Pericles

Pericles Pericles was an ideal leader. Not only was he a prominent general, he was also known for being a legislator, speechmaker, and an armed chief. “’Our love of what is beautiful does not lead to extravagance, our love of the things of the mind does not make us soft.’” What this quotation is telling us explicitly is that Athenians are strong and they don’t succeed just because of love and beauty. Implicitly what Pericles means here is how he views the Athenian polis. The Athenians do not rely on the beauty of things to get them to the finish line; however what they do believe in will not bring them down or make them less resilient. Pericles influenced ancient Greece during the 5th Century B.C.E. He died during the Peloponnesian War due to a plague that took the lives of about one third of the population in Athens. Pericles was such an influential man that this era is referred to as the “Age of Pericles.” In recognition of the fact that he left his mark on the Athens and that his demise was a tragedy to its people. Pericles will never be forgotten. Thucydides who lived from (c. 460-c. 400 B.C) helped to contribute to our understanding of why history happened the way that it did. He applied reason to the understanding of history by coming up with a positive, creative way to explain history while enlightening further generations so that history would not repeat its self. Thucydides also helped to give background to the purpose of Pericles’s proposal. Pericles wanted to make sure that in his speech he gave a proper analysis on the Peloponnesian War in order to prevent some sort of reoccurrence from generation to generation. According to Thucydides the Spartans jealousy and fear over the sudden increase in power for the Athens are what caused the Peloponnesian War. To Pericles, the Peloponnesian War arose because Sparta and the Peloponnesian states felt that a forceful and imperialistic Athens endangered their independence. He already saw it coming before it