The march towards developing a democratic society is often obstructed with societal unrest due to the influence of the status quo on the instruments of power. Before the rule of Solon, Athens underwent this same rule, as there was much discontent among the social classes in Athens. The society suffered financial disparity that often was the trigger for the war among the rich and poor in the society. This was a major factor that forced Solon into power to institute policies that would see a reformed Athens. By so doing, the society was looking for an avenue that would guarantee democracy and a society that is fair for everyone. The city-state of Athens was the epicenter of the revolution for the Athenian democracy during the fifth century BC. In the Athenian democracy, the electorate voted for the legislation of bills instead of a direct democracy where the electorates are tasked with electing representatives who later developed the bill. Among the first people who made significant contributions to the development of the Athenian democracy were Solon (594 BC), Cleisthenes (508/7 BC), Pericles (495 – 429 BC) and Ephialtes (462 BC). Pericles was the longest serving democratic leader who contributed much development in democracy in the city. This paper will give an account of the age of the Pericles. No one would deny that Pericles was the most prominent Greek statesman and spokesperson during the Golden Age. His contribution was largely felt during the Persian and Peloponnesian Wars having obtained power from his family link to the Alcmaeonid family. He commanded a lot of respect to from the Athenian citizens with Thucydides describing him as "the first citizen of Athens” . He was born at around 495 BC north of Athens in the ... ... middle of paper ... ...nstitution (Thuc. 2.37)." American Journal of Philology 125, no. 4 (2004): 539-561. Bowden, Hugh. "Thucydides, Pericles, and Periclean Imperialism." The International History Review 34, no. 3 (2012): 606-607. Bowra, C. M.. Periclean Athens. New York: Dial Press, 1971. Burn, A. R.. Pericles and Athens. London: Hodder & Stoughton for the English Universities Press, 1948. Clarke, Fiona, and Mark Bergin. Greece in the time of Pericles. Hemel Hempstead: Simon & Schuster, 1909. Kagan, Donald. Pericles of Athens and the birth of democracy. New York: Free Press ;, 1991. Podlecki, Anthony J.. Perikles and his circle. London: Routledge, 1998. Raaflaub, Kurt A., and Josiah Ober. Origins of democracy in ancient Greece. Berkeley: University of California Press, 2007. Robinson, Charles Alexander. Athens in the age of Pericles. Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 1959.
But the audience of Thucydides is future readers. The purpose of writing this chapter was to show the greatness of Athens as viewed by Pericles. Although the speech shown in this excerpt shows a little bias, the important thing to note is that Thucydides is only an observer and his views are not seen so the document itself is reliable even if the excerpt is biased toward the greatness of Athens.
Pausanias, Description of Greece with an English Translation by W.H.S. Jones, Litt.D. in 4 Volumes. Volume 1.Attica and Cornith, Cambridge, MA, Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann Ltd., 1918.
Bury, J. B.; Russell Meiggs (2000). A History of Greece to the Death of Alexander the Great
West, Grace S., Thomas West. Texts on Socrates: Plato and Aristophanes. Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 1998.
It is surprising indeed that Even today, tyrannies and dictatorships exist in the world when more than two and a half thousand years ago the ancient Athenians had developed a functional and direct form of democracy. What contributed to this remarkable achievement and how it changed the socio-political. scene in Athens is what will be considered in this paper. The paper will have three sections, each detailing the various stages. of political development from the kings of Attica to the time of Pericles when, in its golden age, Athens was at the height of its. imperial power.
Athens government and military is considerably different from their neighbors. According to Pericles, Athens government is not a copy of our neighbors...
Rodney, Sydney. "Pericles." Ancient Greece. University Inc., 11 May 2003. Web. 7 Dec. 2013. .
Athenian democracy includes participation of all adult, free, male, citizen, made possible for all. If at the beginning and during the thriving period of the Athens democracy the occupations of a state position was considered to be an worthy duty for the citizens, the taking in of ...
