Comparison of Lincoln's "Gettysburg Address" and Pericles' "Funeral Oration"

870 Words4 Pages
Lincoln’s “Gettysburg Address” and Pericles “Funeral Oration” are both speeches that clearly portray similar and diverse components.
To begin, Lincoln and Pericles both express tone in similar ways. In order to encourage his frazzled and hopeless soldiers and families, in addition to emphasizing the deceased, Lincoln needed to state his tone in an explicit and benevolent approach in the “Gettysburg Address”. To do this, Lincoln begins his speech with “Fourscore and seven years ago our fathers brought forth, upon this continent, a new nation, conceived in liberty and dedicated to the position that all men are created equal.” Because the exact opposite was enduring at that time, Lincoln states this to remind the soldiers of what they…show more content…
The phrase “a new birth of freedom” is a metaphor contrasting the old. The words “new birth” indicated that Lincoln was no longer defending an old Union, instead he was proclaiming a new Union. In a clearer view, the old Union attempted to contain slavery, so instead of following the containment of slavery, the new Union would truly justify independence. Correspondingly, Pericles’ “Funeral Oration” also includes a form alliteration and repetition, as well as two metaphors. Pericles says “public life falls to reputation for capacity class considerations…” this line contains a repetition of the letter c. Because the letter c is repeated, it forms a piece of a repetition. In the last line of the sixth paragraph Pericles voices “Such is the city for whose sake these men nobly fought and died; they could not bear the thought that she might be taken from them; and every one of us who survive should gladly toil on her behalf.” In this line Pericles has formed a metaphor. Without using like or as, by using the word “her” he compares the city to a woman that the soldiers fought and died for and couldn’t bear to lose. In the last line of the fourth paragraph, Pericles also uses a metaphor. “Because of the greatness of our city the fruits of the whole earth flow in upon us; so that we enjoy the goods of other countries as freely as our own.” In this line, Pericles compares
Show More
Related

  • Comparison of the Lincoln's "Gettysburg Address" and Pericles "Funeral Oration"

    632 Words  | 3 Pages

    having a democracy is. The purpose of Lincoln's speech was very similar. It was to dedicate a monument as the final resting place for those who have died in the civil war; it was also to reinforce the fact that there is unfinished work. "It is for us the living rather, to be dedicated here to the unfinished work which they who have fought here have thus far so nobly advanced." (Lincoln "Gettysburg Address") In my opinion the Gettysburg Address is a

    Read More

More about Comparison of Lincoln's "Gettysburg Address" and Pericles' "Funeral Oration"

Open Document