The Orations of Lysias

by Lysias

ORATION II.

FUNERAL ORATION.

1. If I thought it were possible, O fellow-citizens who are assembled at this burial-place, to set forth in words the valor of those who lie here, I should blame the men who invited me to speak about them at a few days' notice. But as all time would not be sufficient for (the combined efforts) of all men to prepare an address adequate to their deeds, the city seems to me, in providing for men to speak here, to make the appointment at short notice, on the supposition that the speakers would under the circumstances meet with less adverse criticism.

2. And though my words relate to these men, the chief difficulty is not concerning their deeds, but with those who formerly spoke upon them. For the valor of these men has been the occasion of such abundance (of composition), both by those able to compose, and those wishing to speak, that, although many noble sentiments have been uttered about them by men in the past, yet much has been left unsaid, and enough can yet be spoken at the present time. For they have experienced perils on land and sea, and everywhere and among all men, who, while bewailing their own hard fate, yet sing the praises of the courage of these men.

3. First, then, I will review the hardships of our ancestors, following the traditions. For all men should keep them too in mind, both celebrating them in song, speaking of them in maxims about the good, honoring them at such times as this, and instructing the living by the deeds of the dead.

4. The Amazons were once the daughters of Ares, living by the river Thermodon, and they alone of the inhabitants of that region were armed with metal, and first of all they mounted horses, by which they unexpectedly, because of the inexperience of their adversaries, overtook those who fled from them, and they left their pursuers far behind. So for their spirit they were thought men, rather than women for their nature. For they seemed to surpass men in spirit rather than to be inferior in physique.

5. And after they had subdued many tribes and in fact enslaved the surrounding nations, they heard great reports about this country, and for the sake of glory took the most warlike of their tribes and marched against this city. And after they met these brave men, they came to have their souls like their nature, and with changed hearts seemed to be women rather from their conduct in danger than from their forms.

6. And they alone were not allowed to learn from experience and to plan better for the future, and they might not go homeward and tell of their discomfiture and the valor of our ancestors; for they died here and paid the penalty for their rashness, and made the memory of this city immortal through valor, and rendered their own country nameless through their defeat here. These women then, through their unjust desire for a country not their own, justly lost their own.

7. After Adrastus and Polyneices had joined in the expedition against Thebes and had been worsted in battle, the Thebans would not let them bury their dead. So the Athenians, who believed that if these men did wrong they had (already) the greatest punishment in death, and that the gods of the lower world were not receiving their due, and that by the pollution of holy places the gods above were being insulted, first sent heralds and demanded them to grant the removal of the dead, (8) thinking it the part of brave men to punish their enemies while alive, but of men who distrusted themselves to show their courage on the bodies of the dead. As they were unable to obtain this favor, they marched against the Thebans, although previously there was no reason for hostility against them, and not because they were trying to please the living Argives, (9) but because they believed those who died in battle should obtain the customary rites, they ran into danger against the Thebans in the interests of both, on the one hand, that they might never again offer insult to the gods by their treatment of the dead, and on the other, that they might not return to their country with disgrace attached to their names, without fulfilling Greek customs robbed of a common hope. 10. With this in mind, and thinking that the chances of war are common to all men, they made many enemies, but with right on their side they came off victorious. And they did not, roused by success, contend for a greater punishment for the Thebans, but they exhibited to them their own valor instead of their impiety, and after they had obtained the prizes they struggled for, the bodies of the Argives, they buried them in their own Eleusis. Such were they (who fought) for the dead of the Seven at Thebes.

