Why do you think Pericles wanted to give a speech about democracy at the funeral?

Why do you think Pericles wanted to give a speech about democracy at the funeral?

Why do you think Pericles wanted to give a speech about democracy at the funeral? The Athenian leader is giving this speech at a funeral because he is using this occasion to tell his people about the importance of democracy, also pay respects to the ones who died in this war.

Who was Pericles and why did he give his speech?

Pericles was widely seen as the leader of Athens. He gave this speech during a funeral for Athenian soldiers who died in the first year of the brutal Peloponnesian War against Sparta, Athens’s chief rival. The Athenian historian Thucydides included the speech in his book the History of the Peloponnesian War.

Who is Camp What are the strengths and weaknesses of this document as a source about Athens political system?

What are the strengths and weaknesses of this documents as a source about Athens’ political system? Camp is a professor at Randolph-Macon College. The strengths of this document it that he shows how Athens was a democracy. But the weakness is that there is no evidence to back it up.

How does Pericles describe Athenian democracy?

Pericles describes Athenian democracy as a system of government where men advance on merit rather than on class or wealth. In a democracy, “class considerations [are not] allowed to interfere with merit” – any man capable enough to rule is allowed to do so.

Who is Professor Hansen Athens?

According to Hansen, how was Athens’s political system more democratic than democracies we think of today? He directs excavations of the Athenian Agora. He is a professor at Classics at Randolph-Macon College.

What did Pericles do for democracy?

He started an ambitious project that generated most of the surviving structures on the Acropolis, including the Parthenon. This project beautified and protected the city, exhibited its glory and gave work to its people. Pericles also fostered Athenian democracy to such an extent that critics call him a populist.

What were the main features of Athenian democracy?

Greek democracy created at Athens was direct, rather than representative: any adult male citizen over the age of 20 could take part, and it was a duty to do so. The officials of the democracy were in part elected by the Assembly and in large part chosen by lottery in a process called sortition.

What are the 4 requirements to be an Athenian citizen?

To be classed as a citizen in fifth-century Athens you had to be male, born from two Athenian parents, over eighteen years old, and complete your military service. Women, slaves, metics and children under the age of 20 were not allowed to become citizens.

Who would be considered a citizen in ancient Athens?

The Athenian definition of “citizens” was also different from modern-day citizens: only free men were considered citizens in Athens. Women, children, and slaves were not considered citizens and therefore could not vote. Each year 500 names were chosen from all the citizens of ancient Athens.

What was wrong with Pericles head?

All surviving statues and images of Pericles show him wearing a helmet—his rightful symbol as an Athenian general. The armor also covered up his one known physical flaw—his outsize head. Contemporary poets nicknamed him Schinocephalos, “sea onion-head,” after a bulbed plant found on the Mediterranean coast.

What was the language of Thucydides funeral oration?

Language and translations. Thucydides’ Greek is notoriously difficult, but the language of Pericles Funeral Oration is considered by many to be the most difficult and virtuosic passage in the History of the Peloponnesian War.

Is there a funeral oration in ancient Athens?

Several funeral orations from classical Athens are extant, which seem to corroborate Thucydides ‘ assertion that this was a regular feature of Athenian funerary custom in wartime. The Funeral Oration was recorded by Thucydides in book two of his famous History of the Peloponnesian War.

What did Thucydides say in the Periclean speech?

Despite Thucydides’ attitude towards democracy, the speech he puts in Pericles’ mouth supports the democratic form of government. Thucydides, who wrote his Periclean speech for his History of the Peloponnesian War, readily admits his speeches are only loosely based on memory so shouldn’t be taken as a verbatim report.

What did Thucydides do in the face of death?

They resigned to hope their unknown chance of happiness; but in the face of death they resolved to rely upon themselves alone.