pericles speech on democracy

Leading up to this oration, the people of Athens, including those from the countryside whose land was being pillaged by their enemies, were kept in crowded conditions within the walls of Athens. In his oration, he made democracy, freedom, and justice the main rationale for citizens . There are several different English translations of the speech available. The symbolism, although ambiguous, is most likely to be unfavourable. Pericles greatest achievement lay in his ability to explain how the interests of the city and its citizens depended on each other for fulfillment. In the following speech Pericles made these points about democracy: Democracy allows men to advance because of merit rather than wealth or inherited class. 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". But the Funeral Oration was intended to inspire the Athenians with a vision of excellence that justified their current efforts. Highlights from the week in culture, every Saturday. . In the first year of the Peloponnesian War, Pericles gave speech . The audience is then dismissed. The Athenian democracy would encourage merit in its traditional form and reward it with victory, glory, and immortality. 3.38.4. 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. Despite Thucydides' divided attitude towards democracy, the speech he put in Pericles' mouth supports the democratic form of government. His father, Xanthippus, a typical member of this generation, almost certainly of an old family, began his political career by a dynastic marriage into the controversial family of the Alcmaeonids. For Pericles, Athens itself was a competitor for these prizes in the agon among poleis, past and present. Solon, an Athenian lawmaker of the early sixth century, went further, arguing that a well-governed polis was the best defense against injustice, faction, and turmoil: It makes all things wise and perfect in the world of men.. From time to time the helots would break out in revolt, threatening the very existence of Sparta. Thucydides' Greek is notoriously difficult, but the language of Pericles Funeral Oration is considered by many to be the most difficult and virtuosic passage in the History of the Peloponnesian War. 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. A noted orator, Pericles stated in his famous Funeral Oration that Athenian citizens regard a man who takes no interest in public affairs not as a harmless, but a useless character.. 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 . [3] The remains of the dead[4] were left in a tent for three days so that offerings could be made. Achilles came to fight at Troy not for any national, ethnic, or communal cause but for his own purposes: to obtain booty seized from captured cities and to display the heroic excellence that Homer called arete. The bibliography on this topic is enormous. The Delian League effectively became an Athenian empire. 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. It was the custom at the time to honor the dead each year who had died defending their city-state, the city-state of Athens. 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. When his twolegitimatesons died, their son Pericles had to belegitimated. It is from the greatest dangers that the greatest glories are to be won, he stated in front of the assembly. Pericles approved payment for jury duty and for soldiers, sailors, and administrators. Thought is not a barrier to the achievement of heroic goals. Pericles' Funeral Oration can be compared to several more modern speeches, most notably Abraham Lincoln's Gettysburg Address. . (2 43. l-2). Approaching 50, he began a relationship withAspasiaofMiletus. Beyond those advantages, its early champions tried to show that the polis was necessary for civilized life, and therefore deserved the highest sacrifice. Most poleis had aristocratic or oligarchic governments, but they were ruled by laws arrived at in discussions in the sovereign assemblies, and they were executed by councils and magistrates selected by the citizens from among themselves. Pericles delivered a rousing speech lauding democracy on the occasion of funerals, shortly after the start of the war. This ancient marvel rivaled Romes intricate network of roads, For some long COVID patients, exercise is bad medicine, Radioactive dogs? In a book packed with battle, conquest, and massacre, Thucydides account of the plague is especially horrifying. Only someone of Pericles intelligence and integrity, Thucydides wrote, could respect the liberty of the people and at the same time hold them in check. His death left Athenian democracy in the hands of self-serving scoundrels such as Alcibiades, who later promoted an oligarchic coup, and bellicose demagogues such as Cleon, whom Thucydides scorned as remarkable among the Athenians for the violence of his character.. Such a vision and such leadership are not readily available in our era. . 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). 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. He further says that democracy guarantees privacy and equal justice for all. More fully, and therefore at greater length, Pericles did the same thing. The Spartan way of life inspired admiration in many other Greeks, though none went so far as to adopt the Spartan system. 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.. left his mark on the world in far more ways than the iconic Acropolis that still defines the skyline of Athens. 