Despite Thucydides' divided attitude towards democracy, the speech he put in Pericles' mouth supports the democratic form of government. Pericles stirring funeral oration is among the most famous passages of Thucydides. At any rate, Pericles eventually succumbed to and died from this plague. This message has been remembered: during the First World War, London buses carried posters with passages from the speech; in 2012, a memorial in central London to the R.A.F. Omissions? Plato asserted that democracy unjustly distributes a sort of equality to equal and unequal alike (Republic 55C), and Aristotle later claimed that in democracies justice is the enjoyment of arithmetical equality, and not the enjoyment of proportionate equality on the basis of merit (Politics 1317b). . (2 43. l-2). A democracy is a form of government that gives all the ability to participate, and according to Pericles everyone has a responsibility to take part. . The gaps are partly filled by the Greek writer Plutarch, who, 500 years later, began writing the life of Pericles to illustrate a man of unchallengeable virtue and greatness at grips with the fickleness of the mob and finished rather puzzled by the picture he found in his sources of Pericles responsibility for a needless war. The speech that Pericles delivers is such a dramatic departure from the customary oration that it is often considered a eulogy of Athens itself. Its military power and tradition of leadership among the Greeks, the discipline and devotion to the public good displayed by its citizens, had already created an aura of virtue and excellence that a modern scholar has called the Spartan mirage. Pericles needed to confront this challenge, and much of the Funeral Oration is therefore a direct comparison with Sparta. Democracys critics also pointed to a perverted individualism that was called liberty but was really license and lawlessness. His political program allowed all Athenian citizens to take part in government, to help guide their own destinies and those of their polis, as befits free men, to pursue their own prosperity and happiness in a broad realm of privacy, free of interference and confiscation by the state yet held to a high standard of ethical behavior in the role of a citizen. Unlike some Athenian dramatists, he saw neither metaphorical significance nor divine retribution in the epidemic. ThoughtCo. He was so important to Athens that his name defines the Periclean age ("The Age of Pericles"), a period when Athens rebuilt what had been destroyed during the recent war with Persia (the Greco-Persian or Persian Wars). Pericles' Funeral Oration can be compared to several more modern speeches, most notably Abraham Lincoln's Gettysburg Address. And we decide public questions ourselves, or at least come to a sound understanding of them (2.40.2). In the decade before 500 B.C., the Athenians established the worlds first democratic constitution. Pericles was among its victims. My work is not a piece of writing designed to meet the taste of an immediate public, he wrote, with zero modesty, but was done to last forever.. The last part of the ceremony was a speech delivered by a prominent Athenian citizen chosen by the state. The willingness to perform military service for his homeland is the most fundamental and demanding duty of the citizen. The history of book bansand their changing targetsin the U.S. The highest reward is the kind of immortality that was once reserved for epic heroes but which now has come to the Athenian soldiers who have died in the service of their city, and which Pericles urges the living to earn for themselves: They gave their lives for the common good and thereby won for themselves the praise that never grows old and the most distinguished of all graves, not those in which they lie, but where their glory remains in eternal memory, always there at the right time to inspire speech and action. Their national poet, Tyrtaeus, specifically rejected the Homeric values and replaced them with a single definition of arete: the courage to stand bravely in the ranks of a hoplite phalanx fighting for Sparta. Why was Pericles talking about democracy during this speech? Pericles was an Athenian statesman. That Pericles immediately succeeded the assassinated Ephialtes as head of the democratic party in 461 is an ancient oversimplification; there were other men of considerable weight in Athens in the next 15 years. But most of the citizens, even in undemocratic states, had no such opportunities. . The law also may have passed because of a general wish to restrict access to the benefits of office and public distributions, but there was never any disposition on the part of Athenians to restrict economic opportunities for foreignerswho served in the fleet, worked on public buildings, and had freedom of trade and investment, with the crucial, but normal, exception of land and houses. In the Athens of Pericles, however, the general prosperity and payment for public service gave the average man a degree of leisure unknown in other states. Future ages will wonder at us, as the present age wonders at us now, Pericles, the great Athenian statesman, declared in his funeral oration, a celebrated speech in the winter of 431430 B.C.E. 