With reading and analysis of Pericles’ Funeral
Oration
Historical Background
Info

 From the Peloponnesian war, written down by
Thucydides
 Believed that history could be understood in terms of
human behavior
 Examined the human mind in war time
 Aimed to teach people so that they would avoid
making the same mistakes he witnessed in war.
 Admirer of Pericles and probably heard him deliver
the annual speech honoring the Athenian war dead in
the winter of 430 BC
Who is Pericles?

 A great statesman of ancient Greece and one of ten
generals during the Peloponnesian War
 Tried to unite his country under the leadership of his
own city, Athens.
 Promoted democracy in Athens
 During his rule, sometimes called The Golden Age of
Greece, many magnificent buildings, including the
Parthenon, were built.
What is the
Peloponnesian War?

 431 to 404 BC- an ancient Greek war fought by Athens
and its empire against the Peloponnesian League led by
Sparta
 Destruction of Athen's fleet at Aegospotami effectively
ended the war, and Athens surrendered the following
year
 Reshaped the ancient Greek world and marked end of the
“Golden Age”
 International relations- Sparta became established as the
leading power of Greece/ economic effects across Greece
 Greek society- conflict between democratic Athens and
oligarchic Sparta (civil war in Greek world)
Video

 “Greece: The Birthplace of Western Civilization”
Genre

 A speech is an oral presentation on an important
issue. The speaker determines the content of the
speech by considering the speech’s purpose, the
occasion for which it is being given, and the
audience to whom it is addressed.
 Often include rhetorical techniques such as
restatement (repeating an idea in different words)
and parallelism (repeating grammatical structures).
Rhetorical triangle

Genre

 One form of speech is an oration, a formal address
intended to inspire listeners and incite them to
action.
 Orators deliver an impassioned appeal to the
audience’s religious, moral, or patriotic values.
 Classic orations like Pericles’ have seven identifiable
parts (see next slide)
7 parts of an oration

An opening, intended to capture the audience’s attention
A narration, or recital of facts
An exposition, or definition, of issues to be addressed
A proposition to clarify the issues and state the speaker’s purpose
A confirmation to address arguments for and against the
proposition
 A confutation, or refutation, to disprove opposing arguments
 A conclusion, or epilogue, to summarize arguments and stir
listeners





**We will notice how Pericles develops his oration using these
techniques**
Cultural Connection

 Pericles’ speech reveals the values and attitudes of
Athenian society.
 (Example): When he says, “the greatest glory of a
woman is to be least talked about by men, whether
they are praising you or criticizing you,” he reveals
women’s inferior status in that society.
 What other passages reveal Athenian’s cultural
attitudes? (watch for this!)
Vocabulary to know..

 Incredulous
 Manifold
 Tangible
 Consummation
 Culmination
 Commiserate
Video Clips

 “Ancient Greece: The Democracy of Athens, 500 BC”
 “Living in Ancient Greece”
 “Golden Age of Ancient Greece: Daily Life”
Classical
Athens

 The city of Athens during the classical period of Ancient Greece (508–322
BC) was a notable polis (city-state) of Attica, leading the Delian League in the
Peloponnesian War against Sparta and the Peloponnesian League.
 Athenian democracy was established in 508 BC under Cleisthenes following
the tyranny of Hippias. This system remained remarkably stable, and with a
few brief interruptions remained in place for 180 years, until 322 BC.
 The peak of Athenian leadership was achieved in the 440s to 430s BC, known
as the Age of Pericles, or the Golden Age.
 In the classical period, Athens was a center for the arts, learning and
philosophy, home of Plato's Akademia and Aristotle's Lyceum, Athens was
also the birthplace of Socrates, Pericles, Sophocles, and many other prominent
philosophers, writers and politicians of the ancient world.
 It is widely referred to as the cradle of Western Civilization, and the birthplace
of democracy, largely due to the impact of its cultural and political
achievements during the 5th and 4th centuries BC on the rest of the then
known European continent.
Characteristics of a Greek
Citizen:















Balanced between military and leisure time
Cultivate the mind
Doesn't show off wealth
Participates in both the private life and public life
Can judge sound public policy
Can converse of issues to determine a course of action
Thinking before action
Reflect on actions
Friends not made based on favors
Adapts with grace
Believes in truth and fact
Fair treatment to the vanquished
Patriotic
Courageous
Funeral speech

 Who(speaker): Pericles, the central figure of the Golden
Age of Ancient Athens, a gifted statesmen and talented
military commander who led Athens in the second
Peloponnesian War before his death from plague.
 Audience: Athenians (citizens)
 What/purpose: After Athenian casualties in war, he
delivered a speech in honor of the fallen
 When: 431 ,shortly after the Peloponnesian War had
broken out
 Where: Athens, Greece
 Why: to commemorate those troops who had already
fallen in battle
Funeral Speech

 Central theme: the idea that the Athenians are able to put
aside their petty wants and strive for the greater food of
the city
 Bound together by bonds of mutual trust and a shared
desire for freedom, the people of Athens submit to the laws
and obey the public officials bot because they have to, but
because they want to.
 Citizens were able to adapt to situations, rise to challenges,
were clever, tolerant, and open-minded.
 Pericles relates the special qualities of the Athenians,
redefining many traditional Greek virtues in a radical
new light.
 New ideal of the Greek world
What were the main features of Athenian
democracy according to Pericles?

 Purpose: We will be analyzing the speech with the
purpose of trying to discover what Pericles
considered to be the outstanding political
characteristics of Athenian democracy in the 5th
century BC, during the Athenian Golden Age.
Structure

 Intro: states purpose (what is the purpose)