EP 58: Pericles' Funeral Oration

In this latest episode, we listen to a portion of the greatest speeches of all time, Pericles’ famous funeral oration. Inspired by the goddess Athene, it was given by this Athenian statesman at the end of the first year of the war between Athens and Sparta. 

As citizens assemble to bury their sons and fathers — warriors lost in defense of the city — Pericles recites all that is great and good about their immortal achievements.

If you love this podcast, you'll also enjoy Garner's audible novels about the gods, The Winnowing and Homo Divinitas, available on Amazon.com and Audible.com.

Transcript

EPISODE 58:  PERICLES' FUNERAL ORATION

Many HISTORIANS call it the greatest speech of all time. Like so many great speeches, it was given at a time of war — AND INSPIRED BY A DIVINITY.

Athens was under threat from Sparta. Pericles, the leading general and politician in Athens, addressed the Athenian people at the end of the first 12 MONTHS of the Peloponnesian War. THE year WAS 430 BC.

Athens, As you MAY recall, was named for the goddess Athene. The Athenians believed that this wise goddess watched over the city & That its greatness was due to her protection. 

Other divinities such as Poseidon protected the city as well, but the gracious Athene was its prime DEFENDER. 

Pericles, as its leading statesman at the time, WAS BELIEVED TO channel the goddess’ good sense & judgment.

WHY WAS THERE A WAR? Sparta had been provoked to attack Athens. The Spartans felt threatened by what they perceived as A constant expansion OF TERRITORY by the wily Athenians. 

Athens was accused BY ITS ENEMIES of creating an empire, ONE THAT SPANNED BOTH LAND & SEA. the Spartans BRISTLED AT THE EXPANSION, AS THEY were proud people who bowed to no one.

In the year before Pericles’ FAMOUS speech, the Spartans HAD ransacked many of the farms & orchards surrounding Athens. IN RESPONSE, The city sent its warriors out to engage the marauders. 

as the two sides clashed, Many of its finest young men perished. THE ATHENIANS SLOWLY REALIZED THAT WAR HAD COME UPON THEM. 

WHAT WOULD BE THEIR FATE? AND WHERE WAS THEIR PROTECTRESS, ATHENE?

Ω

WELCOME TO EPISODE 58 OF GARNER'S GREEK MYTHOLOGY. WE HAVE LISTENERS FROM OVER 180 COUNTRIES ... SO WELCOME TO EVERYONE, WHEREVER YOU ARE.

I'M YOUR HOST, MYTHOLOGIST PATRICK GARNER. REMEMBER TO VISIT AMAZON TO CHECK OUT MY FOUR BOOKS ABOUT THE GREEK GODS IN THE CONTEMPORARY WORLD. 

THEY ARE PART OF THE NAXOS QUARTET, AND INCLUDE THE WINNOWING, CYCLADIC GIRLS, HOMO DIVINITAS & ALL THAT LASTS.

MY NOVELS HAVE BEEN BEST SELLERS. THEY'RE GREAT ENTERTAINMENT & ECHO THE THEMES IN THIS PODCAST.

WHO ARE THE CHARACTERS IN THESE BOOKS? YOUR FAVORITE GREEK GODS, OF COURSE ... 

AS AN ASIDE, BOTH THE WINNOWING & HOMO DIVINITAS ARE NOW AVAILABLE AS AUDIO BOOKS. THE OTHER TWO BOOKS WILL BE RELEASED AS AUDIOS IN THE NEAR FUTURE. 

YOU CAN LEARN MORE ABOUT THEM & THIS PODCAST AT PATRICK GARNER BOOKS.COM.

SO VISIT MY WEBSITE, THEN LINK OVER TO AMAZON & TREAT YOURSELF!

Ω

NOW A year into the war, the Athenians were divided. They had hoped THE CONFLICT would have been over by then, & they had been surprised by the success of the Spartan forces. AND SURPRISED BY the terrible toll IT HAD INFLICTED. 

Crops had been destroyed, villages outside of Athens had been besieged, & FARMhouses burned. 

The petty, CONSTANT attacks by the SpartanS had been a deep affront to Athenian SELF-ESTEEM.