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. [21] 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. In 431 BCE, at the end of the first year of the Peloponnesian War, held their traditional public funeral for all those who had been killed. Pericles approved payment for jury duty and for soldiers, sailors, and administrators. In the following speech Pericles made these points about democracy: Democracy allows men to advance because of merit rather than wealth or inherited class. Pericles. He traveled the far reaches of the Persian Empire, recording his own personal inquiries (which he called autopsies), as well as the multitude of myths and local legends he heard along the way. He saw the opportunity to create the greatest political community the world had ever known, one that would fulfill mans strongest and deepest passionsfor glory and immortality. In a democracy, there is equal justice for all in private disputes. It was a great center of cultural and intellectual development, and thus home to philosophers. 1, Routledge, 2016. [b] Another confusing factor is that Pericles is known to have delivered another funeral oration in 440BCE during the Samian War. Both of them heavily promote a sense of nationalism in the surviving listeners, both commend the brave sacrifices of soldiers living and dead, and both invoke a deep sense of sorrow while simultaneously setting up feelings of national pride and faith in the societies . Here Pericles has identified a critical element of his vision for Athens: its commitment to reason and intelligence. The bodies of the dead were cremated soon after death. In fact, it is a prerequisite for them, for the brave deeds performed by enraged heroes who give no thought to danger are, by his definition, not brave at all. 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. In it, Pericles (or Thucydides) extols the values of democracy. The stakes of our own vulnerability are no different. He even asks the gods to aid the enemy so that he may gain vengeance against Agamemnon because, as Achilles himself says, he did no honor to the best of the Achaeans.. How do we reverse the trend? Finally they were buried at a public grave (at Kerameikos). The Spartans faced this fundamental problem of the polis in its sharpest form. was the sight of people dying like sheep through having caught the disease as a result of nursing others. Neither medicine nor quackery helped. Illustration by H.M. Herget, Nat Geo Image Collection, Illustration by Time Life Pictures, Mansell/The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty. He certainly played the chief role in transforming it from a limited democracy where the common people still deferred to their aristocratic betters to a fully confident popular government in which the mass of the people were fully sovereign in fact as well as theory. Photograph by James P. Blair, Nat Geo Image Collection. Book 2, chapter 63: Pericles' third speech. Thucydides maintained a rationalists sensibility even in wartime and plague. Politicians in search of scapegoats would be wise to recall Pericles, who said, before the plague, What I fear is not the enemys strength, but our own mistakes.. 6th ed., vol. American Civil War scholars Louis Warren and Garry Wills have addressed the parallels of Pericles's funeral oration to Abraham Lincoln's famous Gettysburg Address. Work began in 447 B.C. Like Pericles' Funeral Oration, Cleon's analysis of democracy becomes most interesting when it gives its author's view of the basis of the 11 Thuc. STDs are at a shocking high. You can find out more about our use, change your default settings, and withdraw your consent at any time with effect for the future by visiting Cookies Settings, which can also be found in the footer of the site. That is why Pericles could make this extraordinary demand on them when the great war came: You must every day look upon the power of your city and become her lovers [erastai] and when you have understood her greatness consider that the men who achieved it were brave and honorable and knew what was necessary when the time came for action. Those who wish to help them grow and flourish, as well as those who worry for the future of the older democracies, troubled again, strangely enough, by a growing allegiance to family, tribe, and clan at the expense of the commonwealth, could do worse than to turn for inspiration and instruction to the story of Pericles of Athens and his city, where once, against all odds, a noble democracy triumphed. In contrast, Pericles, via his funeral oration speech, believes that democracy is better ruled by many rather than few. But the Funeral Oration was