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Pericles Was A Leader Of Athens After The Death Of Ephialtes Essay

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Pericles was born in 495 BCE into one of the leading families of Athens, with his father Xanthippus who had a political career and was a hero of the Persian war and his mother belonging to a powerful family. Pericles grew up with influences of the arts and philosophers and his family’s wealth was able to fund his education in these interests. Pericles later promoted and sponsored these (arts and philosophy) in the ‘Age of Pericles.’ (which was the years that Pericles ruled) “Athens blossomed as a center of education, art, culture, and democracy. Artists an d sculptors, playwrights and poets, architects and philosophers all found Athens an exciting and enlivening atmosphere for their work.” As well as promoting arts Thucydides, who was a famous historian, called him "the first citizen” of democratic Athens as Pericles became the leader of Athens after the death of Ephialtes. Pericles motives were to “secure Athens cultural and political leadership in Greece”, He introduced new laws and ideas. After the first battles of the Peloponnesian wars Pericles made a funeral oration for the soldiers that had died. “This is why it is called a democracy. If we look to the laws, they afford equal justice to all in their private differences.” In this oration he talked about the power of Athenian people and their ability to work together.

What Athens was like at the time:
Athens is located in the southern side of Greece, and is on the coast of the Aegean Sea which is a part of the

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