Pericles Funeral Orientation Essay - 893 Words

Pericles Funeral Orientation was recorded by Thucydides during the Peloponnesian War. The primary purpose of the speech revolved around honoring those who had died in battle. The second purpose of the speech was to present Athens as an environment of courage and security. Also, the speech fixated on the importance and uniqueness of the Athenian government its self (democracy) which created arrogance that eventually destroyed their city-state. Pericles main point was â€Å"these men, who could not bear the thought of losing her, nobly fought and nobly died——these men were worthy of their city——their memory abides and grows† (Thucydides 3). Overall, the funeral orientation was used to honor, give confidence, and create courage and community in†¦show more content†¦This conveys that Athens is confident enough in their security to allow people to enter their city because they believe that they are the most powerful nation of all. However, this is inaccurate because Athens and Sparta were equal in power at the beginning of the war. Thucydides presents courage when he quotes from Pericles that Athens is powerful because they have a natural courage in comparison to a state induced courage like Sparta. However, Thucydides presentation of courage is inaccurate because by talking about the greatness, security, and courage of Athens Pericles is forcing a state induced courage on the Athenian people by giving them no reason to question the outcome of the war. Thucydides presentation of courage and security in Pericles speech was accurate to the citizens of Athens because they are given no other reasons to contradict Pericles claim. Also, the presentation of security and courage is used to make Athens seem greater and more powerful than they actually were to future nations. The Athenians democracy was the pride and jewel of their nation. It created confidence, security, and patriotism, however, it also created an arrogant mindset which eventually leads to the downfall of their nation. Pericles states that the Athenian government was unorthodox because it was a government of the whole people rather than a minority (Thucydides 1). In addition, all Athenian citizens had the right to be apart of the government and administer justice. However,