World History
Wickware
Unit 1: Pericles’s Funeral Oration Document Activity
Name:_____________________________
Date:________________Period:________
Directions: With your partner, read over each quote below and discuss your collective response to the analysis
questions. Then, answer the questions ON YOUR OWN on a separate sheet of binder paper. Remember, use
“collective brains” to discuss your analysis but your OWN words to answer the questions.
FACT: Quote from the Speech
“Let me say that our system of government
does not copy the institutions of our
neighbors”
“…everyone is equal before the law; when it
is a question of putting one person before
another in positions of public responsibility,
what counts is not membership of a
particular class, but the actual ability which
the man possesses”
“We are free and tolerant in our private lives;
but in the public affairs we keep to the law”
IDEA: Analysis of the Quote
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“The Spartans, from their earliest boyhood,
are submitted to the most laborious training
in courage; we pass our lives without all these
restrictions, ant yet are just ready to face the
same dangers as they are”
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“Our city is open to the world, and we have
no periodical deportations in order to
prevent people observing or finding out
secrets which might be of military advantage
to the enemy. This is because we rely, not on
secret weapons, but on our own courage and
loyalty”
“Our love of what is beautiful does not lead
to extravagance; our love of the things of the
mind does not make us soft. We regard
wealth as something to be properly used,
rather than as something to boast about”
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What does Pericles say about Athenian government?
Who is the intended audience for this sentence?
What is the hidden attack here? (Who is he mocking?)
What is his tone? What does he say that conveys this
tone?
What is the effect of using “our”?
What do you think Pericles means when he says,
“everyone is equal before the law” and “what counts
is…the actual ability which the man possesses”?
What ability is Pericles referring to?
What do you think Greeks value based upon your
answers so far?
How does Pericles differentiate between private and
public behavior?
Why was this distinction important for Pericles to make?
Does this distinction exist in our country?
What would it look like to live in a state where the
opposite were the case: a person’s personal and private
lives were both accountable to the law?
What does Pericles suggest about Spartan education?
What is the connotation of “laborious”?
Why does he refer to training as restrictive?
What do you infer about Athenian education?
What really prepares Athenians for the dangers?
Why is the contrast so effective in conveying his feelings
about Athens?
What does this example of Athenian attitude towards
military security suggest about what they value most?
What is the implied attack against Sparta?
What do you think he means when he says, “we rely…on
our own courage and loyalty”?
What are the objections to Athenian values he is refuting
here?
Is his refutation powerful and persuasive? Why or why
not?