Democracy Then and Now |
Thucydides | Pericles' Funeral OrationPericles was a Greek leader during the Peloponnesian War. He was so important for Athens that his name defines the age -- Periclean, an age in which the Athenians had to rebuild what had been destroyed during the recent war with Persia. During the Peloponnesian War, while the people were kept in crowded conditions inside the walls of Athens, Pericles succumbed to and died from the plague. Here, in a speech written by Thucydides, Pericles says that democracy allows men to advance because of merit instead of advancing because of wealth or inherited class. In a democracy, citizens behave lawfully while doing what they like without fear of prying eyes. In a democracy, there is equal justice for all in private disputes. This closely resembles the official attitude of those modern nations that favor democracy.
"Our constitution does not copy the laws of neighbouring states; we are rather a pattern to others than imitators ourselves. Its administration favours 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; nor again does poverty bar the way, if a man is able to serve the state, he is not hindered by the obscurity of his condition. The freedom which we enjoy in our government extends also to our ordinary life. There, far from exercising a jealous surveillance over each other, we do not feel called upon to be angry with our neighbour for doing what he likes, or even to indulge in those injurious looks which cannot fail to be offensive, although they inflict no positive penalty. But all this ease in our private relations does not make us lawless as citizens. Against this fear is our chief safeguard, teaching us to obey the magistrates and the laws, particularly such as regard the protection of the injured, whether they are actually on the statute book, or belong to that code which, although unwritten, yet cannot be broken without acknowledged disgrace." Source: |
More of Democracy Then and Now |
| Part 1: Introduction Part 2: Aristotle Part 3: Thucydides Part 4: Plato Part 5: Aeschines Part 6: Isocrates Part 7: Herodotus Part 8: Pseudo-Xenophon |
| ~ N.S. Gill |
