Comparison of Funeral Speech of Pericles and Abraham Lincoln

In his Gettysburg address, Abraham Lincoln does a great job by expressing a lot of information about saving the country. He also points out what those who died were fighting for during his speech. Pericles talks more about the kind of union that is needed by the Athenians so as to win the battle. Lincoln strives to solve the problems between two sides while Pericles desires to win the war, and not be stressed by problems related to the enemy. The two addresses have some similarities that make them significant for a current reader as discussed in this essay.

During the orations, both speakers show their intense pride for their political parties. They both tend to comment that there is no other political party that is above theirs. Pericles secludes Athens from the rest of Hellas in the view of the constitution and even the military. On the same note, President Lincoln mentions “new nation”, an indication that it is very different from the rest of the world.

During their speeches, they both contrast actions and words. They all agree that the deeds of those who are already dead cannot be remembered by just simple and meaningless words. An exaggeration of the deeds of those who had passed away is evident in Lincoln’s and Pericles speeches, where the kind of description the dead are given is that of emphasis. They all praise the dead to have died while on a mission to give better lives to individuals and even secure the nation (Holmes, 1901).

The two orators encourage their audience struggle in containing individual sorrow largely and work hard in unfinished tasks. There is a sense of similarity in the pronouns that the two use during their speeches. They use the first person plural instead of singular to show that it is everybody’s role to fight for the nation. The two orators also take advantage of the founders as the base of their legitimacy. For instance, Pericles notes the ancestors as the founders of the city of Athens and the fathers as the defenders Persia. On the other hand, President Lincoln begins his remark by mentioning the founding fathers who worked on the declaration (Pinsker, 2001).

The respective speeches from Pericles and Lincoln are quite significant for a current reader as they contain life values and skills that should be utilized by orators in the day to day activities. By mentioning the founders as their base of legitimacy, readers can understand how important it is to keep the traditional virtue inherited from their ancestors. The two orators appreciate the efforts of the fore fathers in enabling the country to reach its current state.

The speeches from the two orators are very vital in creating the sense of respect for the dead among readers who may not be aware of the society beliefs concerning the dead. They greatly appreciate the efforts of the dead and stand firm to condemn anybody who may want to criticize the work done by those who had passed away.

The sensible use of literary elements of a speech by both Lincoln and Pericles is a motivation to current readers to improve their language skills in readiness for any public speech. Current readers get to learn that the language skills learned in the classroom setting are applicable in the real world situation as is the case in the speeches.

In conclusion, the addresses by President Lincoln and Pericles are brief, clear and dignified speeches that have common approaches on some of the issues of concern during the historic times. The two addresses are also significant in educating current readers to utilize the theory learnt in class while socializing with other people