Discussion 2


 

Prompt(s):

Read Percicle’s funeral speech – https://www.files.ethz.ch/isn/125493/1037_Pericles.pdf .

1) How does Pericles describe Athenian Democracy?

2) Does his argument for democracy derive from fundamental principles, such as human equality, or from the practical benefits that derive from such a system of government?

3) What kind of citizen does Pericles believe democracy produces? How might a critic have responded to his arguments?

4) List and explain fully 5 similarities between the end of the Roman Republic (not empire) and the current situation in the United States and its Republic today?