Periklês pursues at considerable additional length the same tenor
of mixed exhortation to the living and eulogy of the dead; with
many special and emphatic observations addressed to the relatives
of the latter, who were assembled around and doubtless very near
him. But the extract which I have already made is so long, that
no farther addition would be admissible: yet it was impossible to
pass over lightly the picture of the Athenian commonwealth in its
glory, as delivered by the ablest citizen of the age. The effect
of the democratical constitution, with its diffused and equal
citizenship, in calling forth not merely strong attachment, but
painful self-sacrifice, on the part of all Athenians,—is nowhere more
forcibly insisted upon than in the words above cited of Periklês,
as well as in others afterwards: “Contemplating as you do daily
before you the actual power of the state, and becoming passionately
attached to it, when you conceive its full greatness, reflect that
it was all acquired by men of daring, acquainted with their duty,
and full of an honorable sense of shame in their actions,”[267]—such
is the association which he presents between the greatness of the
state as an object of common passion, and the courage, intelligence,
and mutual esteem, of individual citizens, as its creating and
preserving causes: poor as well as rich being alike interested in the
partnership.
[267] Thucyd. ii. 43. τὴν τῆς πόλεως δύναμιν καθ᾽ ἡμέραν ἔργῳ
θεωμένους καὶ ἐραστὰς γιγνομένους αὐτῆς, καὶ ὅταν ὑμῖν μεγάλη
δόξῃ εἶναι, ἐνθυμουμένους ὅτι τολμῶντες καὶ γιγνώσκοντες τὰ
δέοντα, καὶ ἐν τοῖς ἔργοις αἰσχυνόμενοι ἄνδρες αὐτὰ ἐκτήσαντο,
etc.
Αἰσχυνόμενοι: compare Demosthen. Orat. Funebris, c. 7, p. 1396.
Αἱ μὲν γὰρ διὰ τῶν ὀλίγων δυναστεῖαι δέος μὲν ἐνεργάζονται τοῖς
πολίταις, αἰσχύνην δ᾽ οὐ παριστᾶσιν.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account