Rhetorical Analysis Of Pericles Speech

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. He speaks of the ancestors with great honor and valor and that it was them who gave birth to Athens. He perceives Athens as a city with virtue, modesty, and modernization. It is a city who doesn't isolate itself from other governing states. Pericles announce that they aren't afraid to show their culture to the world and any foreigners may come and learn or observe from them. He suggests Athens is a country that welcomes foreigners and they

Thucydides depicts Pericles's funeral oration early on in his History, which honored Athenians’ strength and sense of duty as well as believing in the greatness of Athens. Everything Pericles spoke of in the oration glorified Athens’ achievements, aiming to raise morale during the state of war. In his praises, Pericles acknowledges Athens as an exemplar state to other Greeks and declares “in short, I [Pericles] 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” (Thuc. 2.41). One may argue that the oration illustrates the epitome of Thucydides’ support for Athens, as he did not record the speech verbatim and could have instilled his own views. Nevertheless, as demonstrated in other instances, Thucydides is just as critical of Athens as praising. In the Melian Dialogue that took place in 416 BC, Athens essentially imposed its vast power on the small island of Melos. Athenians threatened Melians to surrender and pay tribute, or suffer the repercussions as they eloquently stated, “in terms of practicality the dominant exact what they can and the weak concede what they must” (Thuc. 5.89). The Melians refusal to obey to Athens’ demands culminated to a siege that ended in the Athenian assembly voting to mercilessly execute all the men and enslave all women and children. The once glorified portrayal of Athens succumbs to a decline of moral values and transforms into one of an oppressive state with an entitled mentality to conquer other Greeks, comparable to the traits of tyrants in their hunger to acquire more power. Here, Thucydides made the conscious choice to relate two drastically different speeches that paints Athens in both a

In his funeral oration, Pericles praises Athens and the city's focus on balance between personal care and care for the state. He compared it to Sparta, where personal comfort was overlooked to benefit the state and said that the personal comfort allowed to Athenians is what makes the war worth fighting.16 By praising Athens, he showed his love and loyalty to his city. Alcibiades had no such loyalty. When he fled to Sparta he was asked if he did not trust his country, his answer was with everything other than his life.17 When in Sparta he gave military advice that caused more "ruin and destruction to his city" than anything else.18 After

First, Greek and American democracy has almost the same amount of nationalism and patriotism saw in the people. For instance, the Athenian individuals respected their energy and presence exceptionally. "Pericles says in regard to his policy: Remember that the motivation behind why Athens has the best name in all the world is on the grounds that she has never offered into affliction. However, has spent more life and work in fighting than some other states. Like this

Pericles articulates a strong sense of pride for the Athenian self-image through praising their ancestors, fathers, and the fallen. Pericles stated, “I shall begin with our ancestors: it is both just and proper that they should have the honor of the first mention on and occasion like the present. They dwelt in the country without break in the succession from generation to generation, and handed it down free to the present time by their valor.” The Athenian’s ancestors allowed for the future greatness and the ultimate formation of the government through their great and honorable patriotism. Their ancestors passed down the empire to the fathers of Pericles and other citizens, who only further added greatness to the inherited empire and began forming national habits. However, this greatness was earned through military achievements allowing for the possessions enjoyed by the current citizens, who gained the city from their fathers. The current Athenians, both dead and alive, further progressed the Athenian control and greatness as their successors already did. Pericles stated, “There are few parts of our dominions that have not been augmented by those of us here, who are still more or less in the vigor of life; while the mother country has been furnished by us with everything that can enable her to

Athens is a major Greek city-state in European history. It was a great center of cultural and intellectual development, and thus home to philosophers. Socrates and Pericles, two of these philosophers, had polarizing opinions about the city-state and its citizens. While Pericles chooses to praise the Athenian citizen, Socrates criticizes Athens’ people. Pericles gave his opinion at a funeral during the first battles of the Peloponnesian War, while Socrates gave his during the trial that ultimately led to his death. The Athenian city-state has become a model for today’s systems of government and a hearth for western philosophy, so Pericles’ opinion seems to be the one that is more accurate.

