Civil War Funeral Orations essays

Civil War Funeral Orations essays Throughout the course of history, there have been many civil wars. In those civil wars, many persons fought and died in battles to defend their beliefs. In the aftermath of a major battle, a peoples morale is as shattered and broken as the bodies of those that were slain. Following the battle, a funeral is conducted in remembrance of the deceased. At these funerals a funeral oration is usually given by a well-known domestic public figure, such as when Abraham Lincoln gave his Gettysburg Address in 1863 AD and when Pericles gave his funeral oration to Athens in 431 BC. These speeches were made not only to put to rest the souls of the dead and the grief of those who knew them, but to give those people hope that their friends and loved ones did not die in vain and to remind them why their civil war was being fought. The Peloponnesian War was fought from 431-409 BC. It was a civil war between the Greek city-states and was lead by Sparta and its allies against the dominating Athenian government. The Athenian leader, Pericles, was a learned scholar and an ingenious military general. His speeches were known for their ability to motivate and give courage to a crowd whether it was to his soldiers in the final moments right before a battle or to a gathering in the streets of Athens. After the first few battles of the Peloponnesian War, Pericles was asked to give the funeral oration for those that were slain in defense of Athens. He did not offer his condolences to the families of those that died, but he offered them comfort. He did this because the men that died in those battles did not do so in vain, for dying in defense of ones city-state had nothing to do with vanity in the eyes of the Greek. He said that the gift they commonly gave for Athens had no equal. That is why he declared them he roes and Greek heroes would always be remembered in their tales and stories for ages to come, which is why he ...