Funeral oration, another facet of classical rhetoric, was an established practise in Athens for commemorating those who died in significant battles, such as Salamis and Plataea, and for glory won at battles like Marathon and Thermopylae. A funeral procession followed three days of offerings and vigils for the dead, whose remains were interred in tents for the occasion. At its conclusion, a prominent Athenian would deliver a speech. At the end of the Peloponnesian War's first year, the respected Athenian politician Pericles delivered the epitaph for the fallen, diverging from the hitherto standard pattern of funeral orations. Rather than glorifying the dead specifically, Pericles sang the praises of Athens itself, crediting the fallen by lauding the city they died for. He cited the enormous difficulty, if not impossibility, of the task of speaking on the dead's behalf, and implored the audience to live up to the standard set for them by the honoured dead.
