Essay on Greece's Golden Age Under Pericles' Rule

The Greek historian Thucydides says that Pericles, an important political figure in Athens, gave a eulogy for the Athenians who had died in the first year of the Peloponnesian War. The speech that Pericles gave talked about all the great characteristics of Athenian society. According to Pericles, Athenian democracy allows citizens the freedom and power to participate in government. Pericles states that “no one, so long as he has it in him to be of service to the polis, is kept in political obscurity because of poverty. The freedom which we enjoy in our government extends also to our ordinary life.” This quotation shows that everybody, of any social class, is allowed to participate in political and governmental issues. No matter how poor you may be, you are not allowed to be kept away from politics in Athens if you can be helpful to the government. Pericles also states, “Power is in the hands not of a minority but of the whole people; this is why it is called democracy. This statement indicates that the power in Athens is spread amongst all the citizens, instead of giving all the power to one group, which describes the entire purpose for democracy.

In 400 B.C, The Athenian civilization experienced a golden age. The Athens experienced a great amount of peace and prosperity due to their contact and trade with others, and rare warring. During this time, ideas and philosophies were produced. These ideas influenced western civilizations in the areas of politics, science, art and architecture.

The Athenians democracy was the pride and jewel of their nation. It created confidence, security, and patriotism, however, it also created an arrogant mindset which eventually leads to the downfall of their nation. Pericles states that the Athenian government was unorthodox because it was a government of the whole people rather than a minority (Thucydides 1). In addition, all Athenian citizens had the right to be apart of the government and administer justice. However,

Though there were rulers, Athenian government was held primarily in the hands of the people of the citizens, thus making it a democratic system. This is beneficial to the Athenian slaves as it means that the voters are not voting for an elite group, but rather the entire group as a whole.

‘I entreat you, by your life, by your knees, by your parents, do not let the dogs feed on me by the ships of the Achaians… give my body to be taken home again, so that the Trojans and the wives of the Trojans may give me in death my rite of burning’ (22.338-343). This heart wrenching plea represents nearly the final words uttered by Hektor upon his death at the hands of Achilles. Hektor, who recently boasted of his martial prowess, vowing just moments before to do ‘some big thing first, that men to come shall know of it’ (22.305), is reduced to begging before his killer for the basic privilege of an honorable burial. In this moment of his famous Iliad, Homer offers a cynical reflection on human life and the social constructs mortals establish, especially the idea of the ‘heroic code’ that was so prominent during the Golden Age of Greece. Demonstrably, he implies throughout the work that since all humans are destined to die and memories have limited effect after death, the entire concept of the ‘heroic code’- and to a certain extent, conviction in worldly systems instead of personal beliefs- are pointless given the natural chaos of the world and man’s ultimate fate.

Athens is a major Greek city-state in European history. It was a great center of cultural and intellectual development, and thus home to philosophers. Socrates and Pericles, two of these philosophers, had polarizing opinions about the city-state and its citizens. While Pericles chooses to praise the Athenian citizen, Socrates criticizes Athens’ people. Pericles gave his opinion at a funeral during the first battles of the Peloponnesian War, while Socrates gave his during the trial that ultimately led to his death. The Athenian city-state has become a model for today’s systems of government and a hearth for western philosophy, so Pericles’ opinion seems to be the one that is more accurate.

Being born into one of the most leading families in Athens, Pericles was brought up in a very well off family. His father Xanthippus (meaning yellow horse) was known for his heroism in the Persian War also as a wealthy politician, which would have helped stem Pericles interested in politics from a young age having his father so heavily involved in politics. His mother, Agariste was from a culturally powerful Alcmaeondiae family which was also very wealthy. Due to his family’s wealth they could afford to educate Pericles and feed his growing interest in education, in fields such as Politics and Philosophy and music. Because of his high education he is known as one of the

After reading Pericles funeral oration it is defiantly clear that he strongly believed that democracy was the best possible form of government. Pericles saw Athens as superior to other city states based on their implementation of democracy which ultimately represented freedom, liberty, courage, honor and justice. In his funeral oration, Pericles refers to the Athenian democracy as a system of government where men are able to advance in society as a result of their merits rather than on class or wealth. In the Athenian democracy “class considerations are not allowed to interfere with merit” and therefore any man who showcased his ability to rule could do so, even if he wasn’t part of the upper class or had some wealth to back himself up. Pericles

Athens and Sparta were two of the most powerful city-states. They were similar in the way that they both feared revolt and civil war. But how they dealt with it was different. Sparta, concluded that the only ways to survive was to create a strong city state and they adopted a strong set of laws where boys had to leave for training at the age of 7 and stayed in the service for many years. Athens dealt with the fear of civil war by making timely reforms, creating a democracy. Sparta and Athens also differed in the way that Sparta may have had the strongest army in Greece, they lacked excitement of the mind and Athens educated people and raised them to act as free people. The Golden age came about after the Persians were finally driven out of

