Speech Analysis Of Pericles Funeral Oration

In Pericles’s funeral oration, Pericles delivered his famous speech to commemorate the troops who had fallen in battle. In the speech Pericles opens with stoicism and reverence, honoring the ancestors of Athens. He recounts the special qualities of the Athenians, of being ruled and their ability to be rulers redefining many traditional Greek virtues in a radically new light. The idea that the citizens of Athens put aside their wants and strived for the greater good of the city is a central theme of the speech. Bound together by their mutual trust and desire for freedom, the Athenians submitted to the laws and obeyed the public officials not out of necessity but out of respect. The people of Athens were able to adapt to any situation and rise