To revolutionize, to completely change a city in the hardest of times is a feat one has to have such extraordinary determination and confidence to do so. In Greece, right after the Battle of Sicily and Thermopylae when the Persians tried to conquer Athens, Athens won, however, Athens was in ruins. Pericles revolutionized Athens with public projects during the Athen’s Golden Age which improved Athenian culture, brought back a strong Athenian government, democracy, and led to a surplus of food.
During Athen’s Golden Age, Pericles shaped Athens into an artistic and cultural place with beautiful buildings, a strong wall for protection, and a place for blossoming thoughts and ideas for all topics. One of Pericles most outstanding works
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Due to the fact that The Parthenon was located on top of The Acropolis, it was visible to everybody in Athens. Essentially, such a masterpiece would take a very long time yet Pericles critics were amazed at how fast The Parthenon was built. The Parthenon was so important to Athens culture because the temple was built for Athena, the patron goddess of the city (Aird, 58). Now it is a true beauty of Athens and Greece reminding everybody how amazing Athena is just by looking up the Acropolis. Part of Pericles plan was to extend a strong wall out to the Aegean Sea from Athens. Originally, this was just to prevent another attack from the Persians, however, led to an easy access for a navy and cultural diffusion (Armento, Beverly J., and others, 363). By extending this wall, Athens was allowing access from the Aegean Sea and became a major trading port. Due to all of the supplies and goods coming through Athens, Athenian culture began to vary and led to an expansion in cultural thoughts during the Golden Age. Ships from all around the Mediterranean Sea, Mesopotamia, Rome, and Egypt came to Athens. Finally, Athen’s Golden Age was a time when new thoughts and ideas came. …show more content…
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
Pericles believed the more successful the man, the less he had to be afraid of when it came to death. If you were poor and unsuccessful, you didn't have honor becuase you would lose nothing at
(2.36.4). Pericles proceeds to assert that Athens is a great society – citing the city’s government, culture and people as evidence.... ... middle of paper ... ...
One of the biggest critics of Pericles’ vision of democracy was Pseudo-Xenophon or (The Old Oligarch). The Old Oligarch first critics the common assessment of the Athenian Democracy that states that democracy does not work very well and that it is foolish and mistaken. The Old Oligarch responds to this common assessment believing that Athens is doing everything right with democracy in terms of what they wanted to achieve with all citizens getting a say in government as Pericles had visioned. However, the Old Oligarch criticizes the common people of Athens as ignorant and disorderly. The Old Oligarch does not agree that all Athenian citizens have merit over class like Pericles. Not being a supporter of the poor, the Old Oligarch finds the Aristocrats as the better sort of people. In passage 1.9, The Old Oligarch states, “But if you seek for good legislation, in the first place you will see the cleverest members of the community laying down the laws for the rest.” The Old Oligarch’s statement shows that he believed the aristocrats were designed to rule. They had money and time, the two biggest components to get an education at the time, and as a result the Old Oligarch believed the aristocrats since educated, could make the best legislation for Athens. The Old Oligarch belief is supported through history to when democracy fell in Athens after the consequences of the Sicilian Expedition. After the fall of democracy, Aristocrats were put in charge because they were seemed as the most educated. In addition, the Old Oligarch states in passage 2.17, “But in the case of engagements entered into by a democracy it is
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. .
The Parthenon is an amazing Greek temple that was built 2,500 years ago. Even the architects of today have numerous questions about how it was constructed and how it has held up through its eventful past. The Parthenon's detailed appearance is not its only meaningful quality. The Parthenon was constructed as a temple to the goddess, Athena, and as an icon of the Greek people themselves. The Parthenon represents the Greek ideals of humanism, idealism, and rationalism.
In his funeral oration, Pericles elevates the deeds of the Athenian heroes into the realm of eternal worship (logos). As a man of rhetoric, he successfully transforms the death of the Athenian warriors into a source of inspiration. Instead of focusing on the limited and ephemeral qualities of the past, he asks the Athenians to look forward to serving the common good of their polis (PW 2.43). However, after the plague, Athenians came to the realization that working towards a better future, will prove futile if you cannot survive...
For Pericles, Athenian values are realized through culture and “daily devotion.” He claims that Athenian citizens obey both “the laws themselves” and “agreed-on social values (which need no specific legislation),” not requiring legislation to uphold their values. Accordingly, Pericles views exceptionalism as intrinsic to Athenians. Boasting about the city, Pericles questions “how else did she become great but by this genius in her citizens?” A recommitment to civic values, therefore, is simple to Pericles: Athenians are exceptional at the moment of his speech, and must simply continue their past conduct in order to achieve future
Although the Athenian Revolution may offer valuable information, studying Cleisthenes’ reforms that occurred as a consequence would offer insight into what transpired before the reforms and ultimately set Athens on a democracy. First, Cleisthenes’ reforms downgraded the importance of aristocrats and gave more power to local government by reorganizing the political landscape of Athens, a task that would be essential in responding to the wishes of the people following the revolution. Indeed, faction fighting was rampant among the aristocratic families until the legislation of Cleisthenes. Although it has been argued that Cleisthenes tried to create a political advantage for his own family under the guise of political reorganization, his legislation
In the first of the two texts, Pericles is making a very bold statement on the state of the Athens. “Our constitution does not copy the laws of neighbouring states; we are rather a pattern to others than imitators ourselves.” In his speech, Pericles is trying to rally the Athenians to support the new democracy and to make them feel important by being associated with
The Parthenon was the focus point, it was supposed to drawn in the most people. To this day the Parthenon draws in a large amount of people from all over the world. The Parthenon was built between 447-432 BCE. It costs the city 469 talents. The Parthenon is mostly Doric columns with a few ionic to draw attention to certain areas. The back room of the Parthenon was said to house Athena’s treasure while the front room holds the statue of Athena. The Parthenon was built so anyone that walks through the arch way will be able to see all angles and inside the Parthenon to see the statues and the details of the
Speaking of the revolution in Corcyra, which occurred after the Athenian decision to spare Mytilene but before its destruction of Melos, Thucydides wrote, “In peace and prosperity states and individuals have better sentiments, because they do not find themselves suddenly confronted with imperious necessities; but war takes away the easy supply of daily wants and so proves a rough master that brings most men’s characters to a level with their fortunes” (III.82.2). This was precisely the change Athens underwent, and the cause of its eventual demise. Works Cited Thucydides. The Landmark of Thucydides.
In his funeral oration, Pericles honors Athens by explicating that it “favours the many instead of the few” (p.14) and a man who is fit to serve the state “is not hindered by the obscurity of his condition” (p.15). While he is worshiping the great ways of Athens, Pericles is also simultaneously criticizing the political system of Sparta. From beginning to end, Pericles honors the ancestors of Athens, the soldiers who protect the city, and their generosity towards foreigners;“We throw open our city to the world, and never exclude foreigners from any opportunity of learning” (p.15). However, this should not be mistaken for foolishness because the Athenians are able to fight just as well as they can have fun and partake in personal matters.
Robinson, Charles Alexander. Athens in the age of Pericles. Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 1959.