Thucydides: Pericles\' Funeral Oration One

Thucydides: Pericles' Funeral Oration

One of the main purposes of an orator is to have his or her public believe and feel everything that he or she says. It is thus difficult to determine when an experienced orator is telling the truth, given that the respective individual's job is to put across convincing messages. When considering Pericles' funeral oration regarding his lost countrymen and Athens as a whole, one is likely to observe that the ancient Athenian mainly intends to have the public focus their attention on matters different from those they would feel in such circumstances, such as the greatness related to death and the fact that they should be proud of their position. Pericles was surely an individual willing to sacrifice a lot for Athens and for Athenians, even if this virtually meant that he tricked them into abandoning any sense of reality and of the risks related to performing warfare in conditions that did not put across many chances of survival.

Given the general context of Pericles' speech, it is very likely that he actually felt the words he said, as the Athenian society's loss has also been his, given that its greatness was something he considered to be empowering for every individual in Athens. People are greatly affected consequent to observing their close ones die in an attempt to honor themselves, their families, and their home. Even with the fact that it requires a lot of strength of mind to influence such people in partly recovering from such a situation, Pericles' speech was more than motivating, given that the Athenian's main intention was that of having his people put their troubles behind with the purpose of embracing a glorious future, one where they would have the chance to continue building what those before them struggled to put together, or where they would have the same fate as those before them-death.

One of the main reasons for which Pericles chooses Athens to be reference to those that have just died is that of glorifying the dead by attributing the general image of greatness associated with Athens. By promoting an ideology like democracy, one influences people in trusting their own powers and the power of independence and equality as a whole. Pericles's stand in the general context proves that he feels compassion for the people of Athens and that he identifies with each of the individuals who had lost someone dear in the conflict that took place in the area.