The authors main point was to tell of Pericles grand speech he told at the annual funeral in Athens for all who fell during war. Pericles main point of the speech was to not only tell of those who had fallen achievements, but also of his personal view of Athens, and how skillful and mighty their Athenian army was.

The ideals that Athens represents, per Thucydides, include power and the sense of community in the city-state. Pericles mainly focuses his speech on the idea of nationalism so the citizens still have hope in this time of grieving. He mentions that Athens is feared by other areas because of their power, and that they have a strong military and a powerful united government system. Pericles mentions that Athens is an example for other cities to follow because of their democracy in place. The city also represents openness because they never cast out foreigners or not allow them to learn from their community. The army is even open to foreigners. Pericles says that Athenians have a want for knowledge, which is obtained with the communication

In Pericles’s Funeral Speech for Athenian War Dead, he brings the listeners attention to the form of living Athenians and how it differs to outsiders, "The way we live differs in another respect from that of our enemies. Our city is open to all the world. We have never had any aliens' laws to exclude anyone from finding out or seeking anything here, nor any secrets of the city that an enemy might find out about and use to his advantage.” The Athenians lived a simple lives with limited democracy because of the leadership strategy of Pericles.

Us at Greek Gazette want to find out more. “ Pericles has so far been a very good leader,” says an Athenian citizen, “Now that he is ruler everyone has an equal say in democracy. Except women, children, and any immigrants... but they don't matter!” “Everyone is equal,” proclaims Pericles, “It doesn't matter what member of a particular class you are, but the actual ability in wh this, and even the poor feel like they are making a difference in the government.

The Athenians claimed to be the superior of Greece over Sparta and the other small city states. Thucydides had been a historian during a time where historical record was not taken. Some of the most important writings from Thucydides was “Pericles’ Funeral Orientation” and “The Melian Dialogue”. These writings spoke about important events in ancient Greek history. Thucydides’ importance in “Pericles’ Funeral Orientation” and “The Melian Dialogue” can be interpreted by identifying the substantial points in each, how the writings can relate to each other, how the ideals of both are very different, and the relationship of political image and political reality.

In 431 BCE, Pericles delivered his “Funeral Oration” during the midst of the Peloponnesian War in order to honor those who died for Athens. This eulogy was given in the middle of the war during a state celebration where the population gathered to commemorate those who defended Athens. However, Pericles also used his speech as an opportunity to honor the military and to inspire other citizens to fill the remaining vacancies in the army. Throughout his speech, Pericles emphasizes the glory of the Athenian democracy in order to honor the fallen soldiers and to inspire his people to continue to fight for the future of Athens.

Pericles’ Athens provides a compelling counter-example to Plato’s pessimism about democracy. Pericles prescribes a mixture of individual

The reason as to why I chose to meet Pericles is because Pericles was one of the few people in history who impacted the world enough to have an entire time period named after him. Pericles was one such man to earn that distinction because he accomplished many things while he ruled Athens. He helped subsidize theatrical productions attended by the poor, commissioned several public buildings that employed thousands of artisans and paid for jurors to fulfill their civic duty in the court system. Also during his leadership, the Parthenon, the temple of Athena Nike and the Erechtheum, was rebuilt. He colonized islands and lead Athens in the Delian League. Last but least, as a military leader, Pericles recaptured Delphi from the Spartans and laid

Athenian warriors fought both for their country and for their loved ones in the city. These warriors had more at risk as they were fighting for everyone in the city. During this time possessions were very important especially lands because wars were fought over to gain control of them. Soldiers were not afraid to die in combat. On the contrary, they believed it to be the most dignifying way to die. That’s why Athenians were able to create such a vast army and have a happy way of living, unlike in other cities. Pericles wanted people to know more about what the warriors had achieved. What he truly wanted was for people to be aware of the fact that the departed achieved something not due to their ancestry but due to the goals they had set, and the lives they had.