Schismogenesis and community: Pericles’ funeral oration

Pericles’ Funeral Oration is an artistic masterpiece. Some would say it is a pragmatic masterpiece as well because it achieved the purpose of uniting the Athenian community. However, from a long‐term, ecologically pragmatic perspective, the technique of building community through antithesis can have damaging effects on the larger social system of which the local community is a part. This essay analyzes and criticizes the Funeral Oration to extract a lesson in practical wisdom for our own time. While antithesis may be necessary for the creation of communal substance, rhetors and critics must be aware of the need to repair resulting damage done to the larger communicative ecosystem.