Government and its different forms appears many times throughout Herodotus’s Histories, sometimes its positive and other times its negative, however in the readings Herodotus demonstrates that it is not the Athenian democratic values that makes freedom but rather the absence of tyranny along with equality among men. Herodotus’s assessment of Athenian democracy is overall a positive development to Greek cultural identity in the eyes of Herodotus.
In Thucydides’ History of the Peloponnesian War, Pericles commends the ergon of Athenian heroes, which has placed them in the realm of logos, while directing the Athenians to follow these ideals of logos. The maintenance and continued success of Athens' political establishment relies on the prevalence of polis, rationality and discourse over family, emotion and reckless action. However, the indiscriminate turns of fate and fortune, often place logos in opposition with the base, primal nature of ergon. Both Thucydides and Sophocles recognize that when logos conflicts with the unexpected ergon, the preservation of rationality and unanimity among the citizens of the polis depend on the leadership of a single honest leader. In the History of the Peloponnesian War, Thucydides presents Pericles as a man of logos, whom Athens needs to achieve its full potential as an empire and later to rescue her from disaster. Likewise, Sophocles presents Theseus, in Oedipus Colonus, as the perfect successor of Pericles, who returns Athens to its former glory before the end of the war. In these two examples, we see that the dominance of logos over ergon within a polis lies in the ability and logos of the city’s current leader.
Bearing the values of courage, duty, and honor in mind, Pericles instills the premise within Athenians’ that they should strive to perpetrate the values their predecessors fought for, and endure pain and sacrifice to retain them in the face of war. They must, therefore, reflect a fortitudinous, determined, and devoted attitude as they defend
Pericles ascended to power at the empire’s height and was, according to Thucydides, the city’s most capable politician, a man who understood fully the nature of his city and its political institutions and used his understanding to further its interests in tandem with his own. After Pericles, however, Thucydides notes a drastic decline in the quality of Athenian leaders, culminating in Alcibiades, the last major general to be described in The Peloponnesian War. While he is explicit in this conclusion, he is much more reticent regarding its cause. What changed in Athens to produce the decline in the quality of its leadership? The development of an empire is a change strongly emphasized in the Archeology as a radical departure from the Hellenic tradition, and consequently a major source of conflict among the Greeks.
Herodotus. “Greece Saved from Persian Conquest.” Readings in Ancient History. Eds. Nels M. Bailkey and Richard Lim. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, 2002.
Fortunately, Pericles, a great general at war, was also a great government official elected in 460 BCE as one of the ten generals (Armento, Beverly J., and others, 363). Although these generals only serve a one year term, Pericles was elected again and again. At the time, a man named Cimon was the head of the government in Athens. One of Pericles many talents was his persuasiveness. In fact, he was so persuasive an Olympian wrestler once said, “If I wrestle him [Pericles] to the ground he will deny this and deny it so vigorously that he would convince even those who witnessed the fight,” (The Greeks: Crucible of Civilizations). This persuasiveness and help from Ephialtes were what it took to abolish Cimon from Athens and all of Cimon’s allies (“Pericles Biography”)(Aird, 39). This finally led to the start of democracy again in Athens. Additionally, by making Athens fairer for everybody, Pericles balanced and stabilized the amount of power of money one was getting. Pericles would divide sums of money between the rich and poor because as said in his speech, “We regard wealth as something to be properly used, rather than as something to boast about. As for poverty, no one needs to be ashamed to admit it; the real shame is in not asking practical measures to escape from it.” By doing this everybody is equal and much less likely to revolt on Athenian
This essay attempts to evaluate the significance of the Periclean’ building programme in Athens in the context of 5th Century BC Greek history and the importance of its lasting legacy. Implemented by and named after the most prominent, influential strategoi/generals of Athens in the 5th century BC, Pericles decided to rebuild the ruins left as reminders, of the Greco-Persian wars that finished in 449 BC. Not only did the building programme increase Athens’ aesthetics, the grandeur of the city, and satisfy Athenian religious needs, it was an important factor in reinforcing its power as the leader of the Athenian Empire. Equally important is the lasting legacy of the building programme today, as the magnificent structures define the Greek culture,