What Is Pericles Most Famous For?

by | Last updated on January 24, 2024

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Pericles is perhaps best remembered for

a building program centred on the Acropolis

which included the Parthenon and for a funeral oration he gave early in the Peloponnesian War

How did Pericles impact the world?

Pericles

transformed his city’s alliances into an empire

and graced its Acropolis with the famous Parthenon. His policies and strategies also set the stage for the devastating Peloponnesian War, which would embroil all Greece in the decades following his death.

What did Pericles believe?

To admirers of democracy he is almost without a peer. The society which he led was imbued with his ideas—an overmastering love of Athens, a passionate belief in freedom for Athenians, and

a faith in the ability of man

. Pericles’s trust in the intellect was shared by Athens’s leading thinkers.

What are 3 things that Pericles did to strengthen Athens?

Lesson at a Glance

During his time, he sponsored

social programs, the arts, and education

. He also led Athens into war with Sparta, rallying the spirits of his people during this time. Pericles was a patron of the arts and encouraged new architecture and building styles.

Why was Pericles important to the Golden Age of Athens?

Pericles lifted Athens into a golden age through

his support of the arts, architecture, philosophy, and democracy building

. … He advanced the foundations of democracy and governed during Athens’s Golden Age, when the arts, architecture, and philosophy—as well as Athens itself—reached new heights.

Did Pericles invent democracy?

Pericles turned the Delian League into an Athenian empire and led his countrymen during the first two years of the Peloponnesian War. … Pericles also fostered Athenian democracy to such an extent that critics call him a populist.

What democratic changes did Pericles bring?

Pericles set about toppling the Areopagus (ar-ee-OP-uh-guhs), or the noble council of Athens, in favor of a more democratic system that represented the interests of the people. He introduced

the practice of paying citizens to serve on juries

, which allowed poor men to leave work and participate in the justice system.

What killed Pericles?

One of the victims of

the plague

that swept Athens in 430 BC was Pericles himself. According to the historian Thucydides: ‘… The plague seized Pericles, not with sharp and violent fits, but with a dull lingering distemper, wasting the strength of his body and undermining his noble soul.

How did Pericles rise to power?

Pericles increased Athens’ power

through his use of the Delian League to form the Athenian empire

and led his city through the First Peloponnesian War (460-446 BCE) and the first two years of the Second Peloponnesian War (431-404 BCE).

What did Thucydides think of Pericles?

Thucydides fervently supported Pericles but was less enthusiastic about the institution of democracy. Under the hands of Pericles, Thucydides thought

democracy could be controlled, but without him, it could be dangerous

.

How did Pericles fail?

The citizens of Athens stayed within an overcrowded walled city.

A plague broke out

, and because the people were walled in and so close together, his plan failed.

What jobs did Athenian slaves do?

Male slaves usually worked in the fields, as craftsmen, or

as assistants to soldiers

. Some served (not by choice) in the Athenian navy. Athens also had several thousand slaves who served as policemen. In Athens, slaves who had a certain skill were allowed to work outside the master’s home.

Did Sparta defeat Athens?

When Sparta defeated

Athens in the Peloponnesian War

, it secured an unrivaled hegemony over southern Greece. Sparta’s supremacy was broken following the Battle of Leuctra in 371 BC. It was never able to regain its military superiority and was finally absorbed by the Achaean League in the 2nd century BC.

Why was the age of Pericles known as the Golden Age?

This era is also referred to as the “Age of Pericles”

after the Athenian statesman who directed the affairs of Athens when she was at the height of her glory

. During this period of time significant advances were made in a number of fields including government, art, philosophy, drama and literature.

Why can Athens be called a city of contrasts?

29.2 Why can Athens be called a city of contrasts? Athens can be called a city of contrasts

because, people lived in small uncomfortable houses

, but the city’s public buildings were large and spacious.

Why did Pericles build the Acropolis?

The Periclean building program. Pericles proposed a building program soon after the Greco-Persian wars, which had left much of Athens in ruins. The program’s chief aim was

to restore various Athenian temples as a reminder of the hubris of the Persians

.

Amira Khan
Author
Amira Khan
Amira Khan is a philosopher and scholar of religion with a Ph.D. in philosophy and theology. Amira's expertise includes the history of philosophy and religion, ethics, and the philosophy of science. She is passionate about helping readers navigate complex philosophical and religious concepts in a clear and accessible way.