The Funeral Oration was delivered during a war that was clearly going to continue for some time. . Even more simply, it is a democracy because while Athenians "are free and tolerant in our private lives, in public affairs we keep to the law. By recognizing only individuals, not separate groups, its laws preserved the unity needed by all healthy societies and avoided the shattering rivalries that destroy them. Above all, Pericles helped the Athenians to understand that their private needs, both moral and material, required the kind of community Athens had become. ThoughtCo. . For Athenians, the individual and familial values sung by Homer remained vital and attractive; yet their polis needed a Spartan commitment and devotion to meet the challenge of the Persian invasions, of the acquisition of the empire, and of the jealousy of Sparta and her allies. 2023 Cond Nast. The historian Thucydides admired him profoundly and refused to criticize him. The average citizen could not look even to his polis for the satisfaction of his greatest spiritual needs. 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 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 dwell upon, and I shall therefore pass it by. Pericles long tenure as a political leader, more than thirty years, permitted him to aim at goals that went far beyond the immediate concerns that fully occupy most politicians and statesmen. [3] The remains of the dead[4] were left in a tent for three days so that offerings could be made. Corrections? $45.00 He rejected the notion that democracy turned its back on excellence, reducing all to equality at a low level. Plato and Aristotle wrote long after the death of Pericles, and it is by no means clear that these descriptions fit the real Athenian democracy at any time. . THUCYDIDES gives Pericles very little to say in his Funeral Oration about the political institutions of Athenian democracy. He gave this speech during a funeral for Athenian soldiers who died in the first year of the brutal Peloponnesian War against Sparta, Athens's chief rival. Thucydides maintained a rationalists sensibility even in wartime and plague. Funerals after such battles were public rituals and Pericles used the occasion to make a classic statement of the value of democracy. Approaching 50, he began a relationship withAspasiaofMiletus. We do not wear ourselves out in advance of future troubles, and when they come we show ourselves no less bold than those who are always in training. 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). Pericles. In Minneapolis, Protesters Confront the Policeand One Another. He was too scrupulous to blame the epidemic on the Spartansan ancient reproach to those today who try to pin blame on foreign rivals. His account suffers from the fact that, 40 years younger, he had no firsthand knowledge of Pericles early career; it suffers also from his approach, which concentrates exclusively on Pericles intellectual capacity and his war leadership, omitting biographical details, which Thucydides thought irrelevant to his theme. [5] We can be reasonably sure that Pericles 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. More than 20,000 tons of marble were used, producing the iconic Parthenon and the imposing colonnade of the Propylaea, the entrance gateway. 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. . In a battle between the Athenians and their neighbors near Eleusis, he came to the aid of his fellow-citizens, turned the enemy to rout, and died most nobly. Pericles was born into the Athenian aristocracy. He stated that the soldiers who died gave their lives to protect the city of Athens, its citizens, and its freedom. The ancient Greek Herodotus is considered by many to be the father of history. It is from his groundbreaking work, the History, that our modern meaning of the word was handed down through time. Pericles approved payment for jury duty and for soldiers, sailors, and administrators. Thucydides, Pericles' Funeral Oration. [10] David Cartwright describes it as "a eulogy of Athens itself". Pericles allowed all people to participate in government which also made Athens more of a direct democracy. Pericles Funeral Oration in Depth. It might have been smallpox, a fungal poisoning called ergotism, or something worse. "[18] 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 hernone 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. Pericles (/ p r k l i z /; Greek: ; c. 495 - 429 BC) was a Greek politician and general during the Golden Age of Athens.He was prominent and influential in Athenian politics, particularly between the Greco-Persian Wars and the Peloponnesian War, and was acclaimed by Thucydides, a contemporary historian, as "the first citizen of Athens". Our educations are different, too. Cookies collect information about your preferences and your devices and are used to make the site work as you expect it to, to understand how you interact with the site, and to show advertisements that are targeted to your interests. Many Athenians blamed the calamity on their Spartan enemies, spreading dark rumors of poisoned reservoirs. Please refer to the appropriate style manual or other sources if you have any questions. It existed for only two centuries in Athens and less than that in a small number of Greek states. Rats invaded paradise. Prior to the plague's devastation, Athenians were already dying as a result of the war. Herodotus tells a story, metaphorically true even if historically dubious, in which Solon gave some answers. 