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The McCain eulogies fit a long, classic tradition of political funeral orations

- September 4, 2018
Meghan McCain eulogizes her father, senator John McCain, at Washington National Cathedral on Sept. 1. (Jonathan Newton/The Washington Post)

On Saturday, George W. Bush, Barack Obama and Meghan McCain delivered controversial speeches at the memorial service for senator John McCain. Some listeners found the eulogies “moving” and “electric” for their political commentary and candor. Others felt that the speakers improperly used McCain’s death for partisan purposes. As one observer tweeted, “This new trend of using funerals and eulogies to deliver political messages is really quite disgusting.”

But communicating political messages through official funeral speeches is not a “new trend.” Rather, for nearly 2,500 years, funeral orations have been used to influence public opinion and endorse political agendas. McCain’s eulogizers followed long-standing norms for a deeply political rhetorical genre.

[interstitial_link url=”https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/monkey-cage/wp/2017/01/28/would-the-famous-philosopher-jean-jacques-rousseau-actually-approve-of-trump-not-exactly”]Would Jean-Jacques Rousseau approve of Trump? Not exactly.[/interstitial_link]

When did the funeral oration emerge as a political genre?

The official funeral oration, or epitaphios logos, emerged in ancient Athens sometime between 508 and 460 B.C. As Thucydides explains in his “History of the Peloponnesian War,” these orations were an integral part of Athens’s state-sponsored funeral ceremonies for significant public figures — elaborate, multiday events that included public display of the deceased, processions through the city, and burial in public sepulchers. After the deceased had been properly interred came the final phase of this public grieving process: the official funeral oration.

Official funeral orations were delivered by a prominent public figure — someone who, as Thucydides explains, was “chosen by the city” for his “known ability and high reputation.” The speaker’s goal was to comfort the grieving, reassure the skeptical and rally citizens who might also be called to serve — and perhaps die for — their country. And according to Nicole Loraux, author of a seminal work on ancient funeral orations, the official orator also had to “attest to the cohesion of the community and help to strengthen it.” The Athenian orator thus had to strike a delicate balance: pay respect to the fallen while also celebrating the city writ large; eulogize the dead while simultaneously instructing the living.

It was a deeply political task that developed a distinct rhetorical form. Official funeral orators typically divided their remarks into two sections: epainesis (from the Greek word meaning “to praise”) and parainesis (from the Greek word meaning “to exhort”). Epainesis, which political theorist Simon Stow translates as “praise for the fallen,” consisted of several basic tropes: an emphasis on the noble ancestry of the fallen, a description of their heroism and praise for their heroic country. Parainesis encouraged survivors to dedicate themselves to the city and its politics, to undertake specific political actions, and to emulate the valiant men who had fallen.

[interstitial_link url=”https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/monkey-cage/wp/2018/04/19/the-nra-sees-a-bleak-hobbesian-world-so-why-does-it-want-to-arm-individuals-with-guns/”]The NRA sees a bleak Hobbesian world. So why does it want to arm individuals with guns?[/interstitial_link]

These tropes — designed both to comfort the grieving and advance a political agenda — were on full display in the well-known funeral oration delivered by the Athenian statesman and general Pericles, which commemorated citizens who had died during the first year of the Peloponnesian War. Pericles began with a brief celebration of the Athenians’ noble ancestors. He then praised the Athenian polis and its unique democratic constitution, its extraordinary freedoms and its welcoming foreign policy. Next, Pericles celebrated the brave soldiers whose lives he commemorated. He insisted that they “met danger face to face” and valiantly sacrificed their own interests for the good of the city. He then admonished survivors to “realize the power of Athens,” to recommit themselves to its values and its politics, and to become more selfless and devoted citizens, like the fallen.

American leaders have long used this classical form

Ancient funeral orators routinely used their commemorative remarks to advance political agendas. American funeral orators, probably influenced by this classical tradition, have done the same throughout the nation’s history. Abraham Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address, for example, adhered closely to ancient norms and offered both praise (“a new nation, conceived in liberty”) and political admonition (“It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us”). Both Bush and Obama invoked the ancient tropes of epainesis and parainesis when memorializing victims of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks; of shootings in Tucson and Fort Hood, Tex.; and of the Boston Marathon bombings.

Like Pericles and Lincoln, Meghan McCain and Obama offered remarks that were at once conciliatory and provocative. Both used the funeral podium to challenge, critique and endorse specific political actions. Meghan McCain’s insistence that the “America of John McCain has no need to be made great again” is consistent with Pericles’s claim that Athens is ���the school of Hellas.” And Obama’s suggestion that “to get in the arena and fight for this country is … demanded of all of us as citizens of this great republic” echoes Lincoln’s plea that “from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they here gave the last full measure of devotion.”

[interstitial_link url=”https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/monkey-cage/wp/2018/02/01/trump-is-a-typical-conservative-that-says-a-lot-about-the-conservative-tradition/”]Trump is a typical conservative. That says a lot about the conservative tradition.[/interstitial_link]

Put more simply, McCain’s eulogizers delivered remarks that adhered to well-established conventions of official memorial rhetoric. Critics may certainly object to the specific flavor of politics that McCain’s eulogizers introduced, but those who critique the inclusion of political themes will be battling a tradition that has shaped official funeral rhetoric for more than two millennia.

Lucy Williams is an assistant professor of political science at Brigham Young University. Her research is in the area of American political thought and explores relationships between American exceptionalism, political rhetoric and citizenship practices.