Pericles

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Pericles

• Understanding the Legacy

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Background

• Born in 490 and died in 429 B.C.
• From a wealthy family with strong connections to
  the government of Greece.
• A scholar, taught by the greatest minds of his
  time.
• Began his early career in the military where he
  became a general.

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Democracy

• Pericles brought to Athens, and to Greece, the
  ideals of democracy.
• A democrat who was a liberal in theory and a
  realist in practices concerning faith. He
  believed that the true value of Athens was found
  in the common good of the people and he worked to
  ensure that their common interests were served by
  their government.

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Power

• "Our constitution is called a democracy because
  power is in the hands not of a minority but of
  the whole people. When it is a question of
  settling private disputes, everyone is equal
  before the law when it is a question of putting
  one person before another in positions of public
  responsibility, what counts is not membership of
  a particular class, but the actual ability which
  the man possess.
• Pericles believed that the people should
  represent equality at all levels and he worked to
  ensure that every Athenian had land and some link
  to their state and its government. Power rested
  in the hands of all those who made the states
  business their business and the only way to
  ensure that the people cared for the state was to
  ensure that they had a vested interest in the
  state.
• Pericles believed that any man could benefit his
  country, no matter the obscurity of his condition
  (in life).

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The Power of Thinking

• Pericles believed that it was through thinking
  before one acted that they truly maintained the
  power to control themselves.
• To act without forethought made men courageous
  but ignorant.
• Men may be courageous from their ignorance.

• Pericles believed it was necessary to act and in
  your reflection have no hesitation, no doubt,
  that you actions stood for something. That your
  actions meant something.
• It is through protecting yourself and others by
  thinking before you act that men truly are
  courageous because it takes courage to have the
  forethought to know better then the afterthought
  of regret.

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The Age of Pericles

• Not only did Pericles bring great changes to the
  government of Greece, he also brought great
  changes to the nature of art and progress of his
  time.
• The great structures of Greece, The New Temple of
  Athena and the Parthenon among others, were built
  during his time. Not only did Pericles use these
  structures to change the face of Greek art and
  the cultural pulse of the nation but he also used
  them for political reasons as well.

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Building a Nation

• Pericles used his building projects in a
  political sense by making it possible for his
  full employment policy where every able man,
  woman and child, any able craftsman or worker to
  work for and earn money---and honor---from the
  state.
• This was meant to show the common people that
  they too shared in the profits and the splendor
  of the empire.
• He ensured that every single person had a vested
  interest in the creation of the state and in the
  building of their own legacy.
• For a mans counsel cannot have equal weigh or
  worth, when he alone has nothing to risk.

8
Setting the Standard

• Pericles was condemned for his position as a
  statesman because he believed the good of his
  city, Athens, was paramount in importance.
  However, he believed that all people should feel
  pride, worth, and see their own importance in
  regards to the state and the progress the state
  makes.
• He set a standard for Athens and for Greece, he
  believed that they should follow the path of no
  one but instead that they should be a model to
  others. They should be the guiding force for
  others to follow. Through their actions, deeds,
  and their excellence.

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The People

• Pericles understood that the value of human
  existence rested in the peoples ability, and
  determination, to be civically engaged.
• He believed that anyone who did not have an
  interest in politics or the affairs of state had
  no business in the state at all because it was by
  the will of the people that the state existed and
  the state flourished or failed by that same will.
  

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• Others are brave out of ignorance and, when they
  stop to think, they begin to fear. But the man
  who can most truly be accounted for is he who
  best knows what is sweet in life and what is
  terrible, and then goes undeterred to meet what
  is to come".
• Pericles   

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Olympian of Athens

• It is fitting that Pericles was compared to Zeus,
  in that he had the bearing of greatness and the
  ability to remain calm and collected in the face
  of any trial. However, it is more ironic that he
  would end up being more comparable to the
  daughter of Zeus, Athena----the Goddess whose
  name the city he loved bore.
• As Athena was, Pericles was the guardian of his
  city and all it possessed and he fought for the
  future excellence of his city and his people with
  everything he had.
• For this, his legacy remains, for his
  determination to see democracy succeed and his
  image of the art, culture, politics and potential
  of Athens, and Greece, realized.

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Picking up the Torch

• As Periclean Scholars we have been challenged to
  continue the legacy of Pericles.
• Pericles was not only a great orator and
  statesmen but he also held true to the values of
  democracy and the belief that all people have a
  place and a purpose within the state. This holds
  true today and it goes beyond the state to
  include the world.
• It is our task to continue his legacy and promote
  his ideals of civic responsibility, democracy and
  engagement across borders and through the sharing
  of ideas and the melding of cultures. We must set
  a standard for ourselves and our actions.
• We must be a model to others, a visionary in all
  that we do and we must work to inspire others and
  promote a legacy for ourselves through our deeds,
  our standards and our commitment.

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Periclean Quotes

• We do not imitate, but are a model to others.
  Pericles