Pericles Essay

followed, the Greeks made significant advances in art, literature, science and philosophy, as pride and patriotism drove them to greater heights of creativity – and in Athens, an experiment with a new kind of government flourished under the statesman Pericles. Prior to about 600 BCE, Athens had been an oligarchy, with an aristocratic minority controlling its government. But enlightened Athenian leaders began instituting reforms to the city’s government between 600 and 500 BCE. Solon (c. 638-558 BCE) introduced

"Possibly the best answer lies in what the Greeks call hubris. Perhaps Athens overstepped its bounds and failed to follow the twin admonitions of Delphi- know thyself and All things in moderation. Perhaps, like Icarus, it tried to fly too close to the sun" (Canadian Museum of History, n.d.). The end of the Golden Age of Athens came about gradually, with the fabric of its culture and society unraveling bit by bit, caused by many uncontrolled burdens all working together to bring about its end. Although

Pericles’ words, “the man who can most truly be accounted brave is he who best knows the meaning of what is sweet in life and of what is terrible, and then goes out undeterred to meet what is to come.”(Thucydides Pg. 147) addressed fear through the common countermeasure of bravery. What he wants to get across is the fact fear should not be ignored but calculated and met in an intellectual manner. In Pericles’ mind this effective method showed the acknowledgement

early on in his History, which honored Athenians’ strength and sense of duty as well as believing in the greatness of Athens. Everything Pericles spoke of in the oration glorified Athens’ achievements, aiming to raise morale during the state of war. In his praises, Pericles acknowledges Athens as an exemplar state to other Greeks and declares “in short, I [Pericles] say that as a city we are the school of Hellas, while I doubt if the world can produce a man who, where he has only himself to depend

Boeotians. Pericles and Ariphron, the sons of Xanthippus, who were closely related to Alcibiades, then became his guardians.”(Plutarch. Greek Lives p. 222). It is evident, given that his father was an acclaimed hoplite and his relation to Pericles himself, Alcibiades has inherited distinguished characteristics such as courage, valor, and charisma. Accordingly, it is especially important to pay close attention to the last sentence Plutarch presents, having an honored individual, Pericles, is sure

Aristophanes was not a proponent of the majority of Athenian culture, as well as other aspects of Greek life as whole. He despised the political, educational, and societal views that remained persistent throughout Athens. While his plays may be comedies, he uses them in an assortment of ways. His plays are used to demonstrate a purpose far beyond that of entertainment. He uses his writing for voicing the problems that lie in Ancient culture. Aristophanes uses each play to reveal certain issues

Pericles, Augustus Caesar, and Emperor Constantine were all great influencers during their time. So once they were all deceased and were brought together in the afterlife, there were always great stories and discussions of their time on earth and all that was accomplished by not only them, but by their culture as a whole. One time, before their most notable argument, Augustus Caesar briefly stated that it was a “blessing and a curse to be associated with the Roman culture because even as the most

Historical forces were not mysteriously working away in his mind, giving him direction, inspiring him to be brilliant. He strategized on his own, and came up with a plan that saved Athens from being pulverized by the Persian army. In 447 BCE, Pericles promoted a massive reconstruction plan on a part of Athens that the Persians had destroyed in their savage of the city-state. He proposed the building of the Parthenon on the remains of an earlier temple on the Acropolis. The proposal of the Parthenon

Oration is a speech given by Pericles, the military commander or Startegos, in the speech he attempts to up lift the moral of the Athenians at a funeral after losing soldiers or member of war in the first battle of the Peloponnesian war . Pericles, wanted them to continue the fight and not give up. The primary subject of this piece of literature is Pericles’s defining the arête or sense of purpose that Athens possessed, and if they didn’t feel a sense of “arête” Pericles would then give try to give

Pericles wanted Athens to be primus inter pares status among the Greek City-Sates and have its continued dominance over the Delian League to be stabilized its alliance. The foundation upon which the Delian League was transformed into the Athenian Hegemony is generally considered to have been laid well before Pericles' time; he is just the one to finalize the process. The act that was the final nail in the Delian League’s coffin occurred in 454 BCE when the treasury of the alliance was from transferred