What is considered the “Golden age of Athens”? It was the rule under Pericles. It was the power that Athens had acquired which was considered a threat to the Spartans. Looking back at the Persian wars, Athens and Sparta fought together against the Persians. The rebuilding of the Athenian empire started with the formation of the Delian League, which allowed Athens to take the lead in the wars against Persia. This led to providing Athens with the communal treasury. This treasury was used by Pericles to rebuild Athens. It became a power hub and forced other city state to do what is best for Athens. Apart from this, other city states were forced to make payments to Athens for the maintenance of the fleet but the money was mostly directed to remaking the city of Athens.

Pericles started the rebuild programme of the acropolis to celebrate the victory over the Persians and also because it was in ruins from the number of wars it had suffered. At the time Athens was slowly becoming a dominant city in Greece and Pericles wanted to showcase Athens in that way. Pericles realised that the city was never properly rebuilt after the last Persian war, every grand temple was still burnt to the ground and as a soon to be popular city , this was no way for an empire to look. Pericles did not want his city to be resembled as ruined. He also built a new meeting hall for the assembly along with other public buildings. As Pericles had a great passion for the arts, he also incorporated sculptures to make the city look even more

The Hellenic era was known as the age of classical Greece. This was the time of the great Golden Age of Greece and the image of Ancient Greece. The free state was men who owned the soil that they ruled and governed the state had stabilized Athens and the Golden Age. Everyone in the Hellenic era made the most important contribution to the western civilization. The gods had an important role in the era. The great works of art were created for the gods and goddesses of the greeks such as the statue of Venus of Cyrene and Pericles with the corinthian helmet.

Pericles, the man whose name has the meaning “surrounded by glory” behind it certainly lived up to that title, considering the years he ruled Athens is known to be called the ‘Age of Pericles’. Being born into a wealthy leading family, Pericles was surrounded by artists and philosophers and received an excellent education which would subsequently lead him to his career. He first made a name for himself in the courtroom where he prosecuted the leading statesmen, Cimon, for accepting bribes in exchange to not invade Macedonia after winning a victory in Thrace. Although he was unsuccessful, it was this trial that began the conflict between Cimon and the democratic reformers (Blackwell, section 5). Pericles strongly disliked Sparta for their oligarchy practices, such as driving out foreigners (Harris, 163). Being strongly opposed to Sparta and the reform of the constitution in Athens, this is what drove Pericles to want to make changes in Athens. He worked closely with Ephialtes, someone who shared the same democratic views as himself but was a more established leader. The duo was eventually elected as generals during the years of 462-461 BC and planned an attack upon Cimon. Pericles and Ephialtes proceeded to carry out radical democratic reforms which removed all constitutional powers from the Areopagus Council, while in the meantime, Cimon was ostracized. Cimon convinced Athenians to assist Sparta during a helot, however, the Spartans rejected their help and sent the Athenian

Although Athenian democracy allowed for the citizens of Athens to select their own political bodies, however this may not have always been such a good idea. In the Athenian academic system the learning was centered mainly on the languages and writing.(Ancient Greece) There was not very much access to the political knowledge of the world at that time. Since there was a much smaller pool of knowledge at their disposal it did not always make sense to have people who were quite uneducated in the manor of formal government, to be selecting people to rule their city. While it did allow for all people to have a say, the rulers in Sparta were appointed at an elder age allowing them to use their previous knowledge to make decisions. While the Athenian system may select those who were capable, the Spartan system ensured that there would always be capable leaders in charge. “Insanity in individuals is something rare - but in groups, parties, nations and epochs, it is the rule.”(Friedrich Nietzsche, Beyond Good and Evil) This is something that must be considered when looking at democracy. While one person may not have the ability to put some insane idea into fruition, a whole group of people believing together could behave very destructive consequences. Plato once stated, “Democracy... is a charming form of government, full of variety and disorder; and dispensing a sort of equality to equals and unequals alike.”

The Golden Age of Greece was one of the most remarkable periods of time for Athens. During this period, the Athenian people had come very far in advancement , such as art, architecture, sports , philosophy and theater. First of all there were many famous philosophers who had introduced new ideas to the public. Some of these philosophers were Anaxagoras, Socrates, Plato and Aristotle. They had a big influence on the public, because of their writings. Anaxagoras was one of the first to bring philosophy to Athens, he was also a scientist who lived and taught in Athens. In a similar way, Plato was the student of Socrates and the teacher of Aristotle, he was famous for writing plays. He usually made himself the main character of a most of his plays . His most famous work is