history

Short Historical Analysis Paper:

Read:

1) Thucydides: “The Peloponnesian War: The Funeral Oration given by Pericles 2.34-2.46”

http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/ancient/pericles-funeralspeech.html

This is an account of the Athenian General Pericles speaking over the dead after the first battles of the

Peloponnesian War.

And then read either:

2) Background Information on Thucydides from any of these scholarly sources linked below:

http://www.historyguide.org/ancient/thucydides.html

(Please note links at bottom of page to other scholarly opinions)

Or

3) Read the following background information on Thucydides from Gilbert Murray here:

THUCYDIDES determined to watch that war from the start, mark every step, trace every cause, hide

nothing and exaggerate nothing--do all that Herodotus had not done or tried to do. But he meant to do

more than study it: he would help to win it. He was a man of position and a distinguished soldier. He had

Thracian blood, a northern fighting strain, in his veins, as well as some kinship with the great Kimôn and

Miltiades. The plague of 430 came near to crushing his ambitions once for all, but he was one of the few

who were sick and recovered. The war had lasted eight years before he got his real opportunity. He was

elected general in 423 B.C., second in command, and sent to Chalcidicê. It was close to his own country,

where he had some hereditary chieftainship among the Thracians, and it was at that moment the very

centre of the war. The Spartan Brasidas, in the flush of his enormous prestige, was in the heart of the

Athenian dependencies. A defeat would annihilate him, as he had no base to retire upon; and the

conqueror of Brasidas would be the first military name in Greece. No one can tell exactly what happened.

The two towns in especial danger were Amphipolis and Eiôn on the Strymôn. The mere presence of the

Athenian ships might suffice to save these two towns, but could do little to hurt Brasidas. Whereas, if

only Thucydides could raise the Thracian tribes, Brasidas might be all but annihilated. That is what the

Amphipolitans seem to have expected; and that is perhaps why, when Brasidas, starting unexpectedly and

marching all day and all night through driving snow, stormed the bridge of the Strymôn in the winter

dawn and appeared under the walls of Amphipolis, Thucydides was half a day's sail away near Thasos,

opposite his centre of influence in Thrace. His colleague Eucles was in Amphipolis, and the town could

easily have held out. But Brasidas had his agents inside; his terms were more than moderate, and there

had always been an anti-Athenian party. When the first seven ships from Thasos raced into the river at

dusk, Amphipolis was lost, and so was Thucydides's great opportunity. He threw himself into Eiôn, had

the barren satisfaction of beating Brasidas twice back from the walls; then--all we know is given in his

own words (5.26)- "It befell to me to be an exile from my country for twenty years after my command at

Amphipolis."

He never reached the end. It is characteristic both of the man and of a certain side of Athenian culture,

that he turned away from his main task of narrative to develop the style of his work as pure literature.

Instead of finishing the chronicle of the war, he worked over his reports of the arguments people had

used, or the policies various parties had followed, into elaborate and direct speeches. Prose style at the

time had its highest development in the form of rhetoric; and that turn of mind, always characteristic of

Greece, which delighted in understanding both sides of a question, and would not rest till it knew every

seeming wrongdoer's apology, was especially strong. The speeches are Thucydides's highest literary

efforts. In some cases they seem to be historical in substance, and even to a certain extent in phrasing; the

letter of Nikias has the look of reality (vii. 11 ff.), and perhaps also the speech of Diodotus (iii. 42).

Sometimes the speech is historical, but the occasion is changed. The great Funeral Oration of Pericles was

made after his campaign at Samos; 6 he may have made one also in the first year of the war, when there

were perhaps hardly fifty Athenians to bury. More probably Thucydides has transferred the great speech

to a time when he could use it in his history. 7 Sometimes the speakers are vaguely given in the plural-'the

Corinthians said'--that is, the political situation is put in the form of a speech or speeches showing vividly

the way in which different parties conceived it. A notable instance is the imaginary dialogue between the

Athenians and the Melians, showing dramatically and with a deep, though perhaps over-coloured,

characterisation the attitude of mind in which the war-party at Athens then faced their problems.

