Since Athens is considered the birthplace of democracy, the ancient Greek statesman Pericles must be considered its father.

In 431, shortly after the Peloponnesian War had broken out, Pericles delivered his famous Funeral Oration to commemorate those troops who had already fallen in battle. Recorded, and probably ...

The novelty of this oration is that it provides an answer from the perspective of a democratic state, and it does this 2400 years ago. It’s easy to be critical of the Pericles that Thucydides presents ...

Pericles lifted Athens into a golden age through his support of the arts, architecture, philosophy, and democracy building.

Pericles' famous funeral oration shows how civic pride and historical awareness point toward the common good.

Modern audiences know Pericles best for the funeral oration he delivered in 431 BC, which acclaimed author Steven Pressfield suggests may have “marked the pinnacle of Athens’ Golden Age.” ...

Yet as Robin Waterfield points out in his excellent Athens: A History, Pericles’ oration was a eulogy not only for the fallen of war but, unwittingly, for democratic Athens itself. If Athens was ...

At first glance, it seems a stretch to compare President Joe Biden’s inaugural speech to his fellow Americans to the famous funeral oration given by Pericles to his fellow Athenians.

It was during a commemoration speech for those who had already died that he made one of the most famous speeches of Ancient Greek history, called the Funeral Oration.