Post date: Sep 1, 2016 2:25:58 PM
Both "Pericles's Funeral Oration" written down by Thucydides and Homer's Odyssey give insight into how Greek culture viewed certain acts. The value that pervades both writings is that of an honorable death. Pericles showed how honor comes from dying in battle, how each soldier's death was the "most glorious contribution that [he] could offer" (Thucydides, 4). In a similar vein, throughout The Odyssey, various characters expound upon the glory that comes with death in battle, from Telemachus who wishes his father's absence was due to a glorious death at Troy and not just missing, a state of being where Odysseus could garner no "fame" (Homer, Book I lines 284-290). How one dies is just as important as how one lives in Greek culture, and also many cultures today.
Grief is also a theme that both writings touch on. Odysseus grieves for his home and family, as well as those crew members and friends he lost during his trials home. Pericles's speech shows how grief can be useful, as it is a way for people to express a "loss of that to which [they] have been long accustomed" (Thucydides, 5). This grief though doesn't immobilize the grievers, instead it spurs them on to honor the dead and move forward in life. Pericles calls upon the families of the dead to remember the passed but do what the can and must in order to better the state and the lives of all the Athenian citizens. Although Odysseus grieves for his family while held captive by Calypso, when he has a way to get home, even though he is still filled with grief, he does not let it consume him, for "what good can come of grief?" (Homer, Book X line 637). He does not let his grief control his actions, even when he sees his mother's shade in the Underworld, because Odysseus knows that in order to get home, he must keep living (Homer, Book XI line 102). Grief is a noble thing to feel but it must not consume one's entire life.