While I was reading the first part of this weekend's assignment, the quote "Perhaps strength doesn't reside in having never been broken, but in the courage required to grow strong in the broken places" kept popping up in my head. In the Funeral Oration, Pericles addresses the Athenian crowd about their losses in the war, calling them to be proactive about their future rather than dwell on the grief of their past. He is the steady rock that gently reminds the city-state that the world does not stop for death-that includes the war too. Using the argument that heroism overrides the flaws the soldiers had, that their honorable, sacrificial deaths sanctified any and all types of lives they lived, Pericles tries to get his listeners to develop this same attitude towards winning the war and follow suit, that is to not be afraid of what's up ahead or give up what they hold dear to them. The result of the war is important, yes, but the duration and attitudes of the people are what's priority. Honor is everything. This can be seen in how the fallen are buried. Usually, Greek burials are plain and simple, but Pericles has it made sure that those who died in war get something special and out of the ordinary. Comfort, not pity, is what he offers.
Now, the second part makes me wrinkle my nose more than anything. I want to believe Pericles is genuine, but when he basically tells these parents to make more children to replace the killed, his great speech I was at first loving becomes not so great. It's the biggest downhill slope I've seen all week. Does he actually care about those dead and about their honor, or is he concerned with "looking good" rather than actually being good? Then he tries to justify it by basically saying the dead built Greek honor and now they must reproduce again in order to preserve that honor. I would have actually loved to see the faces of the crowd listening. Did democracy come before family then, or something?
I commented on posts by Jessef Leslie and Ian Blair.
I didn't much care for the second half of Pericles speech either! In fact, it's what I wrote my entire blog post about!
ReplyDeleteHowever, due to my immense distaste for the Greek leader, I didn't realize until reading your post how Pericles was trying so hard to be "the strong one." Reminding his people that they are still in the midst of a war and encouraging them to recover from their sorrows quickly never came across as a caring act when I first read through the eulogy. Granted, I didn't really read to deeply into the passages where he was going on and on about Greece and all of it's majesty, so this is probably why I did not see the sincerity behind his showiness!