It is widely known that the Athenians highly valued their warrior class, and they saw the warriors as a ring of the higher circle of the society. The Athenians were very proud of Athena and its traditions, as well. Athenian’s thought that Athena was the best, none could be better. The funeral oration was aimed to respect the fallen as well as to keep up the national pride and its passion to protect their nation. The speech was a eulogy which focused on the eminence of Athens and its predecessors. Usually a son was chosen to give the eulogy. The law required the speech to have several essential components. The speech had to concerning the lives of the deceased. At his eulogy’s end, Pericles spoke in regard to the soldiers. The speech talked about the life that the departed lived and the achievements which they gained. Pericles wanted the citizens to recall the soldiers but to forget about the tragedy that had occurred. He wanted the departed’s lives to be remembered, but not their demise. The speech helped the Athenians appreciate what their ancestors had died for and how they shou...
Pericles’s funeral oration was given to honor the soldiers lost in war by commemorating the military accomplishments of the Athens government and to distinguish the roles of men and women in Athens society. Pericles’s speech was given in 430 B.C.E at the end of the first year of war. He then died a year late in 429 B.C.E. Pericles’ Funeral Oration is included in Thucydides’ writing titled History of the Peloponnesian War.
It is said in Greek mythology that when Persephone lives with Hades in the underworld as his bride, Persephone’s mother Demeter the Goddess of Seasons, goes into mourning and the earth experiences winter. When Persephone returns to the upper world, Demeter rejoices and the earth experiences Summer.
Socrates lived at a period when the ancient city-states of Greece were in war leading to the ultimate defeated of his polis, Athens by Sparta during the Peloponnesian War. Socrates was fond of discourse and arguments on free thought and rhetoric. One of his most famous works, the “Apology” and inspiring Greek writer Xenophon to recreate his conversations in literary works after his death to include “Memorabilia” and “Economicus”. These writings appeared around the same period of the height of Plato’s activity through teaching rhetoric and philosophy in ancient Greece (Huang 404). Thus, it is prudent to explore both the writings of other Greek thinkers to lay down the proper and exhaustive foundation on the philosophy, plays, and teachings of Socrates (Russell 59). The rhetoric of Socrates did not sit well with the aristocrats in Greece who constantly accused him of corrupting the youth and leading meaningless and at times profane thought in both the youth and his students. The writings of the “Apology” finally culminates in the death of Socrates, who was killed by poison after being accused by informants and his old accusers of not grounding his arguments
Pericles, born in 495 BC in Athens, to an affluent right-winged family, was an orator, a statesman and an Athenian General during the Peloponnesian Wars whose views shaped Athens' democracy for the better. Honoring the dead publicly was a yearly event. In the winter of 431-430 B.C.E, Pericles was asked to deliver this oration. He wrote and delivered the famous funeral speech, "The Document" as a way to honor his homeland, its' military, and his fallen brethren.
Marriage in Classical Athens was inevitable. It was a part of life. Everyone had to get married, just as everyone had to someday face death. Although most people would not see a connection between marriage and death, the Greeks did. Both define an irreversible physical change—the loss of virginity and the loss of life. This idea of loss, rebirth, and renewal are present in both wedding and funeral. This is evident in the way wedding and funeral ceremonies complement each other in character and content. Both ceremonies are interwoven with ritual meaning and overlapping rites.
For Pericles, Athenian values are realized through culture and “daily devotion.” He claims that Athenian citizens obey both “the laws themselves” and “agreed-on social values (which need no specific legislation),” not requiring legislation to uphold their values. Accordingly, Pericles views exceptionalism as intrinsic to Athenians. Boasting about the city, Pericles questions “how else did she become great but by this genius in her citizens?” A recommitment to civic values, therefore, is simple to Pericles: Athenians are exceptional at the moment of his speech, and must simply continue their past conduct in order to achieve future
A pretty face gets old. A nice body will change. But a good woman with an amazing personality will always be a good woman. Life is about the good person you are. No one will remember you for what things you had, but how you made them feel. A man or husband usually expects a woman with amazing qualities and virtues. The role and duties of a woman and wife in the past and the present have changed significantly. People say that a real man respects and values the virtues of the woman he loves. In A Funeral Eulogy for a Roman Wife this is noticeable. The man wrote this eulogy hundreds of years ago about his wife and the admirable qualities, loyalty and self sacrificing love that she had. This eulogy, is a true summary of what it is like to be a Roman wife.
