Post date: Sep 1, 2016 12:18:37 AM
In reading about the time of the Greeks, specifically Pericles' Funeral Oration from the History of the Peloponnesian War and the Odyssey, I cannot help but let out a chuckle and crack a smile at how great these people thought they and their whole society were. However, I am not that thrown off by it as for some reason the USA feels like we has to reassert our greatness with every other word we say. I would say Pericles was right when he said that "the admiration of the present and succeeding ages will be ours, since we have not left our power without witness" (Thucydides 3). He raves about his city with a passion I cannot muster for even my dog, and I love my dog. His city is open to everyone, there is "refinement without extravagance", the perfect system of democracy, brave soldiers who will die for us, and so, so much more (Thucydides 3). There is a passion and pride that people felt back then that I just do not feel in this day and age.
Odysseus is another prime example of this, especially when he encounters the Cyclops. He introduces him and his men as "proud to be the men of Agamemnon, Son of Atreus, the greatest name under heaven" (Odyssey 9:255). He has a legacy of greatness to live up to and is so proud of this that this is the first thing he tells the Cyclops. However, I do enjoy when this sense of pride comes back and bites him when he taunts the Cyclops as they leave and subsequently get thrown off course. For good or for bad, I enjoyed reading and getting to know about these confident heroes.