What Was Pericles Like Athens
Pericles was born in Athens in about 495 BC to a family of wealth and position. His father, Xanthippus, was also a statesman, and his mother, Agariste, was a member of the politically powerful Alcmaeonid family.
Pericles was one of the best known statesmen that Greece ever had. He studied under the Sophist and master of Music Damon, and the philosopher Anaxagoras as well as Zenon of Elea. Pericles was a very patriotic man as well as dignified and upright, that was why he got so much recognition. Pericles was also friends with Sophocles, Herodotus, Phidias, Socrates and Protagoras, that being another reason on how he came to be known. Not only was Pericles a popular social light, he was also considered an inspirational and powerful speaker …show more content…
who was said to have “carried the thunder and the lightning on his tongue.” He was a leader of the peoples’ party, despite him coming from a very aristocratic background. Pericles was a very strong supporter of democracy and wanted everyone in Athens to participate in politics. Pericles restored and built many temples and structures, such as the very well-known Parthenon on the Acropolis, creating job openings for the poorest citizens.
Every breath Pericles took went into making Athens a better place.
He spent huge amounts of money and hired skilled sculpturists to construct many beautiful pieces of artwork throughout the city. Pericles loved Athens, and Athens loved him back because during his rule, was rightly considered the Golden Age. It was during Pericles’ rule that Athens became the monetary, rational, and artistic center of Hellenism.
What makes Pericles special is his ability to persuade by speaking, it was very simple for him to change the outlooks of others by just talking to them, and that might as well be a super power. He was a very gracious ruler who put his all into Athens and knew how to handle it. Pericles was a unique leader because the fact that he was a "friend of the people", rather than gathering a section of the elites to put himself in power.
Pericles led Athens for a strong fifteen years, and during those years, Pericles was able to turn Athens into the best of the Greek city-states. The rising of Athens inevitably caused jealousy and strife amongst its competing city-states, leading to the Peloponnesian War in 431 BC. Ironically, in the end, Pericles falls to the plague along with his two sons in 429 BC. Without his guidance, Athens ultimately lost the Peloponnesian War and, after that, it never managed to recover its glory. It can be said that Pericles was the man whose life gave Athens its power , as well as the man whose death deprived Athens of its
power.
Pericles was one of the best known statesmen that Greece ever had. He studied under the Sophist and master of Music Damon, and the philosopher Anaxagoras as well as Zenon of Elea. Pericles was a very patriotic man as well as dignified and upright, that was why he got so much recognition. Pericles was also friends with Sophocles, Herodotus, Phidias, Socrates and Protagoras, that being another reason on how he came to be known. Not only was Pericles a popular social light, he was also considered an inspirational and powerful speaker …show more content…
who was said to have “carried the thunder and the lightning on his tongue.” He was a leader of the peoples’ party, despite him coming from a very aristocratic background. Pericles was a very strong supporter of democracy and wanted everyone in Athens to participate in politics. Pericles restored and built many temples and structures, such as the very well-known Parthenon on the Acropolis, creating job openings for the poorest citizens.
Every breath Pericles took went into making Athens a better place.
He spent huge amounts of money and hired skilled sculpturists to construct many beautiful pieces of artwork throughout the city. Pericles loved Athens, and Athens loved him back because during his rule, was rightly considered the Golden Age. It was during Pericles’ rule that Athens became the monetary, rational, and artistic center of Hellenism.
What makes Pericles special is his ability to persuade by speaking, it was very simple for him to change the outlooks of others by just talking to them, and that might as well be a super power. He was a very gracious ruler who put his all into Athens and knew how to handle it. Pericles was a unique leader because the fact that he was a "friend of the people", rather than gathering a section of the elites to put himself in power.
Pericles led Athens for a strong fifteen years, and during those years, Pericles was able to turn Athens into the best of the Greek city-states. The rising of Athens inevitably caused jealousy and strife amongst its competing city-states, leading to the Peloponnesian War in 431 BC. Ironically, in the end, Pericles falls to the plague along with his two sons in 429 BC. Without his guidance, Athens ultimately lost the Peloponnesian War and, after that, it never managed to recover its glory. It can be said that Pericles was the man whose life gave Athens its power , as well as the man whose death deprived Athens of its
power.