How Did Pericles Influence Athenian Government

The Classical Era of Greece, 500 -338 BCE, made way to many different changes in Athenian history. The Athenian government changed from a tyranny to a democracy, and after the Persian war in 499 BCE, Athens’ started to became a military superpower, as well. Due to Themistocles advocating to build a stronger navy, their military power grew, causing Athens’ economy to rise becoming the richest city-states. The Peloponnesian War brought out the importance of politicians and leaders, because now the government is run by the people. This war brought two of the most prominent and influential individuals to lead Athens through the war and shaped Athens’ future. The two leaders are cousins, Pericles and Alcibiades. They have multiple similarities, like their lineage and education, while also utilizing their unique personalities in their leadership skills.

What qualities of Athenian life does Pericles mention? How do these contrast with those that Archidamus points out for Sparta? The qualities of the Athenian life that Pericles mentions are that they are far from practicing a jealous surveillance over each other because they do not feel like they should be angry with there neighbors for doing what they like, but all there private relations does not make them lawless as citizens. He also say’s that they provide plenty of means for there mind to refresh itself from the business, that they celebrate games and sacrifices all the year round. On the other hand Sparta is war-like, because they have self control and they honor bravery. They are also educated with the laws and with a self-control to

Pericles's speech first gave praise to the ancestors, for which they are the people who built the city from the ground up and fought for democracy. He speaks of the ancestors with great honor and valor and that it was them who gave birth to Athens. He perceives Athens as a city with virtue, modesty, and modernization. It is a city who doesn't isolate itself from other governing states. Pericles announce that they aren't afraid to show their culture to the world and any foreigners may come and learn or observe from them. He suggests Athens is a country that welcomes foreigners and they

Thucydides begins his history with Pericles’ Funeral Oration, in which the leading Athenian statesman, honored those who died in the war’s first campaign and praised Athenian democracy and culture. In doing so, he invoked a deep sense of sorrow while simultaneously encouraging feelings of national pride and faith in Athenian society. Pericles used his praise of Athens to justify the Peloponnesian War because, as a General, he wanted to promote patriotism and remind the Athenians what exactly they were fighting for: democracy, culture, and freedom. According to Pericles, the Spartans represented a terrible way of life that would have only been corrected if Athens prevailed. He said,

In his funeral oration, Pericles praises Athens and the city's focus on balance between personal care and care for the state. He compared it to Sparta, where personal comfort was overlooked to benefit the state and said that the personal comfort allowed to Athenians is what makes the war worth fighting.16 By praising Athens, he showed his love and loyalty to his city. Alcibiades had no such loyalty. When he fled to Sparta he was asked if he did not trust his country, his answer was with everything other than his life.17 When in Sparta he gave military advice that caused more "ruin and destruction to his city" than anything else.18 After

Pericles (C. 495-429 BC) was a very influential politician and general in Athens. He is said to have brought about a very important time in Athenian history known as ‘The Golden Age of Athens’ where he brought about or placed focus on certain things like art, which gave Athens the reputation as the cultural and educational centre of Ancient Greece, architecture, where he created a project to beautify the city and provide work for Athenians with most of its products like the Parthenon still surviving and giving us an idea of the glory of Athens. He also made valuable contributions to drama, the bringing about of democracy and the establishment of the Greek empire.

A reading of Thucydides’, Pericles’ Funeral Oration and The Melian Dialogue uncovers both contrasting and comparable viewpoints on Athenian politics, power, aims of war, and empire. Thucydides presents two differing characteristics of Athens, one as the civilizer in Pericles’ funeral oration and the other as an tyrant in the Melian dialogue. In the funeral oration delivered by Pericles during the first year of the war, the Athenian leader emphasizes the idealized personal image of the Athenians in regard to their constitution and good character. Pericles goes on to praise the Athenian democratic institution of Athens that contributes to their cities greatness; in Pericles’s own words, “The Athenian administration favors the many instead of few… they afford equal justice to all of their differences” (112, 2.37). This quote emphasizes the good character of the Athens’ to coax and encourage the Athenians to preserve and better their great empire into the future. On the other hand, in the Melian dialogue, this notion of justice and equality is irrelevant; one, because Athens compared to Melos, is the stronger of the two and thus, is more powerful. Further, Athens, will continue to acquire absolute power and build its empire by conquering Melos and whomever else stands in its way. Through Pericles’ funeral oration and the Melian dialogue, the following conclusions/themes will demonstrate both the changing and somewhat stable nature of Athenian policy with regards to empire,