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. In these ways our city deserves to be admired (2.39). Under the hands of Pericles, Thucydides thought democracy could be controlled, but without him, it could be dangerous. They need leaders who understand that individual freedom, self-government, and equality before the law are of the highest value in themselves. How to see the Lyrid meteor shower at its peak, 6 unforgettable Italy hotels, from Lake Como to Rome, A taste of Rioja, from crispy croquettas to piquillo peppers, Trek through this stunning European wilderness, Land of the lemurs: the race to save Madagascar's sacred forests, See how life evolved at Australias new national park. They write new content and verify and edit content received from contributors. In the following speech, Pericles made these points about democracy: Democracy allows men to advance because of merit rather than wealth or inherited class. The Athenians prized thought, deliberation, and discussion. Pericles' Ideology of Democratic Society. Pericles Pericles expands on his earlier point about Athenian democracy to establish that it is not just a system of government; it is the whole way of life for Athenians. Near the start of the Peloponnesian War, a plague swept the city. he sponsored the play Persians by the great tragic playwright Aeschylus. We obey those who hold office and the laws themselves, especially those enacted for the protection of the oppressed and those which, although unwritten, it is acknowledged shame to violate (2.37.3). [12] Pericles argues that the speaker of the oration has the impossible 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.[13]. Pericles was a famous Greek general. And we decide public questions ourselves, or at least come to a sound understanding of them (2.40.2). Since the time of Homer the Greek thirst for glory had centered on brave deeds in war: What would replace these in a world at peace? Peter Aston wrote a choral version, So they gave their bodies,[26] published in 1976.[27]. On the contrary, we have forced every sea and land to become an entrance for our daring, and we have everywhere established permanent monuments of the harm we have done our enemies and the good we have done for our friends (2.4l.4). 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. Pericles. Democracy favors the many instead of the few and Pericles believes justice is achieved when citizens follow those laws in which they have the freedom to participate in public life. Unlike some Athenian dramatists, he saw neither metaphorical significance nor divine retribution in the epidemic. His position rested on his continual reelection to the generalship and on hisprestige, based, according to Thucydides, on his intelligence and incorruptibility. The Athenian statesman Pericles defined democracy as a system which protects the interests of all the people, not just a minority. To revisit this article, select My Account, thenView saved stories, To revisit this article, visit My Profile, then View saved stories. Nobody knows what the plague was, although classically minded epidemiologists still debate its cause. By John G. Zumbrunnen. Solon responded, Tellus of Athens, a name neither Croesus nor anyone else outside of Athens had ever heard. [2] The speech was supposed to have been delivered by Pericles, an eminent Athenian politician, at the end of the first year of the Peloponnesian War (431404BCE) as a part of the annual public funeral for the war dead. 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. Its ideas are still important for people living in democractic nations today. In the process, he presented his vision for Athens and the kind of citizen its unique constitution and way of life would produce. Orderly Athenians, no longer expecting to live long enough to face punishment for crimes, plunged into a state of unprecedented lawlessness. They could not even bother to lay their dead to rest respectably. Gill, N.S. Where their system of democracy allowed them to have a voice amongst those who made important decisions that would affect them. The style is deliberately elaborate, in accord with the stylistic preference associated with the sophists. Open Document. Get a Britannica Premium subscription and gain access to exclusive content. Although limited to adult males of native parentage, Athenian citizenship granted full and active participation in every decision of the state without regard to wealth or class. Details about the nature and name of this disease are unknown, but a recent best guess is Typhoid Fever. The symbolism, although ambiguous, is most likely to be unfavourable. He believed that mans capacities and desires could be fulfilled at the highest level only through participation in the life of a community governed by reasoned discussion and guided by intelligence. The freedom we enjoy in our government extends also to our ordinary life. He maneuvered Athens to primacy over other league members, first by transferring the leagues treasury to Athens in 454 B.C. The Spartan imposed a property qualification for participation in public life; any Athenian citizen could sit on juries or the council and vote and speak in the assembly. Pericles's speech first gave praise to the ancestors, for which they are the people who built the city from the ground up and fought for democracy. The Acropolis looms over tourists in Athens. While the rest of the world continued to be characterized by monarchical, rigidly hierarchical, command societies, democracy in Athens was carried as far as it would go before modern times, perhaps further than at any other place and time. Unauthorized use is prohibited. In the real world, however, no one would adopt that demanding and perverse way of life except in the unique circumstances that brought it to Sparta. Given Pericles' family's wealth and influence in Athens, he received a very good . Modified by time and circumstance, his vision has proven peculiarly powerful. This past spring, Richard Bernstein investigated the questions hed been asking his whole careerabout right, wrong, and what we owe one anotherone last time. Death is the end; beyond it is silence and darkness. He was seen as encouraging and enabling the participation of ordinary citizens in the democratic process, not only as electors but as active participants. Yet this tolerant, easygoing way of life does not entail a disrespect for law or an invitation to licentious behavior. In a democracy, there is equal justice for all in private disputes. Gill, N.S. That development transformed the character of Athenian democracy and society; lower-class Athenians (called thetes) could now participate as fully as citizens with property. Some were acquired by effort; others were simply a gift of irrational fate. 