Pericles, Funeral Oration

Nonfiction | Essay / Speech | Adult | BCE

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Themes

Patriotism and the Uniqueness of Athens

The main theme of the “Funeral Oration of Pericles” is patriotism. Thus, Pericles does not conform to the rhetorical norms of his era. Instead, he focuses on persuading the contemporary audience to be devoted to Athens and defend her with the same vigor as did the men they are gathered to commemorate. Thus, after a few preliminary comments, Pericles begins his panegyric, a speech (or text) of praise. However, his focus is not on the men the crowd is gathered to honor but on the exceptionalism of Athens. He praises the uniqueness of the city-state’s constitution, which “does not copy the laws of neighboring states” but serves as “a pattern to others” (2.37.1). Pericles describes Athenians’ freedoms at length, celebrating democracy by referencing their law-abiding qualities and “ease in [our] private relations” (2.37.3), their education, and their versatility. He also highlights the city’s unique military policy, community celebrations, and open-door policy toward foreign people. He admits that this policy leaves Athens open to spies, but he assures his audience that this is not a threat to Athenians, who are “trusting less in system and policy than [in] the native spirit of our citizens” (2.39.1). This democracy is the major reason why Athenians should be ardently dedicated to their city. Like the men they are memorializing, they should be dedicated enough to Athens to accept sacrifice and struggle, even to the point of death.

Pericles celebrates the fallen soldiers, calling them heroes for “surely, to a man of spirit, the degradation of cowardice must be immeasurably more grievous than the unfelt death which strikes him in the midst of his strength and patriotism” (2.43.6). This is the only sentence in the “Funeral Oration” that announces that death, for the state, is linked to patriotism. He frames the soldiers’ deaths as “unfelt,” in contrast to the agony they would have endured if they had refused to fight to defend Athens. He also honors the deaths of those who “die resisting, rather than live submitting,” since this represents the ultimate act of love for their city-state (2.42.4). Rooting patriotism in the willingness to die for one’s city-state is necessary for ensuring a steady supply of willing soldiers and encouraging parents to continue sending their sons to war.

Pericles ends his celebration of Athens with the admonition, “You must yourselves realize the power of Athens, and feed your eyes upon her from day to day, till love of her fills your hearts” (2.43.1). By prompting an emotional response akin to that of someone who gazes upon a loved one, Pericles hopes to inspire his listeners to a “sense of duty, and a keen feeling of honor in action that men were enabled to win all this” (2.43.1). Pericles depicts pride and a willingness to sacrifice oneself as the duties of every patriotic citizen who has the good fortune to live in Athens, which he sets apart from its neighbors as a model of democracy and progress.

The Construction of Athenian Identity

Pericles uses the concept of the “school of Hellas” (2.41.1) to generate a sense of common identity among Athenians and celebrate what sets them apart from their opponents, who are also Greeks. He praises the forms of education and freedom in Athens as different from those of other city-states: “Where our rivals from their very cradles by a painful discipline seek after manliness, at Athens we live exactly as we please, and yet are just as ready to encounter every legitimate danger” (2.39.1).

Pericles speaks of “the elegance of [...] private establishment” in Athens and points out that in Athens “the fruits of other countries are as familiar a luxury as those of his own” (2.38.1-2). This level of privilege is in many ways unique to Athens, for in other city-states, foreign luxuries were available to only the wealthiest few. However, Pericles, as a general, emphasizes that this access to the finer things does not weaken the men of Athens or make its people ostentatious. Rather, “we cultivate refinement without extravagance and knowledge without effeminacy; wealth we employ more for use than for show and place the real disgrace of poverty not in owning to the fact but in declining the struggle against it” (2.40.1). Thus, the idealized Athenian of Pericles’s discourse achieves moderation and balance in the midst of privilege, managing abundance responsibly, as a good steward should.

Finally, in Pericles’s model city-state, even the ordinary Athenian behaves responsibly and with discretion in a way that is unknown in other domains, He claims that “our ordinary citizens, though occupied with the pursuits of industry, are still fair judges of public matters […] unlike any other nation” (2.40.2). This stresses the wisdom and reason that democracy cultivates in citizens. Rather than acting impulsively, the Athenian views “discussion” as “an indispensable preliminary to any wise action” (2.40.2) Thus, Athenians attain the classical model of reason and equilibrium, rooted in their unique practice of democracy. By providing this idealized view of what sets Athenians apart from other Hellenes, the “Funeral Oration” flatters its listeners by stressing that they are always ready to encounter anything fortune has in store for them with bravery and honor, as these responses are inherent to their nature.

The Glory of Dying for One’s Nation

The “Funeral Oration” frames death as an honorable and valiant choice rooted in patriotism. Pericles praises the men of Athens who died in battle for “choosing to die resisting, rather than to live submitting” (2.42.4). Death in this situation is so valued an end that Pericles does not offer condolences to the family members who lost their sons, fathers, or husbands; in his view, a glorious death is the most honorable thing that can happen to their loved ones. He even presents death as a positive or protective event, as it frees one from being subjected to the whims of the gods or fortune. He does, however, offer the soldiers’ families comfort. He celebrates the deceased as heroes who “have the whole earth for their tomb; and in lands far from their own, where the column with its epitaph declares it, there is enshrined in every breast a record unwritten with no tablet to preserve it, except that of the heart” (2.43.3). This sustains the persuasive purpose of his rhetoric, which is designed to inspire Athenians to continue to support his war tactics, offer their sons for future battles, and have more children to contribute to the war effort.

But his presentation of Death goes further as he insists that “steadfastness in his country’s battles should be a cloak to cover a man’s other imperfections; since the good action has blotted out the bad, and his merit as a citizen more than outweighed his demerits as an individual” (2.42.2). In other words, the glory of a patriotic death is not only honorable in itself. It also serves a redemptive purpose; no matter what a man’s shortcomings were, dying for Athens erased them. The willingness to embrace death is portrayed as the ultimate proof of one’s patriotism, and Pericles claims that this spirit of self-sacrifice makes Athenians greater than the rest of the Greeks.