Pericles Funeral Speech Analysis

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Pericles’ funeral speech brought up many interesting points and topics, some of which were odd for a funeral. He discussed how great Athens is, but this topic harnesses a deep, subliminal message. He talks about the privileges of Athens, and how those who died in battle died for those privileges. It shows how much Pericles thought about his country and the men who died for it. In the second part of his speech, he discussed the government of Athens. He states that their government does not come close to any other type of government, and that their new form of government is the highest of the high. This is true because of the fact that Athens has the only know democracy in the world, and it is successful. Secondly, he states that inheritance and privilege do not secure a spot in Athenian government, rather as a reward of merit. Although this may seem to be easy to say, it is harder to be done. Citizens would rather trust a high-privileged citizen than an impoverished hard-worker, and therefore …show more content…
He claims that the Athens military, education, government, and citizens are far superior to Sparta. He states their military is even better than Sparta’s, even though Sparta’s military training is more rigorous and lengthy. He provides evidence that Athens’ was better in this quote: “...The Lacedaemonians came into Athenian territory not by themselves, but with their whole confederacy following...and although our opponents are fighting for their homes and we on foreign soil, we have seldom any difficulty in overcoming them…” He claims their education is better because they are more laid back, and Athens pushes their young to become courageous and brave. He believes that Athens is ready to fight even though they lack years of training and experience. This motivates the Athenian military to push themselves in the war, because they're the underdogs, and they have nothing to