In the year 430 B.C, the Athenian leader Pericles gave a funeral oration honoring soldiers who died in the ongoing war with Sparta.
He began his speech by saying the deeds of the fallen. By starting his speech by saying the deeds of the fallen spoke more powerfullty than any words.
Instead of speaking of the men who fought, he spoke of the ideals they fought for. They died for Athens. Athens was a democracy and had a spirit of freedom and openness.
"The administration is in the bands of the many and not of the few...when a citizen is in any way distinguished, he is preferred to the public service, not as a matter of priviliged, but as a reward of merit. Neither is poverty an obstacle, but a man benefit his country whatever the obscurity of his condition."
Pericles reminded his listeners that the fallen soldiers would have the greatest memorial of all, one "graven not on stone, but in the hearts of men."
By this moving oration, Pericles elevated the living as well as the dead by reminding them of cherished ideals.
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