of the first year of the Peloponnesian War‚ Pericles delivers an oration speech in which he explains what he believes the nature of Athens to be. In the following years‚ Thucydides gives a report of the Plague of 430‚ regarding the state of Athens. With a significant comprehension of both accounts‚ we can generate a accurate depiction of the condition of Athens. In order to produce this understanding‚ I will first delve into the rhetoric of Pericles speech‚ then turn my attention to Thucydides
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Although the people of Athens clearly knew and recognized that they lived in a democracy‚ Pericles goes out of his way to remind them of this as a means of praising and extolling the uniqueness of Athens and its system of government. It also supports the argument that Athens has a way of life that is superior to other poli within Greece‚ and its people must therefore fight for it and the values it upholds as a democracy. In fact‚ one way of looking at Pericles’ ancestor reference in the previous
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Is it possible for one of the ancient civilizations‚ Athens or Sparta to be better than the other? In modern day it is hard for a whole civilization to agree on what makes a perfect society‚ but there are ways to keep citizens happy‚ give them freedom through knowledge‚ or provide safety‚ in the case of Athens‚ and Sparta‚ two conflicting civilizations that frankly followed these approaches‚ it is hard to say which one is a better. They both excelled in their own ways‚ specifically in regards to
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Although The Funeral Oration of Pericles was written around 431 B.C.E. in Athens‚ Greece and Barack Obama’s State of the Union Address was written in 2013 in the United States of America‚ they address many similar topics. A few of these topics consist of civic duty‚ world leadership and dedication. These similar topics can be seen many times throughout the two speeches even though the speeches were made for different reasons. Pericles’s speech eulogized the Athenian soldiers who died in the war against
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people‚ and a final drop of the hatchet and permanent dismemberment of what used to be the American dream as they continue to feed further in the lie that the lower class deserves to be there‚ the middle class is getting poorer and the rich getting richer and therefore those who refute their oversimplified version of “the truth” must be lazy‚ poor‚ incompetent‚ or just plain out stupid. Essentially‚ what made America great‚ is dead. In this upcoming election we have two options. A vindictive con-man
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Plutarch’s essays Pericles and Alcibiades‚ Plato’s Apology and Crito‚ and Thucydides’ Peloponnesian War. I The meaning of sophism. In Athens all young aristocrats were getting traditional education in gymnasium. They studied music‚ poetry‚ mathematics‚ athletics‚ etc. But for some wealthy aristocrats it was not the only education they were getting‚ they had private tutors that taught them sophism. A number of sources proves the fact that many successful and famous leaders in Athens had sophist teachers
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Pericles and Martin Luther were both very influential people of their time. Even today their legacy’s live on and many times are still referred to. Without their effort in perusing with what they believed was right and keeping the motivation to change it‚ the world wouldn’t be where we are today. Pericles brought idea of democracy to Athens. He believed that the true value of Athens was found in the common good of the people. He worked to ensure that every Athenian had land and some link to their
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deputation to Athens demanding certain concessions‚ such as the immediate expulsion of the Alcmaeonidae family including Pericles and the retraction of the Megarian Decree‚ threatening war if the demands were not met. The obvious purpose of these proposals was the instigation of a confrontation between Pericles and the people; this event‚ indeed‚ would come about a few years later. At that time‚ the Athenians unhesitatingly followed Pericles’ instructions. In the first legendary oration Thucydides
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Tom stole back home and learned of the grand funeral planned for the trio that the town believed to be dead. Some think Tom should have ventured back home to attend the funeral while others think he should have stayed and enjoyed the freedom of being "dead". Tom Sawyer should have attended his own funeral for three reasons. People would be joyful‚ Tom would be adored‚ and Tom would not be homesick. To begin Tom should have gone to his funeral because people would be joyful. Tom’s dear Aunt
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at the following systems monarchy‚ aristocracy‚ tyranny‚ oligarchy‚ and democracy‚ there were some others but these will be our focus. Interestingly enough while we think of ancient Athens as being a democracy it wasn’t always so‚ it eventually evolved into a democratic nation‚ but between the 8th to 6th century‚ Athens was ruled by aristocracy and according to The Athenian Aristocracy (n.d)‚ the constitution read as follows “Appointment to the supreme offices of state went by birth and wealth; and
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