Pericles Funeral Oration is a speech that was given by Pericles whom was the Athenian 's Strategos (military commander) and written down by the famous historian, Thucydides that was an Athenian that attended the speech. The speech is Pericles effort to rally the Athenian people and lift their spirits and moral at a funeral after losing soldiers or member of war in the first battle of the Peloponnesian war, so that they would continue the good fight and not give up. Pericles attempts this by telling the Athenian people that their way of life, their form of democracy, what their ancestors fought for, their great military and policies, their constitution are all at stake and they must standup in order to preserve the beautiful culture
In 399 BC, Socrates, the great philosopher in ancient Greece, was put to death under the hands of his Athenian fellow-citizens to whom he had a strong attachment, after a final vote with over two-thirds of jurymen against him. We cannot experience the situation where Socrates gave his final argument in the court of law. From Plato’s Apology, we admire Socrates’ brilliant rhetoric and rigorous logic, while at the same time feel pity for him and indignant with those ruthless jurymen. However, the question of what exactly caused his death and why was Socrates, such a remarkable thinker sentenced to death in the very society that valued democracy the most is not easy and straightforward to answer. There are multiple elements involved that finally caused this tragedy in which “a person of high moral principle is confronted step by step with a situation from which there is no escape” (38). First of all, the moral principle and belief in divinity held by Socrates are inconsistent with those of the Athenian society, implying the very crimes charged upon Socrates were not completely groundless. Secondly, the imperfect juridical system of Athens played a role in causing this tragedy. What’s more, Socrates himself, could have offered better defense in the court, also had a hand in his own death by his stubbornness regarding to his own interpretation of wisdom and piety. His rebuttal, though brilliant and insightful, was not persuasive enough to move the fellow-citizens for his wrong approach and sophistry in his cross-examination on Meletus.
During the golden age of Greece as a whole, there was one leader of a city-state that produced his own golden age. Pericles was one of Athens most recalled rulers for his success. He sparked an age for the artistic and the thinkers of Athens. He was an open-minded leader which supported all of the arts and promoted the outside thinking of philosophy. He developed a system of democracy for his city-state to instill in which the majority gained a say in the government. Although not everyone believed Pericles was great. The other city states in Greece became jealous of Athens wealth and also became weary of their intentions. The city states believed the Athens were forming an Athenian empire to take control of Greece. The second largest city-state,
The character of Athenian support loomed from the shadow of war. The empire had lost the war, starvation, famine and diseases were present. Athenians, when a people that have not rendered any important service or support to their neighbors in times past, for which they might claim to be repaid… In the art of interpretation, the Athenians were arrogant, proud people. They were strict on who they helped, and let into their city. However, because the loss the war, the ego of Athens was wounded and the blame was set on
Imagine the time just after the death of Socrates. The people of Athens were filled with questions about the final judgment of this well-known, long-time citizen of Athens. Socrates was accused at the end of his life of impiety and corruption of youth. Rumors, prejudices, and questions flew about the town. Plato experienced this situation when Socrates, his teacher and friend, accepted the ruling of death from an Athenian court. In The Last Days of Socrates, Plato uses Socrates’ own voice to explain the reasons that Socrates, though innocent in Plato’s view, was convicted and why Socrates did not escape his punishment as offered by the court. The writings, “Euthyphro,” “The Apology,” “Crito,” and “Pheado” not only helped the general population of Athens and the friends and followers of Socrates understand his death, but also showed Socrates in the best possible light. They are connected by their common theme of a memoriam to Socrates and the discussion of virtues. By studying these texts, researchers can see into the culture of Athens, but most important are the discussions about relationships in the book. The relationships between the religion and state and individual and society have impacted the past and are still concerns that are with us today.
I believe that this closely relates to the early context of “Is the Glory of War a Boy Thing?” Because I believe one can easily glorify both the rise of the empires as a courageous and powerful movement, rather then closely looking at the true outcome of these wars. A Pericles type of funeral oration would have possibly been effective in ancient Rome or China, because at the time both were such powerful empires, people would have easily been convinced to believe practically anything. How can one find it just, to kill practically a whole society because they pose as a possible threat to economy because they too, are growing grapes? Pericles states in his oration that the people under his society are the best, and that it was perfectly acceptable to dominate other areas. He also mentions ancestors, and the pride in Athens, so its important to praise and glorify those who died. Isn’t it funny how history repeats itself? The Romans believed that because felt threatened it was okay to dominate other lands, and their ancestors faced hardships with the nomads it was acceptable to do so in return. Or the Chinese, who believed that war a proper, powerful, and masculine act of man.
The death of Pericles was a significant event in the course of the Peloponnesian War; however, even without Pericles' leadership the Athenian Assembly had countless opportunities to prevent their loss and chose not to take them. The fickleness and inefficiency of democracy ('the mob') allowed the Athenians to be easily influenced and therefore electing populists such as Cleon, Lysicles and Hyperbolus into dominant leadership roles. Election, via democratic means, of such populists, meant that the Athenians would take a much more aggressive approach to the war and therefore abandon the policies that Pericles had previously established. So in turn, democracy the institution for which the Athenians fought tirelessly to protect, rather than the death of Pericles, ironically became the dominant factor influencing the final outcome of this Ancient Greek civil war.
Thucydides’ version of Pericles’ “Funeral Oration” can be read as more of an ironic rendering of Pericles’ original speech since The History of the Peloponnesian War is not just considered to be a historical account but also a “highly imaginative piece of work” in which Thucydides made characters involved in the war say what he believed they actually meant instead of what they might have originally said (Thucydides Introduction pg. x). In the “Funeral Oration”, Pericles praises certain