This essay is about Pericles and the Funeral Oration that he gave to the people of Athens. I believe that he gave the speech to boost morale among the soldiers and the people of Athens. The problem with the speech is that he was not totally truthful, I will describe in this essay why I do not believe that he was not being honest,
One of the statements that I do not believe is this, “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” (Halsall). “Pericles himself introduced a bill limiting citizenship to those who had two citizen parents” (Kagan, Ozment, Turner, and Frank 65). I understand this to mean that Pericles believes that all people are not created equal. If you have two citizen parents you can be a citizen but otherwise you are out of luck. I can imagine if we had this law in the United States. We would not have the diversity that we have in this country. There is another issue with this statement. Women were excluded also. They were not allowed to vote, were not allowed to hold public office or take part in political assemblies. They could not live their own lives. They were always ruled by a man, their father, husband, or other male guardian. Their marriages were arranged, and were married at the age of twelve to eighteen. Women were not allowed to have a voice of their own. It was believed that the reason that women were put on this earth to have children and take care of the family. I am glad that it is not that way in the United States. I believe that women are respected and can voice their opinion and live their own life. To not have...