intended to inspire the Athenians with a vision of excellence that justified their current efforts. In a democracy . It was given in the 5th-century by Pericles. Pericles' mother was related to the controversial noble family of Alcmaeniode. His life has neither law nor order; and this distracted existence he terms joy and bliss and freedom; and so he goes on (Republic 56lC). "[14] 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 sprang". Approaching 50, he began a relationship withAspasiaofMiletus. If we had access to Pericles inner thoughts and to the many other speeches he delivered in his long career, we would possibly discover that he took no less pride in Athenians peaceful achievements of mind and spirit. Xenophon gives a good example of the absence of any privacy in Sparta: In other cities whenever a man shows himself to be a coward his only punishment is that he is called a coward. 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". As Thucydides recounts Pericles claiming in a famous speech, "Our natural bravery springs from our way of life, not from the compulsion of laws.We are lovers of the beautiful, yet simple in our tastes, and we cultivate the arts without loss of manliness." By sharing in the common responsibility he was able to develop powers and aspects of himself that allowed him to become more fully human than he could have on his own. For the first time in history a Greek state could conduct its life and plan for the future in the expectation of a lasting peace. Whereas, Lysias supports the restoration of democracy because he believes that fighting for equality and rising up in rebellion is worthwhile. Pericles. [8] It is possible that elements of both speeches are represented in Thucydides's version. First, he said, I shall make clear through what practices we have come to our present position and with what political constitution and way of life our city has become great. The institutions are democratic, but Pericles explanation of what that means is a refutation of the attacks made by the enemies of democracy. Most of those who have spoken here before me have commended the lawgiver who added this oration to our other funeral customs. Thus, choosing to die resisting, rather than to live submitting, they fled only from dishonour"[19] 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". In 431 B.C., Pericles urged the popular assembly to declare war against Sparta. Thucydides' funeral speech about democracy delivered by Pericles. "Pericles's Funeral Oration" (Ancient Greek: ) is a famous speech from Thucydides' History of the Peloponnesian War. The average citizen could not look even to his polis for the satisfaction of his greatest spiritual needs. Knowledge of the life of Pericles derives largely from two sources. But Thucydides chronicle of what happened just after Pericles funeral oration is unsparingand should be as enduring as the speech itself. Society was ravaged, and the military, which was in the early stages of a brutal twenty-seven-year war against Sparta, was debilitated for many years. Some were acquired by effort; others were simply a gift of irrational fate. .In the streets he must get out of the way. Therefore, they were willing to run risks in its defense, make sacrifices on its behalf, and restrain their passions and desires to preserve it. In the streets around the Fifth Precinct police station, protesters battle law enforcement, chastise looters, and fight to be heard. Please select which sections you would like to print: Professor of Ancient History, University of Oxford, 198594. 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. Open Document. "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." - Pericles, 'Pericles' Funeral Oration'. Politics soon took priority over the arts for Pericles. Why Was Athens Defeated? To honor the gods for the victory and to glorify Athens, Pericles proposed using the Delian Leagues treasury to mount an unprecedented building campaign. In a democracy, citizens behave lawfully while doing what they like without fear of prying eyes. Thucydides was a worldly Athenian general, whose History of the Peloponnesian War is a cold-eyed account of the ruinous conflict between democratic Athens and militaristic Sparta. Pericles. The audience is then dismissed. Pericles ends with a short epilogue, reminding the audience of the difficulty of the task of speaking over the dead. We are not angry with our neighbor if he does what pleases him, and we dont glare at him which, even if it is harmless, is a painful sight (2.37.2). The city of Athens, however, was physically still much as it had been left by the Persian sack of 480, and its gods were inadequately housed. Details about the nature and name of this disease are unknown, but a recent best guess is Typhoid Fever. Pericles married in his late 20s but divorced some 10 years later. Unauthorized use is prohibited. In contrast, Pericles points to the limited