Trevor Jones
Mrs. Mitchell
1/28/15
Per 7 World History
The Disaffirmation of Pericles' Funeral Oration
In Thucydides' History of the Peloponnesian War, Thucydides writes about his interpretations of the war in a non-biased way. In one of the more well known sections of his book, Pericles' Funeral Oration, Thucydides documents Pericles' speech to Athenians on account of the fallen warriors, and instead of lamenting them, prides Athens on its achievements and what makes it great. However, certain other sections of Thucydides book refutes what is being said by Pericles in Pericles' Funeral Oration. First of all In Pericles' Funeral Oration, Pericles speaks about how honorable the Athenians are while dealing with their deceased. However, in The Plague, Thucydides writes about how the Athenian people disrespected the deceased by burning them in large amounts. The same concept is true for Pericles' Funeral Oration, where Thucydides writes about how Athenian relationships with other countries are so reliable and focused on doing good to them, which keeps alive the gratitude of those in their debt. However, in Civil War In Corcyra, Thucydides writes about how the state was put into a warzone and later divided up due to the accusations against the Athenians for trying to "enslave" Corcyra. Finally, in Pericles' Funeral Oration, Thucydides writes about the Athenian people being courageous and virtuous towards their country and what they believe in. However, in The Plague, Thucydides writes about the loss of hope in the state and the lack of courage shown in those with or without the plague. Certain events in the texts Civil War In Corcyra and The Plague, of Thucydides book, History of the Peloponnesian War, refute what is being said about Athens' character as a whole in Pericles' Funeral Oration, in several ways.
http://www.quazoo.com/q/The%20Plague
Thucydides' The Plague refutes what is being said about due respect given towards fallen Athenians in Pericles' Funeral Oration because the plague brought out primitive instincts and reverted the people back to barbaric times, which are expressed through several examples shown in The Plague. In Pericles' Funeral Oration, a very high level of respect is shown for the fallen who helped protect the Athenian people: "The Athenians always bury those who have fallen in war. The only exception is those who died at Marathon, who, because there achievement was considered absolutely outstanding, were buried on the battlefield itself" (Thucydides, Page 143, Section 34, Line 15-18). As you can see from this passage, the Athenians have a very high level of respect for those who have courageously served and died for their state and, as talked about in a passage in the text before this passage, have certain rituals which have deep meaning to those who were close to the fallen. However, this seems hypocritical when times during the plague it taken into account. Many of the people taken by the plague died of neglect and were left unburied out on the streets, for the birds and animals to pick at. Not only is this a major step down from the level of respect given to the deceased in Pericles' Funeral Oration, but it was purely inhumane. Some caretakers remained a distance away from the plagued for fear of getting it themselves, which resulted in people dying of neglect. Rather than burying their friends or family after death, some Athenians merely threw the bodies out on the street for them to rot. As time went on and bodies began to stack high out on the streets, people adopted shameless methods in order to rid themselves of the plagued corpses: "Some would arrive first at a funeral pyre that had been made by others, put their own dead on it and set it alight; or, finding another pyre burning, they would throw the corpses that they were carrying on top of the other one and go away" (Thucydides, Page 155, Section 52, Line 16-19). All of the funeral ceremonies that took place were now disorganized and people did what they had to in order to protect themselves from the plague.
http://server1.lomaprieta.santacruz.k12.ca.us/MissionHill/accesshtml.cgi/u/MissionHill/phoebech/assignments/phoebeAW4.html
Certain events in Thucydides' Civil War In Corcyra refute what is being said about maintaining reliable friendships with other countries in Pericles' Funeral Oration by doing "continued good-will to them" because the acts committed by the Athenians not only were disadvantageous to Corcyra, but ultimately led to division of society there as well. In Pericles' Funeral Oration, Pericles says that the Athenians have reliable friendships with other counties by showing "continuous good-will" to them: "We make friends by doing good to others, not by receiving good from them. This makes our friendships all the more reliable, since we want to keep alive the gratitude of those who are in our debt by showing continued good-will to them" (Thucydides, Page 147, Section 40, Lines 24-28). This passage shows that the Athenians have good morals and want to build reliable relationships with their allies. Their method of doing this, however, was different from most because they liked to keep other countries in their debt by showing "continuous good-will" to them. This gives other countries the feeling of paying back a debt to Athens, rather than doing an act of kindness. This, said by Thucydides, makes Athens unique. This being said, in Civil War In Corcyra, people of Corcyra felt no such need to repay a debt for "continuous good-will" being done to them, instead they viewed Athens as an enemy trying to enslave Corcyra: "Members of the council called the people of Corcyra to an assembly and stated that what they had done was all for the best and would prevent the island being enslaved by Athens" (Thucydides, Page 237, Section 71, Lines 1-3). Shortly after Peithias was tried, released, and soon after murdered by five members of the Athenian council, the Athenians and those who shared Peithias' views escaped and took refuge on the Athenian Trireme. The Athenians were afraid that the Corcyraean refugees would take action against them, therefore leading to a counter-revolution, which made the Athenians make rash decisions. The dispute between Peithias and the Corcyraean Council fueled the revolution between the Democrats and the Oligarchs: "Society had become divided into two ideologically hostile camps, and each side viewed the other with suspicion" (Thucydides, Page 244, Section 83, Lines 5-6). It was a civil war between the oligarchs and the democrats, both siding with different countries which ultimately lead to deterioration of Greek character. However in the present, it means taking advantage of your enemy while they were off their guard. This not only represented superior intelligence during this time, but also it was key to self preservation.
