The Greatest Speech of all Time: Pericles’ Funeral Oration

In 431 BCE, the statesmen Pericles delivered one of his most famous speeches of all time. How was the speech delivered and what influence does it have today? A lecture by Edith Hall, Visiting Professor of Classics 7 March 2019 In 431 BCE the Athenian statesman Pericles delivered one of the most influential speeches of all time, his Epitaphios or Funeral Oration. The occasion was at the funeral of the first Athenian soldiers to lose their lives in the Peloponnesian War. This lecture examines the history of this beautiful site, the momentous occasion on which Pericles spoke, and the ways in which his speech, recorded by the historian Thucydides who was present at its delivery, has informed subsequent epoch-making orations from Lincoln at Gettysburg to Kennedy and Obama. Gresham College has offered free public lectures for over 400 years, thanks to the generosity of our supporters. There are currently over