Pericles articulates a strong sense of pride for the Athenian self-image through praising their ancestors, fathers, and the fallen. Pericles stated, “I shall begin with our ancestors: it is both just and proper that they should have the honor of the first mention on and occasion like the present. They dwelt in the country without break in the succession from generation to generation, and handed it down free to the present time by their valor.” The Athenian’s ancestors allowed for the future greatness and the ultimate formation of the government through their great and honorable patriotism. Their ancestors passed down the empire to the fathers of Pericles and other citizens, who only further added greatness to the inherited empire and began forming national habits. However, this greatness was earned through military achievements allowing for the possessions enjoyed by the current citizens, who gained the city from their fathers. The current Athenians, both dead and alive, further progressed the Athenian control and greatness as their successors already did. Pericles stated, “There are few parts of our dominions that have not been augmented by those of us here, who are still more or less in the vigor of life; while the mother country has been furnished by us with everything that can enable her to

In 431 B.C., even before the Peloponnesian War, Athens’ strength compared to other Greek polises was evident. Athens had islands, a powerful, a well-trained navy, and one, if not the best, general at the time: Pericles. Pericles says in his speech that, “war is inevitable,” but in fact the war was preventable (72). Even with all of the military strengths and assets that Athenians had afforded to them, they chose to be merciful to the Peloponnesians who were in no shape to go to war. They did not have the experience, money, manpower, or means to participate in a lengthy war and Pericles makes the citizens aware of this (70). Pericles is both modest and humble for choosing to point out these facts which in turn helps the Athenians see the potential

Pericles was great as a leader, and he used all his skills as a logical man in order to occupy Athenians who weren’t involved in the army and who were unskilled. Because he did not want them to just get benefited from national income for doing nothing, he proposed to them different plans for public works and buildings where all kinds of industries could be involved. Since he didn’t have money of his own he was spending public money for building, and that is what he was accused of by Thucydides and other members of his party. Using the knowledge of psychology of people, Pericles knew how to persuade people in the Assembly. He didn’t have his own money, but still made the Athenians believe as though he did; and his reply to the accusation was as follows:

After winning the Persian War, Pericles become the leader of Athens. Pericles is the leader of Athens after the Persian war. After the war end piece and properties allow flowering of creative energies to expand and create the idea of democracy. But not all people support the idea of democracy. Ostanes, Megabyzus, and Pericles are strongly supporting Athenian Democracy

Athens’ catastrophic Sicilian Invasion is the most important event in Thucydides’ History of the Peloponnesian War. Three-quarters of the history is devoted to setting up the invasion because of this. Through the step-by-step decline in Athenian society that Thucydides describes, we can see how he chose to anticipate the Sicilian Invasion. The inevitability that we associate with the tragic drama is the basic reason for the need to anticipate the

“Golden age of Athenian culture flourished under the leadership of Pericles, a brilliant general, orator, patron of the arts and politician. Pericles transformed his city’s alliances into an empire and graced its Acropolis with the famous Parthenon. His policies and strategies also set the stage for the devastating Peloponnesian War, which would embroil all Greece in the decades following his death”(history) .

Pericles had grown up in the time period of the Persian War. When Pericles became a young man, he used his wealth to help sponsor a play labelled “The Persians”. The play was about how the Athenians had defeated the Persians at the battle of Salamis. Him sponsoring the play helped him become a popular character in Athens.

Politics can certainly be a tragedy. The History of the Peloponnesian War by Thucydides tells the extraordinary rise of Athens and its pitiful downfall in its attempts at expansion. In his recount of the later stages of the war, historian Thucydides recaptures how the decisions of the Athenian generals Alcibiades and Nicias influenced the end result of Athens. While Thucydides did not live long enough to see the end of 27-year war, he could correctly assume how it would end. In this essay, I will discuss reputation of Alcibiades and Nicias and what influence their actions had on the fate of Athens. But before one can understand the fate of Athens, one must understand the powers that heavily influenced the outcome.