History of the Peloponnesian War, written by Thucydides, is a work that concerns many aspects of this long combat. One of its sections includes the speech made by Pericles in honor of the soldiers fallen in the battlefield. Greeks took the process of the burial very seriously - there were rigid rules as to how to conduct a proper funeral. The eulogy given by a figure of some prominence and authority was an essential part of it. In History of the Peloponnesian War, Thucydides decides to include the description of the plague, which struck Greeks during the second year of the war, immediately after the eulogy delivered by Pericles. This is due partially because of the author's desire to preserve the chronological order of the events that took place - the plague struck first during the summer that followed the first year of the war, and the Funeral Oration was delivered by Pericles during the winter which concluded that year. …
