Pericles and Augustine: Two Fathers of Western Thought

The mourners fall silent with anticipation as Pericles walks briskly from the sepulchre to the erected stage. After a slight pause, he takes a deep breath and begins an eloquent funeral oration. He speaks on the glory of Athens and the honor of her dead. It is the Athenian winter of 431 B.C. and the city-state is engaged in a bitter war with its rival Sparta. Pericles’ resounding voice echoes off the surrounding hills and into the ears of Thucydides, the historian who records them in his work, The History of the Peloponnesian War. About eight hundred years later, a Christian bishop in North Africa witnessed the collapse of the Roman Empire at the hands of raiding “barbarians” from central Europe. In response to the accusation that Christianity weakened the Empire, Augustine, in 413 B.C., penned his work, City of God. While Pericles and Augustine were both spurred to action by significant historical events, they did not focus solely on these events, but widened their thoughts to the proper values and attitudes of man. While Pericles and Augustine agreed on some points, Augustine’s City of God is mostly a repudiation of the Classical World. Both historical figures believed that man ought to cultivate his mind and work to benefit society. However, they disagreed on the existence of justice, peace and war, personal advancement, and the meaning and acquisition of happiness.Read more