Demosthenes, The Funeral Speech, Norman W. DeWitt (Translator), Norman J. DeWitt (Translator), 24

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[24] for at one and the same time their spirits were separated from their dear bodies and the self-esteem of Greece was taken from her. We shall therefore seem guilty perhaps of a bold exaggeration, but still it must be uttered: for just as, if the light of day were removed out of this universe of ours,¹ all the remnant of life would be harsh and irksome, so, now that these men have been taken from us, all the old-time ambition of the Greeks is sunk in gloom and profound obscurity.

The Funeral Speech. Demosthenes. Norman W. DeWitt (Translator), Norman J. DeWitt (Translator). London. 1949.

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Current edition Perseus

The Funeral Speech (English) (Demosthenes, Vol. VII: Funeral Speech, Erotic Essay, LX, LXI, Exordia and Letters. DeWitt, Norman W. and Norman J., translators. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1949 (printing).)

Editions (1)

ἐπιτάφιος Perseus (Demosthenes. Orationes, Vol. III. Rennie, W., editor. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1931.) — 24 focus

[24] ἅμα γὰρ τά τε τούτων πνεύματʼ ἀπηλλάγη τῶν οἰκείων σωμάτων, καὶ τὸ τῆς Ἑλλάδος ἀξίωμʼ ἀνῄρηται. μεγάλην μὲν οὖν ἴσως ὑπερβολὴν δόξομεν λέγειν, ῥητέον δʼ ὅμως· ὥσπερ γάρ, εἴ τις ἐκ τοῦ καθεστηκότος κόσμου τὸ φῶς ἐξέλοι, δυσχερὴς καὶ χαλεπὸς ἅπας ὁ λειπόμενος ἂν ἡμῖν βίος γένοιτο, οὕτω τῶνδε τῶν ἀνδρῶν ἀναιρεθέντων ἐν σκότει καὶ πολλῇ δυσκλείᾳ πᾶς ὁ πρὸ τοῦ ζῆλος τῶν Ἑλλήνων γέγονεν.

Notes on the current edition

The Funeral Speech

1. Kennedy quotes Cicero De Amic. 13.47

solem enim e mundo tollere videntur qui amicitiam e vita tollunt.

According to Aristot. Rh. 1.7 and Aristot. 3.10 , Pericles had once said in a funeral speech it was as if the spring had been taken out of the year.

Demosthenes The Funeral Speech 24

Norman W. DeWitt (Translator), Norman J. DeWitt (Translator)

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