Pericles Funeral Speech Analysis
Pericles Funeral Speech: Hype or Truth
Several philosophers and thinkers have graced Athens but none probably have described Athens as vividly as Pericles did with his funeral speech delivered in honor of the martyrs of the Peloponnesian War. This speech was given almost a year after the Peloponnesian War started and its purpose was to inspire both the citizens and the army of Athens. In his speech Pericles describes Athens as a flawless state when compared with its contemporaries. Pericles highlighted the achievements of Athens in almost every sphere ranging from its military prowess to its conduct of justice and equal opportunity to the most ordinary of its citizens regardless of his class or economic status. Pericles proclaims Athens as …show more content…
He proclaims, “In proof of this it may be noticed that the Lacedaemonians do not invade our country alone, but bring with them all their confederates.” (DWP, p. 58). But we see stark contrast to Pericles speech when the army of Athens arrives at Melians shores and orders them to surrender to Athens although Melians wanted to remain neutral and join neither the Spartans nor the Athenians. But the Athenian army simply dismisses the Melians request to remain independent and neutral and instead forcefully drives them out of their territory. This egotistical act of Athenians towards Melians obliterates Pericles claims of liberality. And even further the main argument that Athenians use in conquering Melians is in irony with Pericles speech which reads as such, “ And it is not as if we were the first to make this law, or to act upon it when made: we found it existing before us, and shall leave it to exist for ever after us; all we do is to make use of it, knowing that you and everybody else, having the same power as we have, would do the same as we do….” (DWP, p. 62). If Athens and Athenians were in fact just and fair, as Pericles claims then the latter part of the argument where they say, “and shall leave it to exist for ever after us” (DWP, p. 62) should have been done away with.
Several philosophers and thinkers have graced Athens but none probably have described Athens as vividly as Pericles did with his funeral speech delivered in honor of the martyrs of the Peloponnesian War. This speech was given almost a year after the Peloponnesian War started and its purpose was to inspire both the citizens and the army of Athens. In his speech Pericles describes Athens as a flawless state when compared with its contemporaries. Pericles highlighted the achievements of Athens in almost every sphere ranging from its military prowess to its conduct of justice and equal opportunity to the most ordinary of its citizens regardless of his class or economic status. Pericles proclaims Athens as …show more content…
He proclaims, “In proof of this it may be noticed that the Lacedaemonians do not invade our country alone, but bring with them all their confederates.” (DWP, p. 58). But we see stark contrast to Pericles speech when the army of Athens arrives at Melians shores and orders them to surrender to Athens although Melians wanted to remain neutral and join neither the Spartans nor the Athenians. But the Athenian army simply dismisses the Melians request to remain independent and neutral and instead forcefully drives them out of their territory. This egotistical act of Athenians towards Melians obliterates Pericles claims of liberality. And even further the main argument that Athenians use in conquering Melians is in irony with Pericles speech which reads as such, “ And it is not as if we were the first to make this law, or to act upon it when made: we found it existing before us, and shall leave it to exist for ever after us; all we do is to make use of it, knowing that you and everybody else, having the same power as we have, would do the same as we do….” (DWP, p. 62). If Athens and Athenians were in fact just and fair, as Pericles claims then the latter part of the argument where they say, “and shall leave it to exist for ever after us” (DWP, p. 62) should have been done away with.