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The excerpt represents the core issue or deciding factor on which you must meditate, and is drawn from Menexenus by Plato: been often made, that in the Funeral Oration of Thucydides there is no
allusion to the existence of the dead. But in the Menexenus a future state
is clearly, although not strongly, asserted.
Whether the Menexenus is a genuine writing of Plato, or an imitation only,
remains uncertain. In either case, the thoughts are partly borrowed from
the Funeral Oration of Thucydides; and the fact that they are so, is not in
favour of the genuineness of the work. Internal evidence seems to leave
the question of authorship in doubt. There are merits and there are
defects which might lead to either conclusion. The form of the greater
part of the work makes the enquiry difficult; the introduction and the
finale certainly wear the look either of Plato or of an extremely skilful
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