11. And afterwards, after Heracles had disappeared from men, and his children fled from Eurystheus and were hunted by all the Greeks, who, though ashamed indeed of what they did, feared the power of Eurystheus, they came to this city and took refuge at the altars. 12. And though Eurystheus demanded it, the Athenians would not give them up, but they reverenced the bravery of Heracles more than they feared their own danger, and they thought it more worthy of themselves to contend for the weak on the side of justice than to please those in power and surrender those wronged by them. 13. And when Eurystheus marched on them at that time at the head of the Peloponnesus, they did not change their minds on the approach of danger, but held the same opinion as before, though the father (Heracles) had done them no special good, and the Athenians did not know what sort of men these (children) would turn out to be. 14. But they thought it was a just course of action, though there was no previous reason for enmity with Eurystheus, and they had no longer hope of reward except that of a good reputation; so they incurred this danger for the boys, because they pitied the down-trodden, and hated the oppressors, and tried to hinder the latter and aid the former, believing it a mark of liberty to do nothing by compulsion, and of justice to aid the wronged, and of courage to die, if need be, fighting for both. 15. And both were so proud that Eurystheus and his party did not seek to gain any favor from willing men, and the Athenians were unwilling that Eurystheus, even if he came as a suppliant, should drive out their suppliants. So they summoned a force and fought and conquered the army from the whole of Peloponnesus, and brought the children of Heracles to safety, dispelled their fear and freed their souls, and because of their father's courage they crowned them with their own perils. 16. And they, while children, were much more fortunate than their father; for he, though bringing much happiness to all men, made his own life full of toil and strife and emulation, and punished others who were wrong-doers, but he could not punish Eurystheus who was his enemy and had sinned against him. But his sons through this city saw on the same day their own safety and the punishment of their enemies.

17. So many occasions came to our ancestors for fighting for this idea of justice. For the commencement of their life was just. For they were not, like many, collected from all quarters, and they did not settle here after expelling the earlier inhabitants, but they sprang from the soil and it was both their mother and country. 18. And they were the first and only ones at that time to banish the ruling families and establish a democracy, in the belief that freedom of all is the greatest harmony, and making the rewards of their dangers common, they administered the government with free minds, (19) by law honoring the good and punishing the bad, for they thought the wild beasts struggle with one another, but it is fitting for men to define justice by law, and to obey argument, and to serve these by their actions ruled by law and taught by argument.

