"Pericles' Funeral Oration" by Thucydides: "Pericles' Funeral Oration" by Thucydides, List 2

Delivered after the first battles of the Peloponnesian War, this oration by Pericles is nothing short of an attempt to reaffirm a civilization's underpinnings in the face of massive death and destruction. The speech transcends mere mourning and commemoration of the heroic dead. It reminds the listeners who they are as Athenians, and why that is something worth dying, and living, for.
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Full list of words from this list:

words only definitions & notes
  1. expediency
    the quality of being suited to the end in view
    And it is only the Athenians, who, fearless of consequences, confer their benefits not from calculations of expediency, but in the confidence of liberality.
  2. commensurate
    corresponding in size or degree or extent
    That panegyric is now in a great measure complete; for the Athens that I have celebrated is only what the heroism of these and their like have made her, men whose fame, unlike that of most Hellenes, will be found to be only commensurate with their deserts.
  3. intimation
    a slight suggestion or vague understanding
    And if a test of worth be wanted, it is to be found in their closing scene, and this not only in cases in which it set the final seal upon their merit, but also in those in which it gave the first intimation of their having any.
  4. contented
    satisfied or showing satisfaction with things as they are
    And not contented with ideas derived only from words...you must yourselves realize the power of Athens, and feed your eyes upon her from day to day, till love of her fills your hearts; and then, when all her greatness shall break upon you, you must reflect that it was by courage, sense of duty, and a keen feeling of honour in action...
  5. keen
    intense or sharp
    And not contented with ideas derived only from words...you must yourselves realize the power of Athens, and feed your eyes upon her from day to day, till love of her fills your hearts; and then, when all her greatness shall break upon you, you must reflect that it was by courage, sense of duty, and a keen feeling of honour in action...
  6. renown
    the state or quality of being widely honored and acclaimed
    For this offering of their lives made in common by them all they each of them individually received that renown which never grows old, and for a sepulchre, not so much that in which their bones have been deposited, but that noblest of shrines wherein their glory is laid up to be eternally remembered upon every occasion on which deed or story shall call for its commemoration.
  7. epitaph
    an inscription in memory of a buried person
    For heroes have the whole earth for their tomb; and in lands far from their own, where the column with its epitaph declares it, there is enshrined in every breast a record unwritten with no tablet to preserve it, except that of the heart.
  8. degradation
    a change to a lower state
    And surely, to a man of spirit, the degradation of cowardice must be immeasurably more grievous than the unfelt death which strikes him in the midst of his strength and patriotism!
  9. apprehension
    fearful expectation or anticipation
    Yet you who are still of an age to beget children must bear up in the hope of having others in their stead; not only will they help you to forget those whom you have lost, but will be to the state at once a reinforcement and a security; for never can a fair or just policy be expected of the citizen who does not, like his fellows, bring to the decision the interests and apprehensions of a father.
  10. wont
    an established custom
    When a man is gone, all are wont to praise him, and should your merit be ever so transcendent, you will still find it difficult not merely to overtake, but even to approach their renown.
  11. exhortation
    an earnest attempt at persuasion
    On the other hand, if I must say anything on the subject of female excellence to those of you who will now be in widowhood, it will be all comprised in this brief exhortation.
  12. garland
    a circular band of flowers or other foliage
    If deeds be in question, those who are here interred have received part of their honours already, and for the rest, their children will be brought up till manhood at the public expense: the state thus offers a valuable prize, as the garland of victory in this race of valour, for the reward both of those who have fallen and their survivors.
Created on Tue Jun 03 10:42:37 EDT 2025

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