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. Welcome as this prospect was, it nonetheless presented a problem. According to Pericles speech, Athenians had great respect for their warrior class and they were proud of their city and its customs. 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. His approach was an unusual way to give a funeral oration, and as such it has been immortalized and is still deeply valued. 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. And when such philosophers as Plato modeled their utopian regimes on Sparta, they were building on a tradition that viewed its constitution as a standing rebuke to Athenian democracy. [b] Another confusing factor is that Pericles is known to have delivered another funeral oration in 440BCE during the Samian War. Please select which sections you would like to print: Professor of Ancient History, University of Oxford, 198594. That conception ran counter to Greek experience, which had always been full of turbulence and warfare. 6th ed., vol. Men gathered frequently at three public gymnasia to prepare for the (naked) athletic competitions in the Panathenaic Stadium. Only one ancient account mentions the existence of Xerxes Canal, long thought to be a tall tale. But the peace of Athens was not to last. Business, Men, Mind. 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. 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. Pericles' mother was related to the controversial noble family of Alcmaeniode. 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. Millennia later, the plague reminds us that the legacy of the eternal wonder of Athens contains within it a cautionary tale: the failure of democratic society to cope with a lethal epidemic. It was a great center of cultural and intellectual development, and thus home to philosophers. [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]. In the few of his speeches we have, Pericles spoke chiefly of the empire and military glory, and these were certainly important values to him and the Athenians. 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). 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 Spartans faced this fundamental problem of the polis in its sharpest form. When it reappeared in the Western world more than two millennia later, it was broader but shallower. The oration articulates ancient democratic theory, and the picture of democracy it describes serves as a model for democratic states even today.1 In a seminal piece of work, Clifford Orwin has argued in his book, The Humanity of Thucydides that Pericles' third speech, delivered to the Athenian populace after the outbreak of the plague represents The outbreak of war among the Greek states in 459 put a premium on military talent, and Pericles only recorded campaign in the next few years was a naval expedition in the Corinthian Gulf in 454, in which Athens defeated Achaea but failed to win more important objectives. Whatever it was, it was a horror. Its chief purpose, even more important than praising the dead, was to explain why they had been right to risk their lives and why the living should be willing to do likewise. With brilliant brevity Lincoln answered some questions by pointing to the greatness of the cause at issue. Only facing dangers that the mind can comprehend deserves to be called bravery, and that is what is expected of the men in his polis. In the climax of his praise of Athens, Pericles declares: "In short, I say that as a city we are the school of Hellas; while I doubt if the world can produce a man, who, where he has only himself to depend upon, is equal to so many emergencies, and graced by so happy a versatility as the Athenian. Pericles therefore asserts that we conduct our public life as free men [eleuthero.i] (2.37.2). The ancient Greek statesman Pericles (ca 495429 B.C.) 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.. References. As for poverty, no one need be ashamed to admit it, the real shame is in not taking . 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. Death is the end; beyond it is silence and darkness. Finally they were buried at a public grave (at Kerameikos). The average citizen could not look even to his polis for the satisfaction of his greatest spiritual needs. Greeks deprived of the political life felt the loss keenly. Excerpt from Funeral Speech for Athenian War Dead Given in the first year of the Peloponnesian War 431/430 B.C. He met both challenges by adapting the first to his own purposes and by rejecting the latter as inferior to the new society he had introduced in Athens. Nevertheless, Thucydides was extremely meticulous in his documentation, and records the varied certainty of his sources each time. Twenty-five hundred years later we remember him and his fellow-Athenians precisely because of their devotion to this great civic endeavor. Many Athenians blamed the calamity on their Spartan enemies, spreading dark rumors of poisoned reservoirs. The Athenian historian Thucydides included the speech in his book the History of the Peloponnesian War. They need leaders who understand that individual freedom, self-government, and equality before the law are of the highest value in themselves. An examination of the few successful democracies in history suggests that they need to meet three conditions if they are to flourish. In a democracy, there is equal justice for all in private disputes. Part of the speech met the challenge posed by the heroic tradition that emphasized competition, excellence, or merit and the undying glory that rewarded it. Details about the nature and name of this disease are unknown, but a recent best guess is Typhoid Fever. Learn how and when to remove this template message, "Thucydides (c. 460/455c. These were evidence of his freedom and importance, and so a source of pride. Retrieved from https://www.thoughtco.com/pericles-funeral-oration-thucydides-version-111998. 