What are the main points of Pericles Funeral Oration?
The most important thing to remember about the Funeral Oration is that it is a speech, intended to persuade its listeners. Pericles praises Athens so that people will keep fighting; he praises the sacrifices of the dead so that others will imitate them.
What is Pericles trying to say in his 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.
What is the Athenian attitude toward poverty?
In the fifth and fourth centuries BC Athenian ideas about poverty were ideologically charged. The poor were contrasted with the rich and found, for the most part, to be both materially and morally deficient.
How does Pericles characterize Athenian society?
In fact, Pericles sees Athens as having the ultimate possible government; the one best conducive to freedom, liberty, courage, honor, and justice – the values most honored by the Athenians. What is this? Pericles extolls several of the virtues of Athens, most of them centered on the then-unique form of democracy.
How does Pericles strengthen democracy?
To strengthen democracy, Pericles increased the number of public officials who were paid. Earlier in Athens, most positions were unpaid. This made it hard for less wealthy people to hold government jobs. Now even the poorest citizen could serve if elected.
What were the attitudes of the Athenians to such things as wealth learning and public affairs?
What were the attitudes of the Athenians to such things as wealth, learning, and public affairs? Our love for beauty does not make us extravagant, and our love of things of the mind does not make us soft. We regard wealth as something to be properly used and not as something to boast about.
Was there Homelessness in ancient Greece?
Nor, I might add, should we have any desire to. But we can be sure that homelessness of one sort or another was as constant a feature of ancient Greece as it is in the early twenty-Wrst century.
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 does Pericles say about equality?
“If we look to the laws, they afford equal justice to all in their private differences…if a man is able to serve the state, he is not hindered by the obscurity of his condition. The freedom we enjoy in our government extends also to our ordinary life.
Which feature of government does Pericles refer to in this excerpt from his funeral speech?
Which feature of government does Pericles refer to in the excerpt from his Funeral Oration Speech? A direct democracy.