As Douglas Murray notes in a recent article in the Free Press, it was traditional in Athens that a speech be given at the public funeral . 

Murray writes, "This was one of Athens’ defining features—its memorialization of the dead—and it has carried on through the ages, through the history of the West. The names of the dead mattered. Their sacrifice mattered. And the idea that their sacrifice should mean something mattered, too.”

I NOTE THAT Pericles had the UNENVIABLE task of giving that year’s oration. MAKING MATTERS MORE DIFFICULT, THERE WAS GROWING TENSION IN THE CITY. 

different factions were moving against Pericles. His leading rival, a man named Cleon, had called for a more AGGRESSIVE strategy against the Spartans. 

Had CLEON prevailed, it could have cost Athens its very identity. The historian Thucydides called Cleon “the most violent of ALL citizens.”

Doulas Murray notes THAT, "While Cleon played to the public’s basest instincts, Pericles rallied the people to their noblest."

REGARDLESS, PERICLES ROSE TO THE OCCASION. HIS funeral oration is considered one of the most important in the Western canon. 

WHY? because of its judiciousness … its nobility …its determination … & its vision FOR ATHENS' FUTURE.

Ω

THE SPEECH starts by saying that no one man could possibly do justice to the sacrifice of the fallen. 

It moves on BY exhortING the people of Athens to be proud of their city. PERICLES reminds them that whatever its imperfections, Athens is a democracy.

HE SAYS, RAISING HIS VOICE BEFORE THE HUNDREDS OF ATHENIANS:

when a citizen is in any way distinguished, he is preferred … not as a matter of privilege, but as the reward of merit …

YOU'LL NOTE THAT HERE, PERICLES EMPHASIZES MERIT, NOT EQUALITY OR INCLUSION. ATHENS ONLY BECAME GREAT BY REWARDING EXCELLENCE.

And he makes a remarkable concession: Against AN OPPOSING FORCE THAT ATHENIANS CONSIDERED barbarous, Pericles DECLARES that AthenIANs are FAR MORE THAN MERE SOLDIERS.

HE INTONES: we have regular games and sacrifices throughout the year; our homes are beautiful and elegant; and the delight which we daily feel in all these things helps to banish sorrow …

HOW SHOULD WE INTERPRET PERICLES' PROUD DECLARATION? CLEARLY, HE DOES NOT apologize for loving life. UNLIKE THE SPARTANS, ATHENIANS loveD ART, MUSIC & CULTURE. 

IN FACT, HE CELEBRATES THE CITY ITSELF. HE STATES THAT, If there is WRONG ON ONE SIDE OR THE OTHER, IT IS THEIR ENEMY — THE SPARTANS — WHO LOVE death TOO much. 

The only mistake a person in the Athenian republic might make, Pericles says, is to love life so much that ONE MIGHT FLEE FROM death. And, as Pericles EMPHASIZES, the PEOPLE of Athens have NEVER fallen into that trap. 

HE GOES ON TO SAY THAT The job of those who come after, PRESUMING THE WAR ITSELF GOES ON, WILL BE to build on that GRAND sacrifice.

Ω

The whole speech is, IN REALITY, an exhortation to the people of Athens to commit to their city & also an insistence that if they do so, they will achieve a kind of immortality.

PERICLES CEMENTED HIS OWN IMMORTALITY WITH THIS SPEECH. BUT THERE'S AN ODDITY, A TWIST THAT I SHOULD MENTION.

PLATO WRITES IN ONE OF HIS MANY ESSAYS THAT PERICLES HIMSELF WAS NOT THE SPEECH'S AUTHOR. INSTEAD, SOMEWHAT SHOCKINGLY, HE ATTRIBUTES ITS COMPOSITION TO PERICLES' LOVER & FEMALE COMPANION, ASPASIA. 

SHE WAS ACKNOWLEDGED BY ALL TO BE BRILLIANT. THE MERE FACT THAT SHE LIVED OPENLY WITH PERICLES MADE HER THE MOST FAMOUS WOMAN IN ATHENS.

AT THE TIME, WOMEN WERE NOT MEANT TO BE SEEN. ASPASIA IGNORED THOSE DICTATES & APPEARED BESIDE PERICLES WHEREVER HE WENT.

