The Values Of Athens As Described By Pericles

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The Chapter “Pericles’ Funeral Oration” in Thucydides’ The Peloponnesian War is an account of Pericles’ speech for the first soldiers to die in the Peloponnesian War. In this essay I will outline how Pericles’ speech reflects the values of Athens; how they are a proud people of tradition, how they believe strongly of abiding in the law and how, above all they believe in doing all that they can in order to defend their city. Pericles’s speech for the dead says a lot about the character of the Athenian people at the time. For one thing, they are a people who take pride in their traditions and customs. This can be seen in the act of the burial ceremony itself, how “two days before the ceremony the bones of the fallen are brought and put in a tent which has been erected, and people make whatever offerings they wish to their own dead” (Thucydides 143). Pericles also mentions that ‘the Athenians followed this ancient custom” and that “it is [his] duty to follow the tradition” (144). It is easy to see how proud the Athenians are of their ancestors in the way that they make sure to honour their ancient traditions and customs when it comes to the dead. Along with being a proud people with many traditions and a great respect for their ancestors, Athenians are also very into abiding by their laws. This is possibly due in part to the fact that they have a democratic government where everyone has a say. Athenians “are free and tolerant in [their] private lives; but in public affairs [they] keep to the law” and they “give [their] obedience to those whom [they] put in positions of authority…and obey the laws themselves” (145). As I have mentioned earlier, the Athenians were a very proud people and this remains the same whether dealing with their ancient customs or their laws and duties. Athenian people respected each other but most of all respected their city and the laws they

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