[under construction]

There is no firm agreement among scholars on the collocation of the Funeral Speech with the Plague narrative (2.47-54).  But classes can benefit from close reading exercises that take them back and forth from one text to another.  Here is a sample set of questions that students work on in groups, after reading and brief discussion.

Students were told to come to class with three answers to the question, where does the plague echo or refer to the Funeral Oration?

(Hint: look at references to:

laws

public rituals

honor, shame, virtue

city and community)

Then, try to answer this question:  Why does Thucydides juxtapose the description of the plague with the Funeral Oration?