Peter Jones

Pericles vs Juncker

Jean-Claude Juncker could learn a lot from the magnanimity of Pericles. But don't hold your breath

issue 24 September 2016

The hopelessness of the EU is well demonstrated by the current rhetoric issuing from its inner chambers: that Britain must be punished for the ‘crime’ of leaving it. What sort of message does that send out to the world, let alone other EU members, about the value that the EU places on liberality and freedom?

In his funeral speech in 430 BC over those killed in the war against Sparta, Pericles hymned not so much the dead as the city of Athens itself, describing ‘the way of life that enables us to pursue our objectives, and the political institutions and national character that made our great achievements possible’.

One of the central themes to which he returned again and again was the way in which Athens, in contrast to Sparta, fearlessly and generously left itself open to the world. The Athenian conduct of their public business, he said, was ‘open and free’; in their daily lives they did not react angrily or suspiciously if their neighbours indulged themselves.

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