jurisdiction of the Athenian regime, which leaves a considerable space for individualism and privacy, free from public scrutiny: Not only do we conduct our public life as free men but we are also free of suspicion of one another as we go about our every-day lives. In 1985, a New England Journal of Medicine article argued that it was a combination of influenza and staphylococcus, dubbed the Thucydides syndrome. A 1994 article in the American Journal of Epidemiology rejected that diagnosis, proposing, instead, typhus, anthrax, or perhaps a potentially explosive respiratory agent.. The hostile descriptions emphasize its excessive commitment to equality, complaining of the absurdity of distributing offices by lot and the evils of payment for public service, but even more of the flaws in the democratic principle itself. Pericles was a leading figure from the Greek Peloponnesian War. In the speech he honoured the fallen and held up Athenian democracy as an example to the rest of Greece. If, therefore, we are prepared to meet danger after leading a relaxed life instead of one filled with burdensome training, with our courage emerging naturally from our way of life instead of imposed by law, the advantage is ours. Thinking, Levels. Next came coughing, stomach pain, diarrhea, and vomiting of every kind of bile that has been given a name by the medical profession. The skin turned reddish with pustules and ulcers, while the stricken plunged into the citys water tanks trying to slake an unquenchable thirstpossibly contaminating the water supply. This new kind of government was carried to its classical form by the reforms of Pericles a half-century later, and it was in the Athens shaped by Pericles that the greatest achievements of the Greeks took place. Encyclopaedia Britannica's editors oversee subject areas in which they have extensive knowledge, whether from years of experience gained by working on that content or via study for an advanced degree. These were evidence of his freedom and importance, and so a source of pride. [32], , ' . Only rumour associates him directly with the political convulsion of the next two years, which drove Cimon into exile, swung Athens away from its alignment with Sparta, and decisively strengthened the democratic elements in the Athenian constitution; but he probably did support the democratic leader Ephialtes in this period, and his introduction of pay for juries, unfortunately undatable, is a logical consequence of Ephialtes reforms. [14] This amounts to a focus on present-day Athens; Thucydides' Pericles thus decides to praise the war dead by glorifying the city for which they died. Pericles, a great supporter of democracy, was a Greek leader and statesman during the Peloponnesian War. Funeral Oration. Unfortunately, the 27-year-long Peloponnesian War resulted in great losses for Athens. In his oration, he made democracy, freedom, and justice the main rationale for citizens . 3.38.4. In the opening scene of the Iliad, Achilles honor and reputation are diminished by Agamemnons arrogance, so he retires from the battle and sulks in his tent while the Greeks suffer a series of costly defeats. He was too scrupulous to blame the epidemic on the Spartansan ancient reproach to those today who try to pin blame on foreign rivals. 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. I dont wonder that where such a load of dishonor burdens the coward death seems preferable instead of a dishonored and shameful life (Constitution of the Spartans 9.4-6). In a funeral oration in 430 bce for those who had fallen in the Peloponnesian War, the Athenian leader Pericles described democratic Athens as "the school of Hellas." Among the city's many exemplary qualities, he declared, was its constitution, which "favors the many instead of the few; this is why it is called a . 2 hours of sleep? The characteristics of Athenian democracy as presented by Pericles in his funeral oration are that it is an ideal democracy, that it is animated by a shared sense of civic virtue, and that in it . Few can rely upon strong democratic traditions, and all suffer economic conditions that range from bad to disastrous. The most famous of these, Pericles' Funeral Speech, as recorded by Thucydides, is also the most instructive; its peculiarities of diction and its general tone, which is in conflict with Thucydides' own outlook, suggest that it is a fairly faithful reproduction of what Pericles . Nor did consulting the oracles or praying in the temples, futile pieties which Thucydides dismissively noted were soon discarded. In the face of this reputation, and in the teeth of its critics, who charged democracy especially with indiscipline and lawlessness, Pericles makes the claim for a higher obedience to law than was characteristic of the Spartans. The catastrophe was so overwhelming that men, not knowing what would happen next to them, became indifferent to every rule of religion or of law, Thucydides wrote.