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. Pericles delivered the oration not only to bury the dead but to praise democracy. [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. In Minneapolis, Protesters Confront the Policeand One Another. Does eating close to bedtime make you gain weight? Pericles, (born c. 495 bce, Athensdied 429, Athens), Athenian statesman largely responsible for the full development, in the later 5th century bce, of both the Athenian democracy and the Athenian empire, making Athens the political and cultural focus of Greece. . Pericles. 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. Pericles delivered the oration not only to bury the dead but to praise democracy. In a democracy, citizens behave lawfully while doing what they like without fear of prying eyes. Because of a law he supported restricting Atheniancitizenshipto those of Athenian parentage on both sides, marriage was impossible. The Persian War, begun as an ill-considered gesture in 499, could be considered ultimately successful. Copyright 1996-2015 National Geographic Society, Copyright 2015-2023 National Geographic Partners, LLC. Modified by time and circumstance, his vision has proven peculiarly powerful. In moderate material comfort, good health, long life, virtuous offspring, and an opportunity for kleosthe last two representing mans hopes for immortality preserved in the memory of his family and his polis. ", This page was last edited on 21 March 2023, at 06:49. 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 . The bodies of the dead were cremated soon after death. N.S. To approach a question 400 million years in the making, researchers turned to mudskippers, blinking fish that live partially out of water. In 431 B.C., Pericles urged the popular assembly to declare war against Sparta. 105 Copy quote. But they are won by and for all the citizens of democratic Athens, and Pericles does not hesitate to assert the superiority of this collective achievement, going so far as to reject the need for an epic poet to guarantee its renown: We have provided great evidences of our power, and it is not without witnesses; we are the objects of wonder today and will be in the future. We can outline the ideology behind democracy from his speech. An Aerial View of New York City During a Pandemic. Let us know if you have suggestions to improve this article (requires login). 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. In contrast, Pericles, via his funeral oration speech, believes that democracy is better ruled by many rather than few. But modern democracies are also more remote and indirect, less political in the ancient understanding of the term. He gave a speech in Athens, a public speech, honoring the many warriors who were killed in battle after the first year of the Peloponnesian War. [citation needed] The speech is full of rhetorical devices, such as antithesis, anacoluthon, asyndeton, anastrophe, hyperbaton, and others; most famously the rapid succession of proparoxytone words beginning with e (" , ' " [judging courage freedom and freedom happiness]) at the climax of the speech (43.4). 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. The bustling main thoroughfare was the Panathenaic Way. It was written by the Greek philosopher Thucydides (460-395 B.C.E. 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"[15] These lines form the roots of the famous phrase "equal justice under law." "Future ages will wonder at us, as the present age wonders at us now." - Pericles. 476 Words. Pericles gave the speech at the end of the first year of the Peloponnesian war (431 B.C.E.). From the first, the Greeks faced the great truth of mans mortality squarely. For their food, the Spartans relied on the helots slaves of the Spartan state who out-numbered the Spartans by at least seven to one, bitterly hated their masters, and, in the words of the fourth-century writer Xenophon would gladly eat them raw (Hellenica 3.3.6). His position rested on his continual reelection to the generalship and on hisprestige, based, according to Thucydides, on his intelligence and incorruptibility. By rewarding merit, it avoided the unnatural leveling that is the hallmark of tyranny and encouraged the individual achievement and excellence that makes life sweet and raises the quality of life for everyone. "Pericles's Funeral Oration" (Ancient Greek: ) is a famous speech from Thucydides' History of the Peloponnesian War. Instead, it opened the competition for excellence and honor to all, removing the accidental barriers imposed in other constitutions and societies: Our city is called a democracy because it is governed by the many, not the few. 