Plato
At the end of the Peloponnesian War Pericles, an elder states man and builder of the democracy in Athens, at the ceremony to honor those who had fallen, gave a moving speech to remind all of Athens why these men gave their lives. In the course of this infamous speech he begins to discuss what it is that separates Athens from others. Pericles truly believes that Athens is a model to other cities if the time, and a city that he is proud of. However, he is faced with the great challenge of conveying this message to a city mourning people. Only his great skill at rhetoric could create such a positive tone to such a negative occasion. Further, It was this skill that helped pave the way for historical figures throughout time to reach into the hearts of their respective publics (namely, Abraham Lincoln's Gettysburg Address). Parallels of Athenian culture in Pericles's speech can also be seen in works of the great playwright Sophocles. In this paper I will compare both the Gettysburg Address and Sophocles's plays Oedipus the King and Antigone to Pericles's Funeral Oration in an attempt to show the parallels in content and style between them. Pericles in the opening parts of his oration begins to go into something that has always
of all our neighbors, we alone consider the man who refuses to take part in city affairs as useless. They both praise loyalty, involvement in state affairs, and honorable death. As examined, patriotism was held very highly by the Greeks, as seen in Pericles's oration and Sophocles's plays We again come across an intersection in both statesmen's ideas, this time on the subject of courage. Both men considered loyalty in battle and involvement in public matters very important. In the following paper, I will compare the men's ideas and views on the subject of the individual and the state. Pericles states that "Our constitution does not seek to copy the laws of our neighbors; we are an example to others, not imitators of them". Specifically in his two great tragedies Oedipus the King and Antigone. The city of Athens stood by itself, it needed no others to help it. True, Antigone was not a soldier, but she went against her uncle's beliefs and commands, and did what was right according to the gods. Athens never advanced into another territory with Allies, she did it alone unlike Sparta. And he gets in a jab at Sparta by proudly proclaiming that "rather than look upon discussion as a stumbling-block in the way of action, we think it is an indispensable preliminary to any wise action at all. She left her gates open to all and did not concern herself with excluding foreigners.
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