FURTHER — & AS AN ACKNOWLEDGEMENT OF HER TALENTS — SHE PARTICIPATED AS AN EQUAL IN MANY OF THE CONSTANT DEBATES & PHILOSOPHICAL ARGUMENTS THAT WENT ON IN ATHENS. SOCRATES MENTIONS HER FREQUENTLY.

WE'LL NEVER KNOW THE AUTHOR FOR CERTAIN. MOST LIKELY, THE SPEECH WAS A COLLABORATION,  

Ω

WITH THAT CONTEXT, HERE IS A PORTION OF THE SPEECH. IMAGINE YOURSELF IN ATHENS TWENTY-FOUR HUNDRED YEARS AGO, STRAINING TO LISTEN TO THE GREAT STATESMAN AS HE STEPS TO A PODIUM & SCANS THE CROWD.

AS A DEVOUT BELIEVER IN THE OLYMPIC GODS, YOU, ONE OF THE CITY'S PRIVILEGED CITIZENS, ARE CERTAIN THAT ATHENE HERSELF HAS BLESSED THIS OCCASION.

PERICLES, DRESSED IN A FLOWING WHITE TUNIC, STANDS BEFORE YOU. HE APPEARS PROUD BUT HUMBLE. THE SUN IS HIGH. EVERYONE WATCHING BECOMES SILENT.

HE BEGINS TO SPEAK, SAYING:

Most of those who have spoken here before me have commended the lawgiver who added this oration to our other funeral customs. 

It seemed to them a worthy thing that such an honor should be given at their burial to the dead who have fallen on the field of battle. 

But I should have preferred that, when men's deeds have been brave, they should be honored in deed only, and with such an honor as this public funeral, which you are now witnessing ... 

However, since our ancestors have set the seal of their approval upon the practice, I must obey, and to the utmost of my power shall endeavor to satisfy the wishes and beliefs of all who hear me.

I will speak first of our ancestors, for it is right and seemly that now, when we are lamenting the dead, a tribute should be paid to their memory. 

There has never been a time when they did not inhabit this land, which by their valor they will have handed down from generation to generation, and we have received from them a free state. 

But if they were worthy of praise, still more were our fathers, who added to their inheritance, and after many a struggle transmitted to us, their sons, this great empire. 

And we ourselves assembled here today, who are still most of us in the vigor of life, have carried the work of improvement further, and have richly endowed our city with all things, so that she is sufficient for herself both in peace and war. 

Of the military exploits by which our various possessions were acquired, or of the energy with which we or our fathers drove back the tide of war, GREEK or Barbarian, I will not speak; for the tale would be long and is familiar to you. 

But before I praise the dead, I should like to point out by what principles of action we rose to power, and under what institutions and through what manner of life our empire became great. 

For I conceive that such thoughts are not unsuited to the occasion, and that this assembly of citizens and strangers may profitably listen to them.

Our form of government does not enter into rivalry with the institutions of others. Our government does not copy our neighbors, but is an example to them. 

It is true that we are called a democracy, for the administration is in the hands of the many and not of the few. 

But while there exists equal justice to all and alike in their private disputes, the claim of excellence is also recognized; and when a citizen is in any way distinguished, he is preferred to the public service, not as a matter of privilege, but as the reward of merit. 

Neither is poverty an obstacle, but a man may benefit his country whatever the obscurity of his condition. 

There is no exclusiveness in our public life, and in our private business we are not suspicious of one another, nor angry with our neighbor if he does what he likes ...

And we have not forgotten to provide for our weary spirits many relaxations from toil; we have regular games and sacrifices throughout the year; 

our homes are beautiful and elegant; and the delight which we daily feel in all these things helps to banish sorrow. Because of the greatness of our city the fruits of the whole earth flow in upon us; so that we enjoy the goods of other countries as freely as our own.

Then, again, our military training is in many respects superior to that of our adversaries. Our city is thrown open to the world, though and we never expel a foreigner and prevent him from seeing or learning anything of which the secret if revealed to an enemy might profit him. 

We rely not upon management or trickery, but upon our own hearts and hands. And in the matter of education, whereas they from early youth are always undergoing laborious exercises which are to make them brave, we live at ease, and yet are equally ready to face the perils which they face. 

