(Woodruff XXVI.) Yet an Athenian reared in the Homeric tradition could also ask, “How can I achieve kleos and thereby a chance at immortality? Pericles is considered by many to be the supreme practitioner of ancient statecraft who broadened the Athenian democracy to … 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. In this respect it was very much like Abraham Lincoln’s funeral oration at Gettysburg in 1863. 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. The new democracies will, therefore, need leaders in the Periclean mold, leaders who know that the aim and character of true democracy should be to elevate their citizens to the highest attainable level, and that cutting down the greatest to assuage the envy of the least is the way of tyranny. Since the time of Homer the Greek thirst for glory had centered on brave deeds in war: What would replace these in a world at peace? 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. Thucydides, Pericles' Funeral Oration Most of those who have spoken here before me have commended the lawgiver who added this oration to our other funeral customs. Main fax: 202.862.7177, © 2021 American Enterprise Institute |. And we decide public questions ourselves, or at least come to a sound understanding of them” (2.40.2). Strictly Necessary Cookie should be enabled at all times so that we can save your preferences for cookie settings. 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). Even years after his death, he is still celebrated by people […], In an essay first printed in “The Examiner,” Jonathan Swift writes: “In describing the virtues and vices of mankind, it is convenient, upon every article, to have some eminent person […], In “The Marriage of Heaven and Hell” (1793), Blake writes with a strong prophetic voice, bringing forth a new set of proverbs, a new poetics, twisting and flipping traditional wisdom. 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. This famous speech by Athenian ruler Pericles praising democracy, after the first year of war with Sparta, describes a form of government that is about to end and not be revived for almost 2,000 years. Welcome as this prospect was, it nonetheless presented a problem. This new faith will be especially hard to instill in societies that have learned to be cynical about the use of political idealism. Athens is called a democracy because the many rule, not the few; everyone knew that in Sparta a small minority dominated the vast majority. It was still open to each man to seek satisfaction in the pursuit of his own interests and those of his family, if necessary at the expense of the polis. For Pericles, Athens itself was a competitor for these prizes in the agon among poleis, past and present. Finally, Pericles revels in the variety available to the citizens of Athens–an object of scorn to Plato, but another quality, we must remember, normally associated with aristocracy. “The people who have the most excuse for despising death are not the wretched and unfortunate…but those who run the risk of a complete reversal in their lives…” Also, Pericles attempts to convince the citizens that there should be no fear of death if one already has an honorable life, as they would be forever respected after their death. They followed a written code that was exclusively in the interest of the ruling class. . During the war, even in its darkest moments, Pericles could count on a strong response when he reminded the people that they were right to love their city and even to risk their lives for it, because it was uniquely great, and because only by preserving and enhancing it could the ordinary man share in its glory and so achieve a degree of fame and immortality. Pericles’ funeral oration summary Pericles’ Ideology of Democratic Society. To succeed, they need a vision of the future that is powerful enough to sustain them through bad times as well as good and to inspire the many difficult sacrifices that will be required of them. .In the streets he must get out of the way. When it reappeared in the Western world more than two millennia later, it was broader but shallower. Older, better established democracies have the same needs if they are not to become the aimless, selfish, unstable, and doomed perversions of the Periclean vision described by Plato and Aristotle. 1 page, 406 words. Pericles’ Funeral Oration is a speech given to the community of Athens during a time of war. Pericles strengthened democracy by creating a direct democracy that had not existed before and by hiring more paid public officials. When he refers to women, he says that they should stay at home and take care of the house. It rejected the leveling principle pursued by both ancient Sparta and modern socialism, which requires the suppression of those rights. The Athenian democracy, Pericles asserts, far from reducing all to a low common level, raises all its citizens to the level of noblemen by asking them to take part in political life and so to control their own destiny. Instead, they thought man was of the same race as the gods, a creature capable of extraordinary achievements. In what does happiness lie? The Athenians prized thought, deliberation, and discussion. The task of keeping the home is not an easy one, and this tremendous responsibility is heaped upon the shoulders of the women. These aristocratic values never lost their powerful attraction to all Greeks, and Pericles claimed them for the Athenian democracy. 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