The Golden Age

The Age of Pericles

3 Goals

• 1. Strengthen Athenian Democracy

• 2. Hold and strengthen the Empire

• 3. Glorify Athens

Strengthen Democracy

• Increased number of public officials who were paid– Allowed poorer people to participate– Had more citizens engaged in government

• Introduced Direct Democracy– Citizens rule directly, not through representatives– “Our constitution is called a democracy because

power is in the hands not of a minority but of the whole people.”

Strengthen the Empire

• Athens took control of the Delian League

• Used money from the league to strengthen the Athenian navy

• Treated other members of the league as part of the Athenian Empire

• Led to some city-states forming a new alliance against Athens, led by Sparta

Glorify Athens

• Used money from the league to beautify Athens

• Bought gold, ivory, and marble

• Paid artists, architects, and workers to use these materials

Architecture

• The Parthenon– 23,000 square feet– Traditional style that had been used for 200

years– Served as a temple to Athena, goddess of

wisdom and protector of Athens

Columns

Doric Capital      Ionic Capital      Corinthian Capital

Sculpture

• Graceful, strong, and perfectly formed

• Faces showed neither joy nor anger, only serenity

• Emphasized the body in motion

• The ideal beauty, not realism

Drama

• Tragedy – serious drama about common themes such as love, hate, war, or betrayal.

• Comedy – contained scenes filled with slapstick situations and crude humor. Made fun of politicians and respected people and ideas of the time.

Peloponnesian War

• City-states begin to view Athens with hostility

• War between Athens and Sparta seems inevitable

• 431 B.C.- Sparta declares war

War

• Athens has stronger navy• Sparta has stronger army• Pericles’ strategy is to avoid land battles• Spartans march into Athenian territory• Pericles brings all residents inside city walls

where they would be safe• 1/3 of Athenian population, including Pericles die

in a plague• 421 B.C. – sign a truce

Hostilities renew

• 415 B.C. – Athens sends fleet to destroy Syracuse, Sparta’s ally

• 413 B.C. – Athenians defeated

• 404 B.C. – Athens surrenders

• Athenian Empire comes to an end

Philosophers

• Determined to seek the truth

• Means “lovers of wisdom”

• Two assumptions– The universe is put together in an orderly

way, and subject to absolute and unchanging laws.

– People can understand these laws through logic and reason.

Famous philosophers

• Socrates

• Plato

• Aristotle

Socrates

• 470-399 B.C.• Encouraged students to examine own beliefs• Asked leading questions; Socratic method• Condemned to death for “corrupting the

youth of Athens” and “neglecting the city’s gods.”

• “There is only one good, knowledge, and one evil, ignorance.”

• “The unexamined life is not worth living.”

Plato

• 427-347 B.C.• Student of Socrates• Famous work, The Republic, set forth his

vision of a perfectly governed society made up of three groups:

• Farmers and artisans• Warriors• The ruling class – person with greatest insight and

intellect chosen as philosopher king

• Started the Academy which lasted 900 years• “Philosophy begins in wonder.”• The Matrix

Aristotle

• 384-322 B.C.• Studied under Plato at the Academy• Questioned nature of the world and human

belief• Argument according to rules of logic• Started own school called the Lyceum• Teacher to Alexander the Great• “He who studies how things originated…will

achieve the clearest view of them.”