Posted for Lisa Tarasyuk

Precis on Pericles’ Eulogy

In History of the Peloponnesian War, Thucydides recounts Pericles’ eulogy claiming Athenian greatness and superiority. Pericles asserts this in terms of Athenian public life, the self-contained qualities of Athenian identity, and reproductive duty. Pericles idolizes and supports this identity through key definitions of terms, unstated warrants, and circumventions of objections. Finally, the performative of honoring the dead with a eulogy that recounts not their actions but outlines the duties of surviving citizens reveals Pericles’ true thesis. Before I arrive at this thesis, I will present Pericles’ assertion of the following explicit claim: “But what was the road by which we reached our position, what the form of government under which out greatness grew, what the national habits out of which it sprang; these are the questions which I may try to solve before I proceed to my panegyric upon these men; since I think this to be a subject upon which on the present occasion a speaker may properly dwell, and to which the whole assemblage, whether citizens or foreigners, may listen with advantage.” Although this claim seems like a question or an outline of the eulogy, it in fact states wholly the project Pericles intends to complete.

            Pericles’ arrives at his claim through unstated warrants and circumvention of objections. On the subject of the eulogy, Pericles says, “I should have thought that the worth which had been displayed itself in deeds would be sufficiently rewarded by honors also shown by deeds; such as you now see in this funeral prepared at the people’s cost.” This is a moment where Pericles implicitly suggests that the eulogy need not recount the actions of those who have died, since their honor is self-evident in their death and the funeral event. He follows with an anticipation of objections: “For it is hard to speak properly upon a subject where it is even difficult to convince your hearers that you are speaking the truth.” This enables Pericles to not only digress from the task at hand, but to dismiss that task as impossible to accomplish, since no truly accurate recount exists. Finally, Pericles transitions to the claim he intends to make with the following: “And if our more remote ancestors deserve praise, much more do our own fathers, who added to their inheritance the empire, which we now possess, and spared no pains to be able to leave their acquisitions to us of the present generation.” After these rhetorical moves, Pericles has successfully set the stage to discuss not the fallen heroes, but the glory of Athenian identity.

            Pericles creates an image of Athenian public life through definitions and more unstated warrants. Using key definitions Pericles describes Athenian democracy as just, universally inclusive, and meritocratic: “Its administration favors the many instead of the few; this is why it is called a democracy. If we look to the laws, they afford equal justice to all in their private differences; if no social standing, advancement in public life falls to reputation for capacity, class considerations not being allowed to interfere with merit…if a man is able to serve the state, he is not hindered by the obscurity of his condition.” This rhetorical move allows Pericles to ground the glory of the Athenian government through unstated warrants concerning the claimed qualities. Whether or not these claims are apparent in Athenian democracy is not in question; they are assumed to be characteristic identities. By circumventing this, Pericles constitutes Athenian democracy out of qualities it may not possess. This false glory and inclusivity explicitly appears later when Pericles says, “We throw open our city to the world, and never by alien acts exclude foreigners from any opportunity of learning or observing, although the eyes of an enemy may occasionally profit by our liberality; trusting less in system and policy than the native spirit of our citizens.” This warrant denies Athens’ xenophobia for the sake of fulfilling the glorious image Pericles sets out to create.

            Pericles continues on to assert that to be Athenian is to likewise carry the very qualities of honor and glory described. He says, “In short, I say that as a city we are the school of Hellas, while I doubt if the world can produce a man who, where he has only himself to depend upon, is equal to so many emergencies, and graced by so happy a versatility, as the Athenian.” To be Athenian inherits glory, because Athens forms its men like a school does: with intentional qualities. Pericles ties this back to the subject of the eulogy, to serve the idea that the fallen heroes are glorious because they were serving to protect the Athenian institution. “Such is the Athens for which these men, in the assertion of their resolve not to lose her, nobly fought and died; and well may every one of their survivors be ready to suffer in her cause.” This notion generously expands to absolve the mistakes of Athenian men, for the sake of furthering the fetishizing project Pericles has: “For there is justice in the claim that steadfastness in his country’s battles should be as a clock to cover a man’s other imperfections; since the good action has blotted out the bad, and his merit as a citizen more than outweighed his demerits as an individual.” This further serves Pericles’ eulogy, in showing that death of an inglorious Athenian man will always be glorious because he served the safety of the Athenian state.

            Pericles inconsistently honors the dead in his eulogy. This is especially apparent when Pericles outlines how one must serve the Athenian state: “Yet you who are still of an age to beget children must bear up in the hope of having others in their stead not only will they help you to forget those whom you have lost, but will be to the state at once a reinforcement and a security; for never can a fair or just policy be expected of the citizen who does not, life his fellows, bring to the decision the interests and apprehensions of a father.” This is a moment where Pericles is serving the project of creating Athenian identity by reproductive duty to the state, to make more Athenians. Although this does serve his initial claim of fetishizing Athenian identity, his performative goals explicitly appear when he says, “…not only will they help you to forget those whom you have lost…” This undoes the work of the eulogy, which is to remember and honor the dead, by suggesting they be forgotten for the sake of newer, younger, modern Athenians. Pericles’ claim is not only on the greatness of the state, but on the new definition of the Athenian state. As he says, “So died these men as became Athenians.” The Peloponnesian War created Athenians, because the demand to defeat enemies created a need for unity in identity. In a eulogy intended for honoring the dead heroes, forgetting the dead is justified for sake of creating an even more glorious and populated Athens.

            Thucydides has Pericles’ legible thesis consist of honoring the dead by concretizing Athenian nationalism and awarding honor to those who keep Athens safe. However, his true thesis is revealed in his performative of taking a eulogy, a designated time to recount the deeds of the dead, and as a moment to claim the superiority of Athenian democracy and identity. His mention of the heroes towards the end does not hide the fact that his eulogy was not intended for them. His final word is not honoring the dead, but a call to action “And now that you have brought to a close your lamentations for your relatives, you may depart.” He tells the audience that their lamentations are over and that they are ready to propagate for the state. This is how Pericles used a moment to eulogize, to advance his claim on Athenian superiority.