Pericles is perhaps most famous for his great building projects. He also had temples and shrines built to other gods to replace those that had been destroyed by the Persians during the wars. Because Athens still needed him, Pericles was then reinstated. It was written by the Greek philosopher Thucydides (460-395 B.C.E. Most influential: Anaxagoras: Pericles devoted his early politicking to befriending the common man, for he was an aristocrat by birth and feared ostracism from those who would fear him as a power-seeker. ThoughtCo, Aug. 28, 2020, thoughtco.com/pericles-leader-of-athens-120215. The Parthenon is one of the most inspiring works of architecture known to mankind. Athens was the head of a league of city-states from which it collected money that was placed into a central treasury. Pericles convinced the general assembly to rebuild the Acropolis, which had been destroyed by the Persians thirty years earlier. Pericles was obsessed with riches, and he promoted trade to make himself wealthy. After his death, the law was changed so that his son could be both a citizen and his heir. As mentioned before, The Greek philosopher Plutarch (45 AD – 120 AD) wrote his lengthy histories on the lives of Pericles and his contemporaries in “The Parallel Lives ,” which gave insight to the political world of the fourth and fifth century BC Athens, Greece. What was Pericles brought up to be? In it, Pericles (or Thucydides) extols the values of democracy. "Biography of Pericles, Leader of Athens." This war is known as the Peloponnesian War. Xanthippus’ wife, Agariste was the neice of Cleisthenes, another famous statesman of the time. was one of the most important leaders of the classical period of Athens, Greece. Choregoi were the producers of ancient Greece's theatrical community, selected from the wealthiest Athenians who had a duty to support dramatic productions. He was also Athens' leader during (and probably an agitator of) the Peloponnesian War (431 to 404). Pericles was famous for building the Parthenon. Gill is a Latinist, writer, and teacher of ancient history and Latin. John Pericles is an actor and composer, known for Midnight Oil (2017), End of the Night (2018) and Blind Eye Charlie (2017). Roman historian Plutarch wrote the "Life of Pericles" and a "Comparison of Pericles and Fabius Maximum." According to the opposing faction led by Pericles (who had come into power by the time Cimon returned), Cimon was a lover of Sparta and a hater of the Athenians. Instead, he devoted himself to a military career, where he was brave and enterprising. Pericles (C. 495-429 BC) was a very influential politician and general in Athens. … His most important teacher was Anaxagoras of Clazomenae (500-428 B.C.E. 428-347 B.C.E.) Pericles will be the one to highlight it and through his policies, Athens will enter the so … Pericles is also famous for the rebuilding of the Acropolis. Here are 12 facts about Pericles. Among the contributions made by Pericles to the Athenian democracy was the payment of magistrates. He was the son of Ariphon, who was ostracized. Through his mother Agariste, Pericles was a member of the Alcmeonids. Pericles was said by some to have bribed the king. All other sources from the fourth and fifth centuries have been lost to time … Pericles' Funeral Oration - Thucydides' Version, Political Aspects of the Classical Age of Greece, Biography of Alcibiades, Ancient Greek Soldier-Politician, The Peloponnesian War: Causes of the Conflict, The Thirty Tyrants After the Peloponnesian War, Timeline of Battles and Treaties in Peloponnesian War, 30 Maps of Ancient Greece Show How a Country Became an Empire, How Athenian Democracy Developed in 7 Stages, Comparison of Pericles and Fabius Maximum, M.A., Linguistics, University of Minnesota. The first known public event in Pericles' life was the position of "choregos." Retrieved from https://www.thoughtco.com/pericles-leader-of-athens-120215. As scholars have long known, however, several scenes in Pericles pull in material from Twine’s novel. Pericles was said by Plutarch to have been shy as a young man because he was rich and of such stellar lineage with well-born friends that he was afraid he'd be ostracized for that alone. Metic is the word for a foreigner living in Athens. Pericles was a timid leader who made very little difference to the development of Athens. ThoughtCo. Pericles was born into an aristocratic family in 494 B.C. Gill, N.S. Freeing the Helots. He was returned to the city when the Persian Wars began. Athens enjoyed a number of years without a war, which allowed them to build a large money reserve. Pericles turned the Delian League into an Athenian empire and led his countrymen during the first two years of the Peloponnesian War. ), who said he was quoting Pericles himself. In addition, he instituted for public service and jury duty. In the 5th century BC, the city of Athens is growing rapidly. Pericles (sometimes spelled Perikles) (495-429 B.C.E.) The Alcemons were accused of treachery at the Battle of Marathon. His political career took off in the spring of 472 BC when in the religious festival of Dionysus, he presented the play of Aeschelus, Persae, to the audience, a sign that he was one of the wealthiest men in Athens that time. Athens enjoyed a number of years without a war, which allowed them to build a large money reserve. The city of the Goddess Athena, under the leadership of the famous Pericles, will experience the greatest glory any city would ever know. Around 461 BC, the leadership of the democratic party decided it was time to take aim at the Areopagus, a traditional council controlled by the Athenian aristocracy, which had once been the most powerful body in the state. Pericles also had a mistress, perhaps a courtesan but also a teacher and intellectual called Aspasia of Miletus, with whom he had one son, Pericles the Younger. Pericles was so important to classical Greek history that the era in which he lived is known as the Age of Pericles. Copyright © 2000-2019 All Rights Reserved History Source LLC. This was a common political punishment for prominent Athenians consisting of a 10-year banishment from Athens. Since a metic woman couldn't produce citizen children, when Pericles had a mistress (Aspasia of Miletus), he couldn't or at least didn't marry her. Pericles promoted the arts and literature, and it is principally through his efforts that Athens acquired the reputation of being the educational and cultural center of the ancient Greek world. Pericles influenced not only the building of one of the grandest works but … Pericles fought in both the... See full answer below. Pericles encouraged growth in the arts, including music and drama. He hired hundreds of workers to construct public buildings in Athens.The most well known is the Parthenon. In it, Socrates opines that Pericles' mistress Aspasia wrote the Funeral Oration of Pericles. This rebuilding brought fame to the Parthenon and other structures, which are still objects of marvel today. From about 458 to 456, Pericles had the Long Walls built. 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’.