Civic Eulogy in the Epitaphios of Pericles and the Citywide Prayer Service of Rudolph Giuliani

Abstract

This essay inquires into the mechanisms that regulate construction of civic eulogies in Pericles' Funeral Oration and Rudolf Giuliani's “Citywide Prayer Service at Yankee Stadium.” The inquiry focuses upon how the speeches establish the relationship between the speaker and audience, employ rhetorical topoi, and develop argumentative strategies. In the end, it becomes clear that the speeches transact praise of the dead and exaltation of civic ideals with strikingly similar approaches.