Demosthenes, The Funeral Speech, Norman W. DeWitt (Translator), Norman J. DeWitt (Translator), 33

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[33] In which the children of these men shall be reared in honor and the parents of these men shall enjoy distinction¹ and tender care in their old age, cherishing the fame of these men as an assuagement of their sorrow.² In the second place, immune from disease of body and beyond the reach of anguish of spirit,³ such as the living must suffer because of the misfortunes which have befallen, they today receive high honor and inspire great emulation while they are accorded the customary obsequies.⁴ How, then, since the whole country unites in according them a public burial, and they alone receive the words of universal praise, while their kinsmen and fellow-citizens are not alone in mourning them, but every land that has the right to be called Hellas and the greater part of the whole world mourns with them,⁵ how can we do otherwise than consider them blessed of fortune?

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

Sponsored by Perseus Project, Tufts University.

Funding provided by The Annenberg CPB/Project.

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.) — 33 focus

[33] ἔπειτα νόσων ἀπαθεῖς τὰ σώματα καὶ λυπῶν ἄπειροι τὰς ψυχάς, ἃς ἐπὶ τοῖς συμβεβηκόσιν οἱ ζῶντες ἔχουσιν, ἐν μεγάλῃ τιμῇ καὶ πολλῷ ζήλῳ τῶν νομιζομένων τυγχάνουσιν. οὓς γὰρ ἅπασα μὲν ἡ πατρὶς θάπτει δημοσίᾳ, κοινῶν δʼ ἐπαίνων μόνοι τυγχάνουσιν, ποθοῦσι δʼ οὐ μόνοι συγγενεῖς καὶ πολῖται, ἀλλὰ πᾶσαν ὅσην Ἑλλάδα χρὴ προσειπεῖν, συμπεπένθηκεν δὲ καὶ τῆς οἰκουμένης τὸ πλεῖστον μέρος, πῶς οὐ χρὴ τούτους εὐδαίμονας νομίζεσθαι;

Notes on the current edition

The Funeral Speech

1. This topic is touched upon in Hyp. 27 .

2. Thuc. 2.44.4 and be comforted by the fair fame of these your sons.

3. In Hyp. 43 may be found ἀπηλλαγμένοι εἰσὶ νόσων καὶ λύπης, as Blass observes.

4. Annual sacrifices were performed at the public sepulchre in Athens. They were followed by athletic contests.

5. Thuc. 2.43.3 for the whole world is the sepulchre of famous men.

Demosthenes The Funeral Speech 33

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

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