How accurate is Thucydides account of Pericles funeral oration?
Thucydides, who wrote his Periclean speech for his History of the Peloponnesian War, readily admitted that his speeches were only loosely based on memory and shouldn’t be taken as a verbatim report.
Why did Thucydides write about Pericles?
Thucydides used this opportunity to recreate the experience of listening to the greatest orator of his time, and at the same time to give his reader a sense of Pericles’ own ideas and of the ideals that inspired the Athenians; and, as always, he wanted his readers to think about those ideas and ideals, and to compare …
What is Pericles funeral oration about summary?
It talks about democracy and Athenian patriotism. It shares a great deal about life in Athens and events in Greek history. In his speech, Pericles states that the citizens of Athens must continue to support the war. He wanted to emphasis that what they were fighting for was of the upmost importance.
What is the meaning of funeral oration?
A funeral oration or epitaphios logos (Greek: ἐπιτάφιος λόγος) is a formal speech delivered on the ceremonial occasion of a funeral. Funerary customs comprise the practices used by a culture to remember the dead, from the funeral itself, to various monuments, prayers, and rituals undertaken in their honour.
What principle did Pericles discuss in this speech?
In his speech, Pericles states that the citizens of Athens must continue to support the war. He wanted to emphasis that what they were fighting for was of the upmost importance. He stated that the soldiers who died gave their lives to protect the city of Athens, its citizens, and its freedom.
Which principle did Pericles discuss in this speech?
Why is Pericles important?
Pericles was an Athenian statesman who played a large role in developing democracy in Athens and helped make it the political and cultural center of ancient Greece. Pericles was born in 495 B.C.E. in Athens to an aristocratic family.
What made Pericles so great?
Pericles is perhaps best remembered for a building program centred on the Acropolis which included the Parthenon and for a funeral oration he gave early in the Peloponnesian War, as recorded by Thucydides. In the speech he honoured the fallen and held up Athenian democracy as an example to the rest of Greece.