenian spears. And the brave Athenian soldiers, even when fighting on foreign soil, have little trouble overcoming their adversaries. Pericles continues by declaring that Athens also excels in times of peace, holding several games and sacrifices throughout the year. It would appear that the empire of Athens has found prosperity in all measures of life. I say that Athens is the school of Hellas, and that the individual Athenian in his own person seems to have the power of adapting himself to the most varied forms of action with the utmost versatility and grace. This is no passing and idle word, but truth and fact; and the assertion is verified by the position to which these qualities have raised the state. Remember that this is not a political rally, but rather a funeral procession. It is likely the Pericles would have been thoughtful of Athenian moral at this time. On the precipice of a great war, Pericles would have done well to bolster the spirits of the living while commemorating the sacrifices of the departed. Pericles gives another explanation by explaining that the merits of the great city reflect the merits of the lost. And the greatness of Athens is only possible through bloody sacrifice and steeled determination. Pericles considers this bravery to be the truest form of a mans worth. He spends ample time detailing the fear that must have raced through their minds, and how they swiftly abandoned that fear for courage and valor. A rather eloquent and concise summary of a warriors sacrifice, Pericles subtly mourns the lost men while taking note of their willingness to lay down their lives for the homeland. This message has been repeated through the ages. Despite the words of Pericles, Athens would suffer greatly in the coming years. The Peloponnesian war would continue for several years. Untold numbers would die and Athens itself would suffer a great plague and an eventual defeat at the hands of the Spartans. It is fortunate however that the great city would allowed to live and eventually recover. And while we might enjoy several luxuries within our own lifetime, there are often those who suffer selflessly on our behalf; falling again and again under the blows of outrageous fortunes so that we might live contently, peacefully. Page 10

11 Chapter 7 : Internet History Sourcebooks Review of J. E. Ziolkowski, Thucydides and the Tradition of Funeral Speeches at Athens, «PPol» 17,, pp. Introduction to the Funeral Oration In BCE, at the end of the first year of the Peloponnesian War, held their traditional public funeral for all those who had been killed. After the dead had been buried in a public grave, one of the leading citizens, chosen by the city, would offer a suitable speech, and on this occasion Pericles was chosen. The Funeral Oration was recognised as a rhetorical masterpiece, and so from the sixteenth century onwards it was often included in collections of ancient speeches that were used to teach students the principles of rhetoric. Its content could be more problematic. In the First World War, for example, quotes from the speech were posted as advertisements in London buses, to inspire the reader with patriotic spirit. In books of quotations, the Funeral Oration always provides most of the entries for Thucydides; these are the lines he is most famous for, and politicians â especially in the United States â regularly quote these lines in speeches. Special editions of the Funeral Oration were published in Britain in the First World War, and quotations from it appear on many war memorials and are used in memorial services. Pericles praises Athens so that people will keep fighting; he praises the sacrifices of the dead so that others will imitate them. His words are a powerful expression of the duty of every citizen to fight to defend democracy and freedom â but if, like Thucydides, you have some doubts about the justice of the wisdom of the war, then this starts to look more like dangerous propaganda. As always, Thucydides does not offer us clear lessons or instructions, but demands that we consider complicated questions. Key Questions [1] Such was the end of these men; they were worthy of Athens, and the living need not desire to have a more heroic spirit, although they may pray for a less fatal issue. The value of such a spirit is not to be expressed in words. Any one can discourse to you for ever about the advantages of a brave defence, which you know already. But instead of listening to him I would have you day by day fix your eyes upon the greatness of Athens, until you become filled with the love of her; and when you are impressed by the spectacle of her glory, reflect that this empire has been acquired by men who knew their duty and had the courage to do it, who in the hour of conflict had the fear of dishonour always present to them, and who, if ever they failed in an enterprise, would not allow their virtues to be lost to their country, but freely gave their lives to her as the fairest offering which they could present at her feast. How does Pericles depict the men who have died? How should the good citizen feel about death? How does this compare with other Greek views on the subject? Pericles has spent most of his time so far praising Athens, to show that it was and is worth dying for. He is now talking at last about the men who have died, and how they should be taken as a model and inspiration for those who have survived. Pericles notes that there are practical advantages from fighting "what is to be gained by beating the enemy back", but he wants to stress more idealistic motives: The dead are idealised - these are men who knew their duty and had the courage to do it, who made the ultimate sacrifice to their city and fellow-citizens, and who would risk anything but dishonour. Lots of Greek writers stress the uncertainty of fortune Herodotus 1. Page 11

