§1ἐπειδὴ τοὺς ἐν τῷδε τῷ τάφῳ κειμένους, ἄνδρας ἀγαθοὺς ἐν τῷ πολέμῳ γεγονότας, ἔδοξεν τῇ πόλει δημοσίᾳ θάπτειν καὶ προσέταξεν ἐμοὶ τὸν νομιζόμενον λόγον εἰπεῖν ἐπʼ αὐτοῖς, ἐσκόπουν μὲν εὐθὺς ὅπως τοῦ προσήκοντος ἐπαίνου τεύξονται, ἐξετάζων δὲ καὶ σκοπῶν ἀξίως εἰπεῖν τῶν τετελευτηκότων ἕν τι τῶν ἀδυνάτων ηὕρισκον ὄν.
Since the city decided to bury at public expense those who lie in this tomb, men who proved themselves brave in war, and commanded me to deliver the customary speech over them, I immediately considered how they might obtain the fitting praise; but as I examined and considered how to speak worthily of the deceased, I found it to be one of those things that are impossible.
οἳ γὰρ τὴν ὑπάρχουσαν πᾶσιν ἔμφυτον τοῦ ζῆν ὑπερεῖδον ἐπιθυμίαν, καὶ τελευτῆσαι καλῶς μᾶλλον ἠβουλήθησαν ἢ ζῶντες τὴν Ἑλλάδʼ ἰδεῖν ἀτυχοῦσαν, πῶς οὐκ ἀνυπέρβλητον παντὶ λόγῳ τὴν αὑτῶν ἀρετὴν καταλελοίπασιν;
For those who disdained the desire for life that is inborn in all, and wished rather to die nobly than to see Greece in misfortune while they lived, how have they not left behind their own virtue as something that surpasses all speech?
ὁμοίως μέντοι διαλεχθῆναι τοῖς πρότερόν ποτʼ εἰρηκόσιν ἐνθάδʼ εἶναι μοι δοκεῖ.
Nevertheless, it seems to me to be possible to speak in like manner as those who have spoken here in times past.
§2ὡς μὲν οὖν ἡ πόλις σπουδάζει περὶ τοὺς ἐν τῷ πολέμῳ τελευτῶντας, ἔκ τε τῶν ἄλλων ἔστιν ἰδεῖν καὶ μάλιστʼ ἐκ τοῦδε τοῦ νόμου, καθʼ ὃν αἱρεῖται τὸν ἐροῦντʼ ἐπὶ ταῖς δημοσίαις ταφαῖς· εἰδυῖα γὰρ παρὰ τοῖς ἀγαθοῖς ἀνδράσιν τὰς μὲν τῶν χρημάτων κτήσεις καὶ τῶν κατὰ τὸν βίον ἡδονῶν ἀπολαύσεις ὑπερεωραμένας, τῆς δʼ ἀρετῆς καὶ τῶν ἐπαίνων πᾶσαν τὴν ἐπιθυμίαν οὖσαν, ἐξ ὧν ταῦτʼ ἂν αὐτοῖς μάλιστα γένοιτο λόγων, τούτοις ᾠήθησαν δεῖν αὐτοὺς τιμᾶν, ἵνʼ ἣν ζῶντες ἐκτήσαντʼ εὐδοξίαν, αὕτη καὶ τετελευτηκόσιν αὐτοῖς ἀποδοθείη.
Now, how much the city values those who die in war can be seen both from other things and especially from this law, according to which it chooses the speaker at public funerals; for knowing that among brave men the acquisitions of wealth and the enjoyments of life's pleasures are disdained, and that all their desire is for virtue and praise, and that it is through speeches that these things would most of all come to them, the city thought they ought to honor them with speeches, so that the glory which they acquired while living might also be rendered to them now that they are dead.
§3εἰ μὲν οὖν τὴν ἀνδρείαν μόνον αὐτοῖς τῶν εἰς ἀρετὴν ἀνηκόντων ὑπάρχουσαν ἑώρων, ταύτην ἂν ἐπαινέσας ἀπηλλαττόμην τῶν λοιπῶν· ἐπειδὴ δὲ καὶ γεγενῆσθαι καλῶς καὶ πεπαιδεῦσθαι σωφρόνως καὶ βεβιωκέναι φιλοτίμως συμβέβηκεν αὐτοῖς, ἐξ ὧν εἰκότως ἦσαν σπουδαῖοι, αἰσχυνοίμην ἂν εἴ τι τούτων φανείην παραλιπών.
If, then, I saw that courage alone of the qualities belonging to virtue belonged to them, I would have praised this and departed from the rest; but since it has fallen to their lot to have been nobly born, to have been temperately educated, and to have lived honorably—from which qualities they were naturally excellent—I should be ashamed if I appeared to have omitted any of these.
ἄρξομαι δʼ ἀπὸ τῆς τοῦ γένους αὐτῶν ἀρχῆς.
I will begin, then, from the beginning of their race.