And here is the proof: The SPARTANS come into Athenian territory not by themselves, but with their whole confederacy following; 

we go alone into a neighbor's country; and although our opponents are fighting for their homes and we on a foreign soil, we have seldom any difficulty in overcoming them. 

Our enemies have never yet felt our united strength, the care of a navy divides our attention, and on land we are obliged to send our own citizens everywhere. 

But they, if they meet and defeat a part of our army, are as proud as if they had routed us all, and when defeated they pretend to have been vanquished by us all.

If then we prefer to meet danger with a light heart but without laborious training, and with a courage which is gained by habit and not enforced by law, are we not greatly the better for it? 

Since we do not anticipate the pain, although, when the hour comes, we can be as brave as those who never allow themselves to rest; 

thus our city is equally admirable in peace and in war. For we are lovers of the beautiful in our tastes and our strength lies, in our opinion, not in deliberation and discussion, but that knowledge which is gained by discussion preparatory to action ...

And they are surely to be esteemed the bravest spirits who, having the clearest sense both of the pains and pleasures of life, do not on that account shrink from danger. 

In doing good, again, we are unlike others; we make our friends by conferring, not by receiving favors ... 

We alone do good to our neighbors not upon a calculation of interest, but in the confidence of freedom and in a frank and fearless spirit. 

To sum up: I say that Athens is the school of GREECE, and that the individual Athenian in his own person seems to have the power of adapting himself to the most varied forms of action with the utmost versatility and grace. 

This is no passing and idle word, but truth and fact; and the assertion is verified by the position to which these qualities have raised the state. For in the hour of trial Athens alone among her contemporaries is superior to the report of her. 

No enemy who comes against her is indignant at the reverses which he sustains at the hands of such a city; no subject complains that his masters are unworthy of him. 

And we shall assuredly not be without witnesses; there are mighty monuments of our power which will make us the wonder of this and of succeeding ages; we shall not need the praises of Homer or of any other whose poetry may please for the moment .... 

For we have compelled every land and every sea to open a path for our valor, and have everywhere planted eternal memorials of our friendship and of our enmity. Such is the city for whose sake these men nobly fought and died; 

they could not bear the thought that she might be taken from them; and every one of us who survive should gladly toil on her behalf.

I have dwelt upon the greatness of Athens because I want to show you that we are contending for a higher prize than those who enjoy none of these privileges, and to establish by manifest proof the merit of these men whom I am now commemorating. 

Their loftiest praise has been already spoken. For in magnifying the city I have magnified them, and men like them whose virtues made her glorious. 

And of how few GREEKS can it be said as of them, that their deeds when weighed in the balance have been found equal to their fame! 

I believe that a death such as theirs has been the true measure of a man's worth; it may be the first revelation of his virtues, but is at any rate their final seal ... 

None of these men were MOTIVATED by wealth or hesitated to resign the pleasures of life; none of them put off the evil day in the hope, natural to poverty, that a man, though poor, may one day become rich. 

But, deeming that the punishment of their enemies was sweeter than any of these things, and that they could fall in no nobler cause, they determined at the hazard of their lives to be honorably avenged, and to leave the rest ...

on the battlefield their feet stood fast, and in an instant, at the height of their fortune, they passed away from the scene, not of their fear, but of their glory.

Such was the end of these men; they were worthy of Athens, and the living need not desire to have a more heroic spirit .... 

The value of such a spirit is not to be expressed in words. Any one can discourse to you for ever about the advantages of a brave defense, which you know already. 

But instead of listening to him I would have you day by day fix your eyes upon the greatness of Athens, until you become filled with the love of her; and when you are impressed by the spectacle of her glory, reflect that this empire has been acquired by men who knew their duty and had the courage to do it, who in the hour of conflict had the fear of dishonor always present to them, and who, if ever they failed in an enterprise, would not allow their virtues to be lost to their country, but freely gave their lives to her as the fairest offering which they could present at her feast. 

The sacrifice which they collectively made was individually repaid to them; for they receiveda praise which grows not old, and the noblest of all tombs, I speak not of that in which their remains are laid, but of that in which their glory survives, and is proclaimed always and on every fitting occasion both in word and deed. 

