Pericles's Funeral Oration
Pericles' Funeral Oration is a famous speech from Thucydides' History of the Peloponnesian War.[1] The speech was delivered by Pericles, an eminent Athenian politician, at the end of the first year of the Peloponnesian War (431/0 BCE) as a part of the annual public funeral for the war dead.
Context of Funeral Orations
It was established Athenian practice by the late fifth century to hold a public funeral in honour of all those who had died in war.[2] The remains of the dead[3] were left out for three days in a tent, where offerings could be made for the dead. Then a funeral procession was held, with ten cypress coffins carrying the remains, one for each of the Athenian tribes. The procession led to a public grave (the Kerameikos), where they were buried. The last part of the ceremony was a speech delivered by a prominent Athenian citizen.
We have several funeral orations from classical Athens, which seem to corroborate Thucydides' evidence that this was a regular feature of Athenian funerary custom in wartime.[4]
Authorship
Pericles' Funeral Oration is recorded by Thucydides. 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 Thucydides has edited the speech at the very least. Thucydides says early in his History that the speeches presented are not verbatim records, but are intended to represent the main ideas of what was said and what was, according to Thucydides, "called for in the situation".[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' record resembles Pericles' actual speech.[6] Another confusing factor is that Pericles is known to have delivered another funeral oration in 439 BCE during the Samian War.[7] It is possible that elements of both speeches are represented in Thucydides' version.
Content of the Speech
Pericles Funeral Oration is significant because the speech departs from the typical formula of Athenian funeral speeches.[8] David Cartwright describes it as "a eulogy of Athens itself..."[9]. The speech is a glorification of Athens' achievements, designed to stir the spirits of a state still at war.
Prooemium (2.35)
The speech begins by praising the custom of the public funeral for the war dead, but criticizes the inclusion of the speech, arguing that the "reputations of many brave men" should "not be imperiled in the mouth of a single individual".[10] 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, and everyone else, who would feel jealous and suspect exaggeration.[11]
Praise of the Dead (2.36-2.42)
Pericles begins his praise of the war dead, as the other Athenian funeral orations do, by praising the ancestors of present day Athenians (2.36.1-2.36.3), touching briefly on the acquistion of the empire.
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 readt valor 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."[12]
Modern Influence of the Funeral Oration
American Civil War scholar Garry Wills addresses the parallels to Pericles' funeral oration to Abraham Lincoln's famous speech the Gettysburg Address.[13] Pericles' speech, like Lincoln's, begins with an acknowledgment of revered predecessors: "I shall begin with our ancestors: it is both just and proper that they should have the honour of the first mention on an occasion like the present"; then praises the uniqueness of the State's commitment to democracy: "If we look to the laws, they afford equal justice to all in their private differences"; honors the sacrifice of the slain, "Thus choosing to die resisting, rather than to live submitting, they fled only from dishonour, but met danger face to face"; and exhorts the living to continue the struggle: "You, their survivors, must determine to have as unfaltering a resolution in the field, though you may pray that it may have a happier issue."[14][15]
See also
References
- ^ Thucydides, History of the Peloponnesian War, 2.34-2.46.
- ^ Thucydides, History of the Peloponnesian War, 2.34.1-6. See also Plato, Menexenus.
- ^ The bodies of the dead were cremated soon after death. The bones were kept for the funeral at the end of the year.
- ^ The funeral orations of Lysias, Demosthenes, and Hyperides. Additionally Plato authored a possibly satirical version of a funeral oration, the Menexenus.
- ^ Thucydides, History of the Peloponnesian War, 1.22.1.
- ^ The bibliography on this topic is enormous. See Ziolkowski, John (1981). Thucydides and the Tradition of Funeral Speeches at Athens. Arno Press. ISBN 0-405-14057-6., Loraux, Nicole (1986). The Invention of Athens. Harvard University Press.
- ^ Plutarch, Pericles, 28.4.
- ^ On the degree of departure, see Ziolkowski, John (1981). Thucydides and the Tradition of Funeral Speeches at Athens. Arno Press. ISBN 0-405-14057-6.
- ^ Cartwright, David (1997). A Historical Commentary On Thucydides. University of Michigan Press. ISBN 0-472-08419-4.
- ^ Thucydides, History of the Peloponnesian War, 2.35.1.
- ^ Thucydides, History of the Peloponnesian War, 2.35.2.
- ^ Thucydides, History of the Peloponnesian War, 2.36.4.
- ^ McPherson, James (July 16, 1992). "The Art of Abraham Lincoln". The New York Review of Books. 39 (13).
- ^ "Pericles' Funeral Oration from Thucydides: Peloponnesian War". Retrieved 2005-12-18.
- ^ "The New York Review of Books: The Art of Abraham Lincoln". Retrieved 2005-12-18.