Funeral Oration of Pericles

Impact

Plutarch, in his biography Pericles, written in about 75 CE, indicates that when Pericles concluded the speech, the women sought to touch his hands and to give him crowns of leaves to honor him, in the same way that they would have rewarded a victorious Olympic athlete. For the most part, Pericles maintained his position, and the Athenians continued with the war. His opponents waited in the wings, however. On the day of the speech, some mocked his successes against Athenian allies (Sparta) instead of Persians, whom many considered the true enemy of Greece.

The Funeral Oration of Pericles took on a greater role in modern times. As an idealized paean to democracy, it was used by nineteenth-century Europeans as a fitting defense of growing liberal democracy. The discovery of Greek and Roman antiquities encouraged scholars to go in search of historical roots to explain why industrial Europe had emerged as a dominant global force. Finding a kindred spirit in Athenian democracy, British and American political philosophers elevated Pericles' speech to a defense of their own system. Just as Pericles glorified democracy, so also did his modern counterparts utilize the Funeral Oration to remind citizens that freedom and equality are still privileges worth any sacrifice, including death.