Even though it has been thousands of years since the speech of Pericles's many of the issues he touched on still apply today. One issue I am going to touch on that Pericles used in his speech is the military, and how the tactics of war of today's society are closely related to those back in 430 b.c. Another aspect that I will touch on during this paper is the government. The similarities of government that were used back then and what is used in our country today is mind-boggling. The democracy used in Athenian times is very similar to what is used in the United States today. There were still differing social classes in Athens, as there still is in the United States society thousands of years later. The last aspect that I am taking from the speech is how the grieving and aging process are still very similar to what people in the United States do today when a loved one is lost. .
The military in Athens opened its doors to the world. It was far different than most other countries. Athenians were not afraid to let people in. They were open to anyone who was interested in seeing what went on in Athens. They were not afraid of opening their doors to foreigners and they did not exclude them from any opportunity of learning or observing, even though this could and probably would come back to hurt them someday. What I mean by this is the enemy would benefit from this by seeing what goes on with their military and this might hurt the Athenians in the long run. That is what was so wonderful about this city. Athenians saw the bad but they always looked at the good side of something. During war the enemies did not invade the country alone but they always brought all their confederates. This was contrary to the Athenians who would advance alone into some hostile ground on foreign soil. They would usually move through countries with ease. Although they never wanted to engage in battle they also were not afraid of standing up for what they believed in and would not back down from anyone.