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). They were a very small minority of the total population over which they ruled. Surviving the disease, he carefully set down the symptoms, knowledge of which will enable it to be recognized, if it should ever break out again. His ancient empirical analysis of catastrophe offers a jot of hope, if not wonder: for as long as there have been plagues, there have been people, scared but tenacious, using reason to try to learn from them. Under his leadership Atheniandemocracyand the Athenian empire flourished, makingAthensthe political and cultural focus of Greece between the Greco-Persian and Peloponnesian wars. Bomber Command was engraved with a quote from it. But the peace of Athens was not to last. Pericles met the challenge of the heroic tradition by showing that democracy would bring to all the citizens of Athens the advantages heretofore reserved for the well-born few. Instead, we put our trust not in secret weapons, but in our own courage when we are called upon to act. 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, and its freedom. 399 BCE): Pericles's Funeral Oration from the Peloponnesian War (Book 2.3446)", "What new music are you singing these days? The Blood Telegram: Nixon, Kissinger, and a Forgotten Genocide. In 430429 B.C.E., Athens was devastated by a mysterious epidemic, which reared its head again a few years later. Thucydides' funeral speech about democracy delivered by Pericles. Our love of what is beautiful does not lead to extravagance; our love of the things of the mind does not make us soft. The bones were kept for the funeral at the end of the year. Pericles greatest achievement lay in his ability to explain how the interests of the city and its citizens depended on each other for fulfillment. Politics soon took priority over the arts for Pericles. A seasoned, hard-bitten warrior, he was, for once, at a loss: Words indeed fail one when one tries to give a general picture of this disease; and as for the suffering of individuals, they seemed almost beyond the capacity of human nature to endure. Thucydides himself got the plague but survived, as he coolly notes in passing. Twenty-five hundred years later we remember him and his fellow-Athenians precisely because of their devotion to this great civic endeavor. Axolotls and capybaras are TikTok famousis that a problem? If the newly free nations see democracy chiefly as a quick route to material well-being and equal distribution of wealth, they will be badly disappointed, and democracy will fail. From artistry to politics, ancient Greece left a considerable impression on world history. In the decade before 500 B.C., the Athenians established the worlds first democratic constitution. Athens lost its first citizen, but his legacy endures in the Athens skyline and in democratic institutions around the world. The new democracies will, therefore, need leaders in the Periclean mold, leaders who know that the aim and character of true democracy should be to elevate their citizens to the highest attainable level, and that cutting down the greatest to assuage the envy of the least is the way of tyranny. They followed a written code that was exclusively in the interest of the ruling class. From time to time the helots would break out in revolt, threatening the very existence of Sparta. The story of the Athenians in the time of Pericles suggests that the creation and survival of democracy requires leadership of a high order. Thucydides, who wrote his Periclean speech for his History of the Peloponnesian War, readily admitted that his speeches were only loosely based on memory and shouldn't be taken as a verbatim report. The willingness to perform military service for his homeland is the most fundamental and demanding duty of the citizen. Whereas, Lysias supports the restoration of democracy because he believes that fighting for equality and rising up in rebellion is worthwhile. 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. The Funeral Oration is significant because it differs from the usual form of Athenian funeral speeches. After all, Athens was a naval power, an imperial capital, and a trading city whose fleets ranged across the ancient world; the contagion, he wrote, probably spread from Ethiopia to Libya to Persia before finally reaching Greece, where Athensa global port for commercial shipswas its first stop. The following excerpt is from a speech known as "The Funeral Oration," delivered by the Athenian general and politician Pericles in 431 BCE. When his twolegitimatesons died, their son Pericles had to belegitimated. 