Funeral Oration

Lysias

Lysias. Lamb, W.R.M., translator. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press; London: William Heinemann Ltd., 1930.

So I, indeed, call them blessed in their death, and envy them; I hold that for those alone amongst men is it worth while to be born who, having received mortal bodies, have left behind an immortal memory arising from their valor. Nevertheless, we must needs follow our ancient customs, and observe our ancestral law by bewailing those who are now being buried.