12 Chapter 8 : Ancient Greece â Periclesâ Funeral Oration â tabletalktaboosdotcom Thucydides and the Tradition of Funeral Speeches at Athens - Ziolkowski, John E. Thucydides and the Tradition of Funeral Speeches at Athens. Salem, NH: Ayer, Funerals after such battles were public rituals and Pericles used the occasion to make a classic statement of the value of democracy. In the same winter the Athenians gave a funeral at the public cost to those who had first fallen in this war. It was a custom of their ancestors, and the manner of it is as follows. 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 the funeral procession cypress coffins are borne in cars, one for each tribe; the bones of the deceased being placed in the coffin of their tribe. Among these is carried one empty bier decked for the missing, that is, for those whose bodies could not be recovered. Any citizen or stranger who pleases, joins in the procession: The dead are laid in the public sepulchre in the Beautiful suburb of the city, in which those who fall in war are always buried; with the exception of those slain at Marathon, who for their singular and extraordinary valour were interred on the spot where they fell. 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. Such is the manner of the burying; and throughout the whole of the war, whenever the occasion arose, the established custom was observed. Meanwhile these were the first that had fallen, and Pericles, son of Xanthippus, was chosen to pronounce their eulogium. When the proper time arrived, he advanced from the sepulchre to an elevated platform in order to be heard by as many of the crowd as possible, and spoke as follows: And I could have wished that the reputations of many brave men were not to be imperilled in the mouth of a single individual, to stand or fall according as he spoke well or ill. For it is hard to speak properly upon a subject where it is even difficult to convince your hearers that you are speaking the truth. 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. 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: However, since our ancestors have stamped this custom with their approval, it becomes my duty to obey the law and to try to satisfy your several wishes and opinions as best I may. 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. And if our more remote ancestors deserve praise, much more do our own fathers, who added to their inheritance the empire which we now possess, and spared no pains to be able to leave their acquisitions to us of the present generation. Lastly, there are few parts of our dominions that have not been augmented by those of us here, who are still more or less in the vigour of life; while the mother country has been furnished by us with everything that can enable her to depend on her own resources whether for war or for peace. 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. But what was the road by which we reached our position, what the form of government under which our greatness grew, what the national habits out of which it sprang; these are questions which I may try to solve before I proceed to my panegyric upon these men; since I think this to be a subject upon which on the present occasion a speaker may properly dwell, and to which the whole assemblage, whether citizens or foreigners, may listen with advantage. Its administration favours the many instead of the few; this is why it is called a democracy. If we look to the laws, they afford equal justice to all in their private differences; if no social standing, advancement in public life falls to reputation for capacity, class considerations not being allowed to interfere with merit; nor again does poverty bar the way, if a man is able to serve the state, he is not hindered by the obscurity of his condition. The freedom which we enjoy in our government extends also to our ordinary Page 12

13 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, or even to indulge in those injurious looks which cannot fail to be offensive, although they inflict no positive penalty. But all this ease in our private relations does not make us lawless as citizens. Against this fear is our chief safeguard, teaching us to obey the magistrates and the laws, particularly such as regard the protection of the injured, whether they are actually on the statute book, or belong to that code which, although unwritten, yet cannot be broken without acknowledged disgrace. We celebrate games and sacrifices all the year round, and the elegance of our private establishments forms a daily source of pleasure and helps to banish the spleen; while the magnitude of our city draws the produce of the world into our harbour, so that to the Athenian the fruits of other countries are as familiar a luxury as those of his own. 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; 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. In proof of this it may be noticed that the Lacedaemonians do not invade our country alone, but bring with them all their confederates; while we Athenians advance unsupported into the territory of a neighbour, and fighting upon a foreign soil usually vanquish with ease men who are defending their homes. 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. 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. We cultivate refinement without extravagance and knowledge without effeminacy; wealth we employ more for use than for show, and place the real disgrace of poverty not in owning to the fact but in declining the struggle against it. 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. Again, in our enterprises we present the singular spectacle of daring and deliberation, each carried to its highest point, and both united in the same persons; although usually decision is the fruit of ignorance, hesitation of reflection. 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. In generosity we are equally singular, acquiring our friends by conferring, not by receiving, favours. Yet, of course, the doer of the favour is the firmer friend of the two, in order by continued kindness to keep the recipient in his debt; while the debtor feels less keenly from the very consciousness that the return he makes will be a payment, not a free gift. And it is only the Athenians, who, fearless of consequences, confer their benefits not from calculations of expediency, but in the confidence of liberality. And that this is no mere boast thrown out for the occasion, but plain matter of fact, the power of the state acquired by these habits proves. For Athens alone of her contemporaries is found when tested to be greater than her reputation, and alone gives no occasion to her assailants to blush at the antagonist by whom they have been worsted, or to her subjects to question her title by merit to rule. Rather, the admiration of the present and succeeding ages will be ours, since we have not left our power without witness, but have shown it by mighty proofs; and far from needing a Homer for our panegyrist, or other of his craft whose verses might charm for the moment only for the impression which they gave to melt at the touch of fact, we have forced every sea and land to be the highway of our daring, and everywhere, whether for evil or for good, have left imperishable monuments behind us. Such is the Athens for which these men, in the assertion of their resolve Page 13