§4ἡ γὰρ εὐγένεια τῶνδε τῶν ἀνδρῶν ἐκ πλείστου χρόνου παρὰ πᾶσιν ἀνθρώποις ἀνωμολόγηται.
For the noble birth of these men has been acknowledged by all mankind from the earliest times.
οὐ γὰρ μόνον εἰς πατέρʼ αὐτοῖς καὶ τῶν ἄνω προγόνων κατʼ ἄνδρʼ ἀνενεγκεῖν ἑκάστῳ τὴν φύσιν ἔστιν, ἀλλʼ εἰς ὅλην κοινῇ τὴν ὑπάρχουσαν πατρίδα, ἧς αὐτόχθονες ὁμολογοῦνται εἶναι.
For not only is it possible for each of them to trace his origin to a father and to ancestors further back individually, but collectively to their entire existing fatherland, of which they are acknowledged to be the indigenous children.
μόνοι γὰρ πάντων ἀνθρώπων, ἐξ ἧσπερ ἔφυσαν, ταύτην ᾤκησαν καὶ τοῖς ἐξ αὑτῶν παρέδωκαν, ὥστε δικαίως ἄν τις ὑπολάβοι τοὺς μὲν ἐπήλυδας ἐλθόντας εἰς τὰς πόλεις καὶ τούτων πολίτας προσαγορευομένους ὁμοίους εἶναι τοῖς εἰσποιητοῖς τῶν παίδων, τούτους δὲ γνησίους γόνῳ τῆς πατρίδος πολίτας εἶναι.
For alone of all mankind, they inhabited the very land from which they sprung and passed it on to their descendants, so that one might justly suppose that those who come as immigrants into cities and are called citizens of these are like adopted children, whereas these are genuine citizens of their fatherland by birth.
§5δοκεῖ δέ μοι καὶ τὸ τοὺς καρπούς, οἷς ζῶσιν ἅνθρωποι, παρʼ ἡμῖν πρώτοις φανῆναι, χωρὶς τοῦ μέγιστον εὐεργέτημʼ εἰς πάντας γενέσθαι, ὁμολογούμενον σημεῖον ὑπάρχειν τοῦ μητέρα τὴν χώραν εἶναι τῶν ἡμετέρων προγόνων.
And it seems to me that the fact that the crops by which men live appeared first among us, quite apart from its being the greatest benefit to all, is an acknowledged sign that this land is the mother of our ancestors.
πάντα γὰρ τὰ τίκτονθʼ ἅμα καὶ τροφὴν τοῖς γιγνομένοις ἀπʼ αὐτῆς τῆς φύσεως φέρει· ὅπερ ἥδʼ ἡ χώρα πεποίηκεν.
For everything that gives birth brings with it from its very nature food for its offspring; which is just what this land has done.
§6τὰ μὲν οὖν εἰς γένος ἀνήκοντα τοιαῦτα διʼ αἰῶνος ὑπάρχει τοῖς τῶνδε τῶν ἀνδρῶν προγόνοις.
Such, then, are the characteristics belonging to their race that have existed forever for the ancestors of these men.
τὰ δʼ εἰς ἀνδρείαν καὶ τὴν ἄλλην ἀρετὴν πάντα μὲν κατοκνῶ λέγειν, φυλαττόμενος μὴ μῆκος ἄκαιρον ἐπιγένηται τῷ λόγῳ· ἃ δὲ καὶ τοῖς εἰδόσιν χρήσιμʼ ἀναμνησθῆναι καὶ τοῖς ἀπείροις κάλλιστʼ ἀκοῦσαι, καὶ ζῆλον ἔχει πολὺν καὶ μῆκος λόγου ἄλυπον, ταῦτʼ ἐπὶ κεφαλαίων εἰπεῖν πειράσομαι.
But as for the things concerning courage and the other virtues, I hesitate to speak of them all, guarding against an unseasonable length coming upon my speech; but those things which are both useful for those who know to remember and most beautiful for the inexperienced to hear, and which possess much inspiration and cause no painful length of speech, these I will try to state in summary.
§7οἱ γὰρ τῆς κατὰ τὸν παρόντα χρόνον γενεᾶς πρόγονοι, καὶ πατέρες καὶ τούτων ἐπάνω τὰς προσηγορίας ἔχοντες, αἷς ὑπὸ τῶν ἐν γένει γνωρίζονται, ἠδίκησαν μὲν οὐδένα πώποτʼ οὔθʼ Ἕλληνʼ οὔτε βάρβαρον, ἀλλʼ ὑπῆρχεν αὐτοῖς πρὸς ἅπασι τοῖς ἄλλοις καλοῖς κἀγαθοῖς καὶ δικαιοτάτοις εἶναι, ἀμυνόμενοι δὲ πολλὰ καὶ καλὰ διεπράξαντο.
For the ancestors of the generation belonging to the present time, both fathers and those further back who bear the names by which they are recognized by their kinsmen, never wronged any man, whether Greek or barbarian, but besides all other noble and good qualities, it was their characteristic to be most just, and in defending themselves they achieved many noble deeds.