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.. ", "Louis Warren, "Abraham Lincoln's Gettysburg Address: An Evaluation" (Charles E. Merrill Publishing Co. 1946), p. 18", "The New York Review of Books: The Art of Abraham Lincoln", An English translation of Pericles's Funeral Oration, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Pericles%27_Funeral_Oration&oldid=1145831230, Begins with an acknowledgement of revered predecessors: "Four score and seven years ago, our fathers brought forth upon this continent", Praises the uniqueness of the State's commitment to, Addresses the difficulties faced by a speaker on such an occasion, "we cannot dedicate, we cannot consecrate, we cannot hallow this ground", 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", 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 detractThe world will little note, nor long remember what we say here, but it can never forget what they did here. Pericles stirring funeral oration is among the most famous passages of Thucydides. Pericles is perhaps best remembered for a building program centred on theAcropolis which included the Parthenon and for a funeral oration he gave early in the Peloponnesian War, as recorded by Thucydides. Please select which sections you would like to print: Professor of Ancient History, University of Oxford, 198594. To approach a question 400 million years in the making, researchers turned to mudskippers, blinking fish that live partially out of water. But soon after Pericles gave that prideful speech, the original democracy got sick. The material on this site may not be reproduced, distributed, transmitted, cached or otherwise used, except with the prior written permission of Cond Nast. Governor Pericles' speech, captured by the Athenian historian General Thucydides and known as "The Funeral Oration," serves as a model for how a leader in an executive role may raise the spirit of his or her people during a time of crisis. While every effort has been made to follow citation style rules, there may be some discrepancies. Pericles was first to honour Athens' dead in his Funeral Oration after the Peloponnesian War in 431 BC. This text is an excerpt from the National Geographic special issue, The little-known history of the Florida panther. To speak of this legislation as a move toward creating a master race is thus partly misleading, but the demagogic nature of the law seems clear. In 430-429 B.C.E., Athens was devastated by a mysterious epidemic, which reared its head again a few years. The Athenian democracy, Pericles asserts, far from reducing all to a low common level, raises all its citizens to the level of noblemen by asking them to take part in political life and so to control their own destiny. . Cimon died after 451, during his last campaign against Persia. 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. . A new discovery raises a mystery. The Athenians gave him a public burial on the spot where he fell [only the men who died at Marathon received the same extraordinary honor] (1.30). In 431, shortly after the Peloponnesian War had broken out . The earliest is known as the Funeral Oration of Pericles. He stated that the soldiers who died gave their lives to protect the city of Athens, its citizens, and its freedom. 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. Had he quoted the speech verbatim, he would have written "" ("this", or "these words") instead of "" ("like this" or "words like these"). For trade and the manufacture of whatever they needed, the Spartans relied on the perioikoipeople who lived in free communities, gave control of foreign policy to the Spartans, and served under Spartan command in the army. Pericles also elevated Athenss role within the Delian League, a naval alliance of Greek city-states unified to fight the Persians. 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. The tale tells us much about Greek values. According to Pericles speech, Athenians had great respect for their warrior class and they were proud of their city and its customs. 29, 2021, thoughtco.com/pericles-funeral-oration-thucydides-version-111998. How do we reverse the trend? He wasnt wrong. Repeated failures had taught the Persians they could not challenge Athenian naval power, while adherence to the right strategya refusal to fight a large land battledeprived Sparta and its allies of any hope for victory. While Pericles chooses to praise the Athenian citizen, Socrates criticizes Athens . Pericles incorporates obviously corrupt characters that contrast . They lived without the comfort of the two major devices that other cultures have used to evade that terrible truth. Men gathered frequently at three public gymnasia to prepare for the (naked) athletic competitions in the Panathenaic Stadium. Pericles took a different view: We believe, he said,that words are no barrier to deeds, but rather that harm comes from not taking instruction from discussion before the time has come for action. The play lacks moral ambiguity within many of the central characters. Use of this site constitutes acceptance of our User Agreement and Privacy Policy and Cookie Statement and Your California Privacy Rights. She was also niece to the father of Athenian democracy, Cleisthenes. 6th ed., vol. This analogy can be perceived as an explanation of Socrates view on democracy by rule by the many vs. by one or the few and how many results in a fallen nation. Omissions? Inside South Africas skeleton trade. Silence and Democracy: Athenian Politics in Thucydides' History. University Park: Pennsylvania State University Press, 2008. 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. Many are now confronting long-suppressed ethnic divisions that threaten to destroy the needed unity and harmony. How could the ordinary man achieve kleos? Business, Men, Mind. Photograph by James P. Blair, Nat Geo Image Collection. For the whole world is the burial place for famous men; not only does the epitaph inscribed on monuments in their native country commemorate them, but in lands not their own the unwritten memory, more of their spirit even than of what they have done, lives on within each person.