20. So being of noble descent and of one mind, the ancestors of these who lie here did many brave and wonderful things, and their descendants everywhere left by their valor everlasting memorials of themselves. For in behalf of all Greece they risked their lives before the countless hordes of barbarians. 21. For the king of Asia, not satisfied with his own fortunes, but hoping to enslave Europe, sent an army of five hundred thousand. And thinking, if they could make this city a willing ally or subdue against its will, they would easily reduce the rest of Greece, they went to Marathon, believing that the Greeks would be deserted by their allies, if they should bring on the conflict while Greece was still undecided how it was best to ward off the invaders. 22. And still such an opinion prevailed among them about the city from the previous conflicts, that they believed if they should advance against another city, they would contend with both that and the Athenians; for these would eagerly come to aid the oppressed; but if they should come here first, no other Greeks would dare by aiding others to bring on themselves open hostility (for the sake of the Athenians). 23. These then were their plans; but our ancestors, taking no account of the dangers in war, but believing that glorious death left immortal testimony to good deeds, did not fear the multitudes of the enemy, but trusted their own valor. And being ashamed that the barbarians were in their country, they did not wait for their allies to learn of the matter and aid them, and they did not think they ought to be indebted for their rescue to others, but the other Greeks to them. 24. With one accord they rushed forward, few against many; for they believed death was theirs in common with all men, and they were brave with only a few, and on account of death their lives were not their own, and they would leave a memory of themselves from their dangers. And they thought that even with allies they could not have conquered those whom they did not conquer alone. And if worsted, they would perish only a little before the rest, and if they conquered, they would free the others. 25. And becoming brave men they did not spare themselves, and did not grudge their lives for valor, rather reverencing the traditions among them, than fearing the danger from the enemy. So they erected trophies for Greece in their country on the borders, over the barbarians who for gain had invaded a foreign land. 26. So quickly they incurred this danger that the same messengers announced to the other Greeks that the barbarians had made the invasion, and that our ancestors had conquered. No one of the rest (of the Greeks) feared for a coming danger, but rejoiced over their own safety. So it is not remarkable when such things happened long ago if the glory of them as if recent is still lauded by all men. 27. And after this, Xerxes, the king of Asia, despising Greece, and buoyed up by false hopes, and disgraced by the past, and grieved at the disaster, angry at its causes, untried by defeat, and with no experience with brave men, prepared for ten years and came with twelve hundred ships, and led a multitude of foot so vast that it would be a task indeed to recall all the tribes collected with him. 28. And the greatest proof of its size is this; when he could have transported his infantry on a thousand boats across the narrowest part of the Hellespont from Asia to Europe, he did not wish to, believing it would take much time. 29. But overlooking the natural obstacles and the deeds of the gods and human intelligence, he made a road through the sea, and forced a voyage through the earth, joined the Hellespont, and channeled Athos. No one agreed, but some reluctantly submitted, and others gave way willingly. For they were not able to ward him off, but some were corrupted by bribes. And both were persuasive, gain and fear. 30. But the Athenians, while Greece was in this condition, embarked and helped at Artemisium, and the Lacedaemonians and some of the allies met at Thermopylae, thinking on account of the narrowness of the pass they could check their advance. 31. But when the crisis came, at the same time the Athenians conquered in the naval battle, but the Lacedaemonians (perished), not failing in courage, but deceived in the number (of the enemy). For they thought they would ward off the enemy and so risk (their lives), (and they were) not worsted by the enemy, but died where they were ordered to fight, (32) and in this way the Spartans were unfortunate while the Persians gained entrance. They marched to this city, and our ancestors, learning of the misfortune of the Spartans, and in perplexity in the dangers which surrounded them, knowing that if they should attack the enemy by sea they would sail with a thousand ships and take the city deserted, and if they embarked on triremes they would be taken by the land army, and they could not do both, ward off (the enemy) and leave sufficient guard behind, (33) while these two questions were before them, whether it was best to leave their country or going over to the barbarians to enslave the Greeks, they believed that freedom with virtue, poverty and exile was better than slavery of the country with disgrace and plenty, so for the sake of Greece they left the city, that against each in turn but not against both they might risk their forces. 34. So they placed the children and women in Salamis, and collected the naval force of the allies. Not many days after, the infantry and the sea-force of the barbarians came, (a force) which any one would fear, considering how great and terrible a danger was encountered for the sake of the freedom of Greece. 35. And what feelings had those who saw them in those ships, while their safety was hazardous and the approaching conflict of doubtful issue, or those who were about to contend for their loved ones, for the prizes in Salamis? 36. Such a multitude of the enemy surrounded them from all sides that the least of their impending dangers was the prospect of death, and the greatest calamity was what they expected to suffer in subjection to the victorious barbarians. 37. Doubtless through their trials they frequently pledged one another, and probably commiserated their own fortunes, knowing how few were their own ships and seeing many of the enemy's, and realizing that the city was being devastated and filled with barbarians, and the temples burned, and ruin close at hand. 38. They heard together the paean of Greek and barbarian, the exhortations of both and the cries of the vanquished, the sea full of the dead, wrecks coming together, both friend and foe, and because the battle was long undecided, thinking now they have conquered and are saved, now they are worsted and lost. 39. Surely through their fear they thought to see much they did not see, and to hear much they did not hear. What prayers did not rise to the gods, or reminders of sacrifices, compassion for children, longing for wives, pity for parents and meditations on what would result in case of defeat? 40. What god would not pity them for the magnitude of the danger? What man would not weep? Who would not wonder at their daring? Truly these surpassed all men by far in point of courage, both in their plans and in the face of the danger, leaving the city, embarking upon the ships, opposing their own lives, few as they were, to the Persian host. 41. And they showed all men by their naval victory that it is better to struggle for freedom with a few than for their own slavery with many subjects of the king. 42. These made the greatest and most honorable contribution in behalf of the freedom of the Greeks, the general Themistocles, best able to speak, to understand and to act; more ships than the allies, and men of the most experience. And who of the other Greeks would have claimed to be equal in intelligence, numbers and courage? 43. So that justly they took without dispute the rewards of the naval battle from Greece, and gained success in proportion to their dangers and proved to the Asiatic barbarians that their courage was genuine and native.