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 . Learn why Greek and Roman gods share so many similarities, how the alphabet got its name, and how the legacy of ancient Greece has evolved over thousands of years. Tens of thousands of people died, perhaps as many as one-third of Athenians. Pericles incorporates obviously corrupt characters that contrast . Under his leadership Atheniandemocracyand the Athenian empire flourished, makingAthensthe political and cultural focus of Greece between the Greco-Persian and Peloponnesian wars. "Pericles, son of Xanthippos, spoke like this". These sources are not all ascertainable, but they certainly preserve an invaluable amount of fact and contemporary gossip, which is sometimes nearly as useful. Here Pericles has identified a critical element of his vision for Athens: its commitment to reason and intelligence. 2 Pages. He used his speeches to articulate a compelling vision for Athens and its citizens, inspiring them to come together around common goals. "Plato's Opposition to the Veneration of Pericles". These facts were obvious to all and might be expected to deter aggression. She was also niece to the father of Athenian democracy, Cleisthenes. .he must support his unmarried sisters at home and explain to them why they are still spinsters, he must live without a wife at his fireside. Pericles. The Funeral Oration was delivered during a war that was clearly going to continue for some time. This new faith will be especially hard to instill in societies that have learned to be cynical about the use of political idealism. What we can learn from Chernobyl's strays. [10] David Cartwright describes it as "a eulogy of Athens itself". It might have been smallpox, a fungal poisoning called ergotism, or something worse. An understanding of that reality should give pause to any who may think that democracy is the natural polity of mankind and that its establishment and success are assured once despotic or reactionary rule has been removed. Athens is a major Greek city-state in European history. Updates? He was too scrupulous to blame the epidemic on the Spartansan ancient reproach to those today who try to pin blame on foreign rivals. 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. We say he has no business being here at all. Author of. Pericles' funeral oration has exercised a permanent fascination on the political imagination of the West. Previously, only the wealthy could afford the time to participate in politics. "Pericles' Funeral Oration - Thucydides' Version." If they ever failed in some attempt, they were determined that, at least, their city should not be deprived of their courage [arete] and gave her the most beautiful of all offerings. Gill is a Latinist, writer, and teacher of ancient history and Latin. . In Platos Republic, written several decades after the plague, Socrates warned that democracy would decay into tyranny; Thucydides recorded it sliding into discord, folly, and demagoguery. It contained a clear, if often implicit, contrast with the Spartan way of life, which so many Greeks admired but which Pericles regarded as inferior to the Athens he portrayed. Pericles was a famous Greek general. In the streets around the Fifth Precinct police station, protesters battle law enforcement, chastise looters, and fight to be heard. Monoson, Sara (2002). The French and American revolutions extended citizenship more generously than in Greece, ultimately excluding only children from political participation. "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'. In early Athens, as in most of the Greek cities, political participation came to represent a crucial distinction between a free man and gentleman on the one hand, and a slave or churl on the other. To save chestnut trees, we may have to play God, Why you should add native plants to your garden, What you can do right now to advocate for the planet, Why poison ivy is an unlikely climate change winner. Athens is called a democracy because the many rule, not the few; everyone knew that in Sparta a small minority dominated the vast majority. Democracy allows men to advance because of merit rather than wealth or inherited class. Thucydides' funeral speech about democracy delivered by Pericles. These solemn commemorations, apparently unique to the Athenian democracy, had a political dimension, for the speaker was someone chosen by the polis as the man who seemed wisest in judgment and foremost in reputation (Thucydides 2.34.6). No fear of god or law of man had a restraining influence.. Social distancing and mass burials are now a part of New Yorks cityscape. In the following speech, Pericles made these points about democracy: Baird, Forrest E., editor. https://www.thoughtco.com/pericles-funeral-oration-thucydides-version-111998 (accessed May 1, 2023). Greek noblemen lived by the ideal of the accomplished amateur: good at a variety of skillsmusic, athletics, warfare, among othersbut professionally devoted to none. A few days before Pericles birth, according to the Greek historian Herodotus, Agariste dreamed she bore a lion. Spartas great reputation depended on its extraordinary military achievements, and these were attributed in turn to its religious piety, single-minded severe system of training, the tight discipline imposed on all aspects of life, and the ascetic Spartan mores. 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. was the sight of people dying like sheep through having caught the disease as a result of nursing others. Neither medicine nor quackery helped. For them, nothing could interfere with the claims of the polis to their loyalty and devotion, so they rejected privacy, imposed a rigid economic equality on the members of the Spartiate class, attenuated the independence of the family and its control of its offspring, and made individual goals entirely subordinate to those of the state.

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