After much thought into what piece of rhetoric I would like to analyze for my CAS essay assignment, I think that I have finally come up with an idea that will keep me entertained and interested.

I will be analyzing Pericles’ famous “Funeral Oration”.

This is a speech done by Pericles in the year 431 B.C., after the first year of the Peloponnesian War between Athens and Sparta.  For obvious reasons, I only have the text version of the speech (I don’t think that they had video cameras back then), and it is a translated version of the speech, as I am not fluent in Greek.  In fact, the English version is pretty difficult to understand in itself.

This is the link to the version of the speech I will be using:

http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/ancient/pericles-funeralspeech.asp

This speech was created by Pericles, an Athenian leader.  He was a Sophist (philosophers that took after Sophocles), and studied under the famous Greek philosopher Anaxagoras.  As such, it can be assumed that Pericles was a great and persuasive speech writer.  He used this speech to lift the spirits of the Athenians to continue to fight against the Spartans.

Pericles argues that his fellow Athenians should not give in to Sparta; that they should not let their fallen people die in vain.

I am initially drawn to this artifact because of the military aspect behind it.  In addition, I have particularly been interested in Greece; this just gives me more of a reason to study it.  I think that this artifact is definitely appropriate for in-depth analysis for a couple of reasons.  First, Pericles was a master of rhetoric, and it would be interesting to look at rhetoric from back then and see how it compares to rhetoric nowadays.  I would guess that there are many similar rhetorical devices used between these times.  Second, this speech was very effective in bolstering pride and spirits of the Athenian people, and it would be useful for my own rhetoric to study how a “professional” does it, and it was in fact so effective that Lincoln used it as a basis for his own Gettysburg Address that is called one of the best US President’s speeches of all time.

I think I am going to enjoy this essay!