44. So in the naval battle they conducted themselves thus and incurred the greatest part of the danger, and by their own valor gained freedom for themselves and the rest. Afterwards when the Peloponnesians were putting a wall across the Isthmus and were content with their own safety, supposing they were rid of the danger by sea, and intending to watch the rest of the Greeks falling into the power of the barbarians, (45) the Athenians were angry and advised them if they had this idea to put a wall about all the Peloponnesus; for if they, betrayed by the Greeks, should act with the Persians, they would have no need of their thousand ships, nor would the Isthmian wall help the Peloponnesians. For the control of the sea would be the king's without trouble. 46. And they were convinced and realized they were doing wrong and making poor plans, and that the Athenians spoke fairly and were giving them the best advice, and so they sent aid to Plataea. And when most of the allies under cover of night fled from the ranks because of the numbers of the enemy, the Lacedaemonians and the Tegeans put the barbarians to flight, and the Athenians and the Plataeans conquered in the fight all the Greeks who had despaired of freedom and submitted to slavery. 47. And on that day they brought about the most glorious conclusion of all their trials, and secured freedom for Europe, and in all times of danger they are acknowledged by all, both those with whom and against whom they fought, to have proved their own valor, both alone and with others, both on land and on sea, against barbarians and Greeks, and to have become the leaders of Greece.

48. Later, when the Greek war broke out through jealousy as to the past and envy of what was done, while all were envious and each needed but small grievances, when a naval battle was fought by the Athenians against the Aeginetans and their allies, they took seventy triremes. 49. And while they were struggling with Egypt and Aegina at the same time, and while the men of military age were away on sea and in the army, the Corinthians and their allies, thinking they would either attack a deserted country or they (the Athenians) would withdraw from Aegina, marched out and took Gereneia. 50. And the Athenians, some being at a distance and some near, did not dare to summon either, but trusting their own spirits and despising the invaders, the old men and the boys thought they alone could face the danger, (51) the former gaining courage from experience and the latter from their natures. And they in themselves became brave and the boys imitated them, the older men knowing how to command and the boys being able to obey commands. 52. Under the leadership of Myronides they set out for Megaris and conquered in battle all the forces (of the enemy), by those past service and those not yet ready for it, going into a foreign country to meet those who presumed to invade theirs. 53. And they set up a trophy for this glorious deed of theirs, and shameful act of the enemy, and the men, some no longer strong in body, the rest not yet strong, became greater in spirit and went back home with great renown, the latter to their teachers, the former to meditate on the future.

54. It is no easy task for one man to enumerate the brave deeds of so many, nor to tell in a single day the acts of all time. For what speech or time or orator could adequately testify to the valor of these men lying here? 55. For after countless struggles and signal contests and glorious encounters they have made Greece free, and proved their country the greatest, which ruled the sea for seventy years, kept the allies from revolt, (56) not permitting the many to be enslaved by the few, but forcing all to share alike, nor weakening the allies, but establishing them, so that the great king no longer longed for others' goods, but yielded up some of his own possessions and trembled for the future. 57. No ships sailed for Asia in that time, nor was a tyrant established among the Greeks, nor was a Greek city enslaved by the barbarians. Such was the moderation and fear their valor produced on all men. For this reason they alone must be the champions of the Greeks and leaders of the cities.

56. And also in adversity they showed their valor. For when the ships were lost in the Hellespont, either through the fault of the commander or by the will of the gods, and when that great disaster resulted to us and all the Greeks, they showed not long after that the power of the city was the safety of Greece. 59. For under the leadership of others those conquered the Greeks in naval battle who formerly had not embarked upon the sea, and they sailed to Europe, and enslaved Greek cities and established tyrannies, some after our disaster, and some after the victory of the barbarians. 60. So it would be fitting for Greece to grieve at his tomb, and bewail those who lie there, as if her freedom were buried with their valor, so unfortunate is Greece in being bereft of such men, and so fortunate is the king of Asia in meeting other leaders; for bereft of these, slavery is their fate, while in the others a desire springs up to emulate the wisdom of their ancestors.

61. But I have been led off to lament for all Greece; but it is fitting to remember these men both in private and in public, who hated slavery and fought for justice and struggled for the democracy, and having made all men their enemies they went to the Piraeus, not compelled by law, but impelled by instinct, imitating in fresh dangers the valor of their ancestors, (62) and by their own courage securing the city as a common possession for the rest also, choosing death and liberty rather than life and slavery, no less through shame of their lack of success than through anger at their enemies, preferring to die in their own country to living in a foreign land, having as allies oaths and agreements, and as enemies both the former ones and their own citizens. 63. But not fearing the number of their opponents, but risking their own lives, they set up a trophy to their enemies, and as evidence of their valor they buried the Lacedaemonians near this memorial. For they proved the city great and not small, and rendered it harmonious and not dissentious, and erected the walls instead of pulling them down. 64. And those of them who returned, showing plans like the deeds of those who lie here, devoted themselves not to the punishment of their enemies but the safety of the city, and neither being able to suffer encroachment on their privileges nor desiring to have more, give a share of their freedom even to those wishing to be in slavery, but they were not willing to share their slavery. 65. And with the bravest and most glorious deeds they repelled the charges against them, that the city met with disaster, not by their cowardice nor the enemy's valor. For if in dissension with one another they could enter their own country in spite of the presence of the Peloponnesians and their other enemies, evidently if they had been agreed they would have made a stand against them.

