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Chris Krause
Prof. D. Hannigan
HS11 (HIS 101) #1588
28 Sept. 2005
Pericles and Contemporary America
Pericles (ca. 495-429 BCE, Greek: Περικλής) was the greatest Athenian
statesman ever to live, rivaling in brilliance the intellects of Solon, Cleisthenes or even
Demosthenes. Pericles hailed from the Athenian Golden Age (from which thereafter
would be known as the “Age of Pericles” until the sacking of Athens by Philip II of
Macedon following the Battle of Chaeronea in 338 BCE), a time to which democracy
was observed in its most pure form but to which Athens would be constantly battling her
neighbors such as the Lacedaemonians (Spartans) to the south, the Persian Empire to
the east and the Thracians to the north. Born from the royal family of the Alcmaeonidae,
Pericles was destined for greatness from birth. He was responsible for a vast many
construction projects which comprise the majority of the surviving structures on the
Acropolis (including the Parthenon). He also convinced the state to construct the Long
Walls that protected the four-mile way to Peiraeus, the harbor of Athens. Of exacting
importance, he fostered the power of democracy, which was an extremely radical idea.
Most of what we know about Pericles and other figures from this era come from
contemporary sources such as Plutarch and Thucydides who wrote about him hundreds
of years after his death, so we must consider the mythological and literary stylistic
evolution of the man. Pericles was also an outstanding orator, perhaps best known in
this regard for his funeral oration to honor those fallen in the Peloponnesian War.
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Pericles’ Funeral Oration’s official purpose is to commemorate and honor the
fallen dead of the Peloponnesian war but is used by Pericles as a platform to
disseminate the Athenian ethics, zealotry1 and morality. The moving speech is a selfrighteous toast to the Athenian ego2 and delusions of grandeur3, of self-declared moral
superiority4 and of black and white politicking with a distinct sense of imperial ambition.
Presumably to lift the fickle and reactionary spirits of a broken Athenian people Pericles
outlines noble causes for imperialism through the Delian League (a protection racket
run by Athens to keep Greek colonies/city-states safe from Persia)5, for economic
domination6, military action7 and cultural invasion8.
Pericles make an emphasis on how entirely important it is for Athens to act as a
“school” and salvation to the other city states by imposing Athenian values upon them.
This assertion is veiled in the language of a skilled rhetor that speaks with a flare of
ethical passion and logic but at its core implies expansionist desires to absorb and
assimilate those who are different into the state. Taken at face value the words of
Pericles may stand as an outline for an outstanding republic’s behavior and the citizens
“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.“
2 “And it is only the Athenians, who, fearless of consequences, confer their benefits not from calculations
of expediency, but in the confidence of liberality.”
3 “Our constitution does not copy the laws of neighbouring states; we are rather a pattern to others than
imitators ourselves.”
4 “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.”
5 “We throw open our city to the world, and never by alien acts exclude foreigners from any opportunity of
learning or observing”
6 “…while the magnitude of our city draws the produce of the world into our harbor, so that to the Athenian
the fruits of other countries are as familiar a luxury as those of his own.”
7 “In proof of this it may be noticed that the Lacedaemonians do not invade our country alone, but bring
with them all their confederates; while we Athenians advance unsupported into the territory of a neighbor,
and fighting upon a foreign soil usually vanquish with ease men who are defending their homes.”
8 “…trusting less in system and policy than to the native spirit of our citizens; while in education, where
our rivals from their very cradles by a painful discipline seek after manliness, at Athens we live exactly as
we please, and yet are just as ready to encounter every legitimate danger.”
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which comprise it- including the aspects of civic virtue, community and service to the
state. Verily it is simply flowery justification for military action abroad. It is a powerful
speech which is very believable and speaks to the ideals that every citizen should
aspire to reach.
The words of Pericles are surprisingly modern in nature and can be related
almost immediately to our time, morally and politically. Integrity of character is perhaps
the most crucial discipline a citizen of the state may earn. Rewards of the soul far
outweigh the hollow rewards of the coin. In the end, we come into this world with
nothing but ourselves and leave this world with nothing but ourselves. The republican
aspirations of civic virtue, community and sincerity through ethics, passion and logic
(ethos, pathos, logos) are but a distant memory and this is a grave injustice to any man
who aspires to attain legitimate citizenship in the modern era. The golden age of
Washington has been washed away by a society dependant on bastard substances,
instant gratification and materialism. The people have abandoned all manner of civic
responsibility and instead side as bovine automatons prodded along by serpent tongued
demagogues and illegitimate Caesars. Regardless of how our morality has become, we
still cling to and claim to be following the Athenian moral code, this is best represented
in our cultural relics such as the Declaration, Constitution and contemporary speeches
which continue to blather on about freedom, fighting evil and other ideals which are but
justifications for our own tyranny.
Politically the American state is very similar to Athens. We seek to dominate and
absorb alien peoples so that they might share our freedom but in doing so paradoxically
create tyranny. We justify invasions using abstract republican values such as
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democracy. We are self-righteous and believe we are superior to all other states, we
also believe it is our holy duty to spread democracy to all aliens, even those which
fundamentally oppose democracy. We have an incredible unmatched hubris and
belligerence. Our leaders attempt to inspire us to war and hunt Immanuel Goldstein
through rousing oration, even if it’s plagued by Texan idiosyncrasies. The same rhetoric
used in Pericles’ day is still in active use today, and will be eternally until people
demand something more then a meme-infested banal minutia of red white and blue
marginalization and judgment.
It is imperative in the modern era that we return to original republican moral
values for our own sake in the pursuit of brilliance and to avoid further social decadence
and corruption. Furthermore it is important that we return to George Washington’s (and
other traditional republics) concept of isolationism. All states will eventually evolve into
some semblance of a republic in the end; it is the natural human tendency. Just as
many (if not more) lives will be lost in a quick, forced war (there is at least 29478
confirmed civilian casualties in Iraq for example9 but this is a wildly conservative
number) as would be lost in a long, natural, protracted revolution. It is then logical (logos
intact) for us to remain to ourselves and carry a big stick in the winds of time and allow
dictators of far removed people to slaughter their people, it will only catalyze revolution
further. It is not our place to colonize the world with the help of the new Delian League
of NATO, our place is to enrich our own culture and remain closed to the outside
turmoil. Eventually all states will be republican, and we will inherit a global united
citizenry. This is not a distant imaginative dream; it is the will Cincinnatus reborn, our
first president and proper hero and role model to all citizens, George Washington.
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The exacting and objective research of iraqbodycount.net