http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Korean_War
Thucydides' The Plague refutes what is being said about Athenian courage and virtue in Pericles' Funeral Oration because it shows and emphasizes the loss of hope and warmly welcomes in despair in the face of the plague. In Pericles' Funeral Oration, Pericles describes how courageous the Athenian people are and always have been: "In this land of ours there have always been the same people living from generation to generation up until now, and they, by their courage and their virtues, have handed it on to us, a free country" (Thucydides, Page 144, Section 36, Lines 3-6). Throughout the course of Athenian history, from the founding fathers to recent ancestors, people worked hard in order to make it the place it was in this time period. It took men who were willing to make the ultimate sacrifice to their country in order to make it the empire that all the Athenian people knew and loved. However, this, like most other things, too changed in the face of the plague: "The most terrible thing of all was the despair it which people feel when they realize they caught the plague; for they will immediately adopt an attitude of other hopelessness, and, by giving in this way, would lose their powers of resistance" (Thucydides, Page 154, Section 51, Lines 12-15). With people dying left and right, those who got the plague knew that they did not much have time left on this earth, so naturally, they went into a state of utter despair. This feeling of despair was to be expected, because with most cases, Athenians only had over eight days to live. However, it was the same people building up one of the greatest empires of all time, that abandoned their family and friends, leaving them to die: "For when people were afraid to visit the sick, they died with no one to look after them; indeed, there were many houses in which all the inhabitants perished through lack of any attention" ( Thucydides, Page 154, Section 51, Lines 18-21). In the time of the plague, people had to do what they think is right, while still preserving themselves. This means that not many people would go and take care of the sick, simply because they were afraid of catching the plague. However, if people did visit the sick, they were putting their lives at risk and later contracted the plague from exposure. It was a brutal battle between doing what was right, and keeping yourself alive, but as always, human instinct kicked in and it was survival of the fittest.
http://www.economist.com/blogs/democracyinamerica/2014/10/justice-ferguson
Certain events in the texts Civil War In Corcyra and The Plague, of Thucydides book, History of the Peloponnesian War, refute what is being said about Athens' character as a whole in Pericles' Funeral Oration, in several ways. In Pericles' Funeral Oration, Pericles speaks about how honorable the Athenians are while dealing with their deceased. However, in The Plague, Thucydides writes about how the Athenian people disrespected the deceased by burning them in large amounts. As well as in Pericles' Funeral Oration, where Thucydides writes about how Athenian relationships with other countries are so reliable and focused on doing good to them, which keeps alive the gratitude of those in their debt. On the other hand, in Civil War In Corcyra, Thucydides writes about how the state was put into a warzone and later divided up due to the accusations against the Athenians for trying to "enslave" Corcyra. Finally, in Pericles' Funeral Oration, Thucydides writes about the Athenian people being courageous and virtuous towards their country and what they believe in. However, in The Plague, Thucydides writes about the loss of hope in the state and the lack of courage shown in those with and without the plague. This war was somewhat unique in all of its greatness, so there is not a modern equivalent to it in the form of a current event. However, as a species, we like to think of ourselves as a peaceful, respectful, but at the same time courageous species, but when things take a turn for the worst, like they did during the time of The Plague and the Civil War in Corcyra, we revert to our "survival mode" or as we like to call it, survival of the fittest. This idea comes up in several modern day examples, such as The Ferguson Trial, where 18 year old black man, Michael Brown, was shot by Ferguson police officer, Darren Wilson, for advancing on the Officer and for reasons before. This topic is still heavily debated in the news but in both cases, this was an act that refutes how we like to picture ourselves as a species and brings out our primitive instincts.
Works Cited
1. Thucyides, History of the Peloponnesian War, Rex Warner - translator , Penguin Books, 1972, New York.
2. "The Plague." Quazoo. N.p., n.d. Web. 02 Feb. 2015. <http://www.quazoo.com/q/The%20Plague>.
3. "Athens and Sparta's Roles in the Persian and Peloponnesian Wars." Athens and Sparta's Roles in the Persian and Peloponnesian Wars. N.p., n.d. Web. 02 Feb. 2015. <http://server1.lomaprieta.santacruz.k12.ca.us/MissionHill/accesshtml.cgi/u/MissionHill/phoebech/assignments/phoebeAW4.html>.
4. "Korean War." - Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. N.p., n.d. Web. 02 Feb. 2015. <http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Korean_War>.
5. "All Hell May Break Loose." The Economist. The Economist Newspaper, 29 Oct. 2014. Web. 02 Feb. 2015. <http://www.economist.com/blogs/democracyinamerica/2014/10/justice-ferguson>.
6. "Riots Emerge As Ferguson Trial Ends." YouTube. YouTube, n.d. Web. 02 Feb. 2015. <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tecF8UYgRrw>.