66. So those are admired by all men for their perils at the Piraeus. And it is also fitting to praise those lying here, who aiding the people and fighting for our safety, regarded valor as their country and so ended life. For this the city bewailed them and gave them a public funeral and granted them to have for all time the same honor as the citizens.

67. Those who are now buried, aiding the Corinthians who were wronged by their old friends, became renewed allies, not sharing the ideas of the Lacedaemonians, (for they envied their good fortunes, while the former pitied them when wronged, not remembering the previous hostility, but caring more for the present friendship) made evident to all men their own valor. 68. For they dared, trying to make Greece great, not only to incur danger for their own safety but to die for the liberty of their enemies; for they fought with Sparta's allies for their freedom. And when victorious they thought them worthy of the same privileges which they enjoyed, and if unsuccessful they would have fastened slavery firmly on the Peloponnesians.

69. As they so conducted themselves their life was pitiful, and their death desired; but these lived and died praised, being brought up in the virtues of their ancestors, and on becoming men they kept their fame untarnished and exhibited their own valor. 70. For they brought many benefits to their country, and made good the ill-successes of others, and carried war far from their own land. And they ended their lives as the good should die, having paid what is due to the country and leaving grief for those who trained them. 71. So it is fitting for the living to bewail these men and pity themselves and pity their relatives in future. For what pleasure will there be left them after these men are buried, who from their belief in the importance of virtue before all else lose their lives, made their wives widows and their children orphans, and rendered desolate their brothers, fathers and mothers. 72. For their many sufferings, I envy the children who are too young to know of what sort of parents they are bereft, and I pity their parents who are too old to forget their trial. 73. For what could be more terrible than this, to have and bring up children, and in old age become helpless and without hope, become friendless and without resources, and be pitied by the same ones who once envied them, and have death seem more to be desired than life? The braver men they were, the greater the grief for those left behind. 74. And how are they to cease grieving? In the crises of the state? But others should fittingly remember them at such a time. In the time of common prosperity? But is it then reasonable that they grieve, as their children are dead, and the living are reaping the benefits of their valor? But in private troubles, when they see those formerly their friends leaving them in their distress, and their enemies exulting over their misfortunes? 75. It seems to me that the only return we can make to these lying here is to treat their parents as themselves, and show a father's love to their children, and render such aid to their wives as they would if living. 76. For to whom do we owe greater thanks than to these men before us? Whom living should we make more of than their relatives, who like the others share their valor, but at their death have only sorrow.

77. But I know not why we should grieve. For we were not unaware that we were mortal. So why should we now mourn for those (who have suffered) what we have long realized we should suffer, or why be so downcast at natural occurrences, in the knowledge that death is the common experience of the evil and the good? For he (Death) neither overlooks the base nor loves the good, but comes equally to all. 78. For if it is possible for men who escaped dangers by word to be immortal for all time, the living would bewail the dead for all time. But now nature, subject to diseases and old age and the divinity who presides over our fates are inexorable. 79. So it is fitting to regard those men most fortunate, who have met their end, risking their lives for the noblest and best things, not entrusting themselves to fortune, nor waiting the appointed death, but choosing the noblest. For memories of them are undying, and their honors envied by all men. 80. They are mourned as mortal for nature's sake, but are sung of immortal for their valor. For they are publicly buried, and for them are held contests of strength and wisdom and wealth, as if those dying in war are to receive the same honor as the immortals. 81. Thus I praise their death and envy (them), and they are the ones of all men who I believe are the happiest in coming into the world, who, though in possession of mortal bodies, have left an immortal memory for their valor. But yet we must observe the usual customs and keeping our ancestral rites, mourn the dead.