Pericles

495?-429 BC

·  influential and important leader of Athens during the Athenian Golden Age, specifically, between the Persian and Peloponnesian wars,

·  461 BC to 431BC “The Age of Pericles".

·  Great many building projects which include most of the surviving structures on the Acropolis (including the Parthenon).

·  He also persuaded the city to build the Long Walls that protected the four-mile route to Piraeus, the port for Athens. This was a key to Athens resistance to Sparta up to the Peloponnesian war

·  Fostered the power of democracy, which was a very radical idea. Leader of Radical democrats party (in opposition to Oligarchic aristocrats)

·  Due to his social standing,( descending from prominent Alcmaeonidae family) could be considered to be a tyrant . To get around this, he promoted the interests of the demos -- numerous classes of middle and low income citizens -- so as to avoid their suspicion.

·  Father Xanthippos fought at Battle of Mycale in Persian War

·  Mother Agariste descended from famous Cleisthenes the Law –Giver

·  educated by the sophist Daman, who taught him politics,

·  Zeno the Eleatic who taught him argumentation,

·  Anaxagoras who taught him “nobility of purpose and character.” (very careful of the way in which he spoke, and what he chose to say.)

·  Cimon a political rival of Pericles for many years.

·  Cimon was a wealthy man who gained favor with the people by spending his own money on feeding, clothing and caring for those Athenians who needed assistance.

·  To counter Cimon, Pericles spent public money in building projects.

·  Pericles even was eventually able to have Cimon ostracized and banished from the city for a period of time.

·  Pericles then set about strengthening Athens and improving the infrastructure.

·  During his forty-year predominance, he was cautious and did not take on opponents without first weighing his options and measuring his potential losses.

·  Elected strategos (general ) 15 times in a row.

·  Infatuation with a woman named Aspasia for whom he left his wife and family. She was a polarising factor in Athenian society, being both attractive and intelligent

·  In tradition of his uncle Cleisthenes regarded as a founder of democracy in Athens.

·  At start of Peloponnesian war began to fall out of favor in Athens while still being able to maintain power.

·  The Spartans attacked and he ordered that Athens should prepare for a siege.

·  a plague spread through Athens and its allies, but not to its enemies, killing many, including Pericles himself and most of his family.

·  Biography most people rely on is written by Plutarch, who lived about 500 years after Pericles.

·  Also in Thucydides' History of the Peloponnesian War, which includes accounts of several of Pericles' speeches.

·  The funeral oration that he has Pericles deliver in honour of the dead during the first year of the Peloponnesian War is especially noble: "Of all cities Athens alone is even greater than her fame."

·  She needs no poet to sing her praises; every land and every sea can furnish proofs of her enterprise and success.

·  Her enemies when defeated are not disgraced; her subjects confess that she is worthy to rule them."

·  Of Athens' dead he says: "To men who fall as they have fallen death is no evil." Referring to war dead

·  Pericles on the eve of war. "Nor is it any longer possible for you to give up this empire . . . Your empire is now like a tyranny: it may have been wrong to take it; it is certainly dangerous to let it go."

·  “Freedom is the sure possession of those alone who have the courage to defend it”.

·  “Future ages will wonder at us, as the present age wonders at us now.”

·  “If Athens shall appear great to you, consider then that her glories were purchased by valiant men, and by men who learned their duty.”

·  “Instead of looking on discussion as a stumbling block in the way of action, we think it an indispensable preliminary to any wise action at all.”

·  “Just because you do not take an interest in politics doesn't mean politics won't take an interest in you.”

·  “Make up your mind that happiness depends on being free, and freedom depends on being courageous”.

·  Modern sources – Kenworthy ;Hennessy and Bradbury

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