For the whole earth is the tomb of famous men; not only are they commemorated by columns and inscriptions in their own country, but in foreign lands there dwells also an unwritten memorial of them, graven not on stone but in the hearts of men. 

Make them your examples ...

Wherefore I do not now pity the parents of the dead who stand here; I would rather comfort them. 

You know that your dead have passed away amid manifold vicissitudes; and that they may be deemed fortunate who have gained their utmost honor, whether an honorable death like theirs, or an honorable sorrow like yours, and whose share of happiness has been so ordered that the term of their happiness is likewise the term of their life. 

I know how hard it is to make you feel this, when the good fortune of others will too often remind you of the gladness which once lightened your hearts ...

Some of you are of an age at which they may hope to have other children, and they ought to bear their sorrow better; not only will the children who may hereafter be born make them forget their own lost ones, but the city will be doubly a gainer ...

To those of you who have passed their prime, I say: "Congratulate yourselves that you have been happy during the greater part of your days; remember that your life of sorrow will not last long, and be comforted by the glory of those who are gone. 

For the love of honor alone is ever young, and not riches, as some say, but honor is the delight of men when they are old and useless.

To you who are the sons and brothers of the departed, I see that the struggle to emulate them will be an arduous one. 

For all men praise the dead ...

I have paid the required tribute, in obedience to the law, making use of such fitting words as I had. 

The tribute of deeds has been paid in part; for the dead have them in deeds, and it remains only that their children should be maintained at the public charge until they are grown up: 

this is the solid prize with which, as with a garland, Athens crowns her sons living and dead, after a struggle like theirs. 

For where the rewards of virtue are greatest, there the noblest citizens are enlisted in the service of the state. 

And now, when you have duly lamented, every one his own dead, you may depart.

Ω

AND SO PERICLES ENDED HIS NOW FAMOUS SPEECH. AS THE WAR CONTINUED, YEARS PASSED, & THE TWO ENEMIES FOUGHT TO WHAT APPEARED TO BE A STANDSTILL. 

YET IN THE END, IN THE YEAR OF 404 BC, THE ONCE GLORIOUS ATHENS LOST TO SPARTA. THE FINALE CAME 26 YEARS AFTER PERICLES HAD COMPLIMENTED HIS FELLOW CITIZENS FOR THEIR BRAVERY.

BY THAT DATE THE GREAT STATESMAN HAD DIED. AS HAD HIS BRILLIANT COMPANION, ASPASIA. BUT PERICLES' SPEECH LIVED ON.

MANY LEADERS AT LATER TIMES COPIED PARTS OF THE SPEECH. FOR INSTANCE, Abraham Lincoln's famous Gettysburg Address WAS INFLUENCED BY PERICLES, AS WERE MANY OTHER ORATIONS GIVEN BY STATESMEN TRYING TO RATIONALIZE NEW WARS WHEREVER THEY OCCURRED…

PERICLES' SPEECH, WHETHER CRAFTED BY ASPASIA OR PERICLES, & HOWSOEVER INSPIRED BY ATHENE, LIVES ON AS ONE OF THE MOST INFLUENTIAL IN HISTORY.

Ω

JOIN ME ... FOR A FUTURE EPISODE OF GARNER'S GREEK MYTHOLOGY.

AND ONE MORE THING, IF YOU HAVE LITTLE ONES IN YOUR LIFE, THERE'S A NEW CHILDREN'S BOOK THAT SHOULD BE ON YOUR BOOKSHELF.

IT'S CALLED READ-ALOUD STORIES FOR YOUNG LISTENERS, BY D.K. GARNER. THERE ARE NO GREEK GODS, BUT ANIMALS — ALWAYS PART OF GREEK LIFE — PLAY AN IMPORTANT ROLE IN THESE CHARMING STORIES. 

JUST LIKE THE GREEK GODS, THEIR PRESENCE CHANGES EVENTS.

VISIT PATRICK GARNER BOOKS.COM FOR MORE INFORMATION.

AND THANKS FOR LISTENING! ... THIS IS YOUR HOST, PATRICK ... GARNER.