![]() ![]() It seemed to them a worthy thing that such an honor should be given at their burial to the dead who have fallen on the field of battle. ![]() Most of those who have spoken here before me have commended the lawgiver who added this oration to our other funeral customs. What are the main virtues that Pericles praises as characteristic of the Athenians? How does he contrast Athens with Sparta? What does he say is the proper role of women? It is unlikely that Pericles uttered precisely these words, since it was customary for ancient historians to invent the speeches of the figures they wrote about, based on what they knew about them but it certainly reflects the attitudes of many Athenians. ![]() It was its oppressive and aggressive rule over this empire that was eventually to lead to Athens’ downfall in the Peloponnesian War. Note that he praises not only his city’s freedom, but its empire. ![]() When Pericles was asked to give the official funeral oration for the Athenian soldiers who had died at one of the opening battles of the Peloponnesian War, he took the occasion not only to praise the dead, but Athens itself, in a speech which has been praised as enshrining the highest ideals of democracy and condemned as blatant propaganda on behalf of a warlike, imperialistic state, which–despite what Pericles says–was heartily detested by its allies. ![]()
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