Of course we should have preferred a verbatim report; and of course Thucydides's practice wants a

Thucydides to justify it. But if we compare these speeches with the passages in VIII. where he has given

us the same kind of matter in indirect form, one inclines to think that the artificial and fictitious speech is

the clearer and more ultimately adequate. The fact is that in his ideal of history Thucydides was almost as

far from Polybius as from Herodotus. Carefulness and truth, of course, come absolutely first, as with

Polybius. "Of the things done in the war" (as distinguished from the speeches) "I have not thought fit to

write from casual information nor according to any notion of my own. Parts I saw myself; for the rest,

which I learned from others, I inquired to the fulness of my power about every detail. The truth was hard

to find, because eye-witnesses of the same events spoke differently as their memories or their sympathies

varied. The book will perhaps seem dull to listen to, because there is no myth in it. But if those who wish

to look at the truth about what happened in the war, and the passages like it which are sure according to

man's nature to recur in the future, judge my work to be useful, I shall be content. What I have written is a

thing to possess and keep always, not a performance for passing entertainment."

He seeks truth as diligently and relentlessly as a modern antiquary who has no object for concealment or

exaggeration. But his aim is a different one. He is not going to provide material for his readers to work

upon. He is going to do the whole work himself--to be the one judge of truth, and as such to give his

results in artistic and final form, no evidence produced and no source quoted. A significant point, perhaps,

is his use of documents on the one hand and speeches on the other. Speaking roughly, one may say that in

the finished parts of his work there are no documents; in the unfinished there are no speeches. With

regard to the speeches the case is clear. Nearly all bear the marks of being written after the end of the war.

He never reached the end of the war. It is characteristic both of the man and of a certain side of Athenian

culture, that he turned away from his main task of narrative to develop the style of his work as pure

literature. Instead of finishing the chronicle of the war, he worked over his reports of the arguments

people had used, or the policies various parties had followed, into elaborate and direct speeches. Prose

style at the time had its highest development in the form of rhetoric; and that turn of mind, always

characteristic of Greece, which delighted in understanding both sides of a question, and would not rest till

it knew every seeming wrongdoer's apology, was especially strong. The speeches are Thucydides's

highest literary efforts. In some cases they seem to be historical in substance, and even to a certain extent

in phrasing; the letter of Nikias has the look of reality (vii. 11 ff.), and perhaps also the speech of

Diodotus (iii. 42). Sometimes the speech is historical, but the occasion is changed. The great Funeral

Oration of Pericles was made after his campaign at Samos; 6 he may have made one also in the first year

of the war, when there were perhaps hardly fifty Athenians to bury. More probably Thucydides has

transferred the great speech to a time when he could use it in his history. 7 Sometimes the speakers are

vaguely given in the plural-'the Corinthians said'--that is, the political situation is put in the form of a

speech or speeches showing vividly the way in which different parties conceived it. A notable instance is

the imaginary dialogue between the Athenians and the Melians, showing dramatically and with a deep,

though perhaps over-colored, characterization the attitude of mind in which the war-party at Athens then

faced their problems. 1

Once you have read the Funeral Oration of Pericles and the background on your source

(Thucydides):

1) Determine if Thucydides is a primary or secondary source to the speech.

2) Determine the reliability of the speech based upon the readings.

3) Construct a 3-4 (900-1100 words) on the reliability of Thucydides version of the Peloponnesian war:

Pericles Funeral Oration. Do not forget to include counterevidence. For example, if you believe this is

unreliable, then you must also note where it could be considered reliable. Use examples from the text

itself and/ or the scholarly opinions on Thucydides provided in the background information. You must

include footnotes and a bibliography. Use Turabian Guide linked on Blackboard or from the library.

Questions to help you determine the reliability:

- Was Thucydides present at the Funeral where Pericles gave the speech?

- Did Thucydides record the speech immediately after, or receive a copy form Pericles?

- What side of the war was Thucydides on? (political affiliation)

- What was Thucydides rank in society or the military? (social affiliation)

- What motivation did Thucydides have for writing this work, and particularly the speech?

- What was the result of speech given by Pericles?

- Can you detect any bias on the part of Thucydides towards Pericles? If so does this affect the

reliability?

If you are struggling with this assignment see me to discuss this or email me at [email protected] .

1 Murray, Gilbert, Chapter 8 from A History of Ancient Greek Literature. (New York: D. Appleton and Company,

1897) accessed via Peitho’s Web on 8/29/16 http://www.classicpersuasion.org/pw/thucydides/murray- thucydides.htm