Pericles Funeral Oration Essay

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The funeral oration of Pericles was a speech that Pericles gave about democracy. The speech was for those who had died during the first year of the war. Pericles tried to honor those who had fought for their city, those who had been brave enough to leave their souls and hearts in the battlefields and those who were proud of being Athenians. Pericles not only was the leader of Athens in that era (431/430 B.C.) but also a great supporter of democracy. He was very popular, many citizens followed him with loyalty and devotion. The period of governance of Pericles was one of the most envied moments in history and his speech is until now, one of the most influential and prominent discourse about democracy.
The people of Athens submitted to the laws and obeyed the public officials not because they had to, as it was in other cities, but because they wanted to. Athenians had thus achieved something quite unique, being both ruled and rulers at one and the same time. The Athenians were the new ideal of the Greek world in that era. The funerals were public rituals in Athens and usually the ceremony lasted …show more content…

He talked about the dead as if they were heroes, who were willing to die for their nation. Idols that should be admired by all Greek population and by all the world, as role models and as winners even though they had fallen. He reaffirms freedom as the perfect ideal; freedom to speak, to think, to take decisions. He embraced the equality, the rights and the tolerance. He said that they did not break the law, not because their obedience to the men who hold public office, but the deep respect they had for them. Athenians had to feel safe due to they were together and protected. He also talked about all growth opportunities within the nation, all the hard work done by its citizens. Their festivals, the improvements of the city, its beauty and its good

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