Example Of Pericles Research Paper

Pericles was born to a family that was well known at the time with this father Xanthippus being one of the heroes of the Persian War. His mother’s family was also well known as the Alcmaeonidae family (Croix, 1972). His early life was surrounded by artists and philosophers with his friends being among the initial philosophers such as Protagoras and Zeno. To showcase his wealth and love for art, Pericles financed the play by Aeschylus in 472BC. This is what showcased him as a potential political figure at the time (Strauss, 2002). Pericles is credited with the tapping of the Delian League treasures to fund the vast cultural projects in Athens specifically the temple of Athena at Acropolis and the Erechtheum. He was able to cement his political might by encouraging civic participation in the country by ensuring people were paid for the jury duty and other civil service tasks. However, his main role came in the Peloponnesian wars (Kagan & Wallace, 2003).
History shows that in 431 BC, Pericles stood before the assembly and urged them to make a decision to go to war with Sparta (Kagan & Wallace, 2003). Pericles is, therefore, credited with the onset of the war. He was able to convince the assembly that Athens would win the war through the creation of a superior plan (Croix, 1972). It is important to note that Athens had grown in power under Pericles leading to Sparta feeling more threatened and started demanding concessions from Athens and Pericles. Pericles refused to grant concessions to Sparta and in 431 B.C a conflict emerged between Athens and Sparta with the latter’s ally Corinth making the Spartan King invade Attica a place that was near Athens (Croix,