Download Democracy and the Golden Age

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Pericles leads Athens during it’s golden age
3 Goals
 Strengthen Athenian Democracy
 Hold and strengthen the empire
 Glorify Athens
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Increased the number of paid public officials
 Poorest could serve if elected
 More citizens engaged in gov’t than ever
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Direct Democracy
 Form of gov’t in which citizens rule directly and
not through representation
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Tried to enlarge the wealth and power of
Athens
Built Athens a 200 ship navy
 Strongest in Mediterranean
 Strengthened safety
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Needed overseas trade to gain supplies such
as grain
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Beautified Athens
Persuaded the Athenian assembly to vote
huge sums of money to buy gold, ivory, and
marble
The Parthenon
 One of architecture’s noblest works
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Sculpture
 Statue of Athena in Parthenon
▪ Sculptor Phidias
▪ 38 feet tall (gold and ivory)
 Aimed to create figures graceful, strong, and
perfectly formed
▪ No expression on statues
▪ Wanted to capture normal human motion
▪ Called Classical Art
Built 1st theatres in the west
Expression and civic pride and a tribute to the
gods
 Wealthy citizens produced plays
 Tragedy
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 Serious drama about common themes such as love,
hate, war, and betrayal
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Comedy
 Slap-stick situations and crude humor
 Satires = poked fun at a subject
▪ Showed freedom and openness and freedom of public
discussions
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Tensions building for years
Leaders in both Athens and Sparta pressed for
war
 Both groups believed they could win
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Peloponnesian War
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War between Sparta and Athens in 431 B.C.
Athens = strongest sea power in Greece
Sparta could not easily be attacked from sea
Sparta attacks Athens
▪ Citizens brought into Athens city walls for protection
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Plague killed roughly 1/3 of Athens’
population including Pericles
Athenian assembly sent huge fleet of 27,000
soldiers to destroy the polis of one of
Spartan’s wealthiest allies
 Athenians were destroyed
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404 B.C. Athens surrenders
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Lovers of wisdom
Socrates
 Believed that absolute standards did exist for truth and justice
 Encouraged Greeks to go further and question themselves and
their moral character
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Plata
 Student of Socrates
 Wrote “The Republic”
▪ Set forth vision of a perfectly governed society
▪ All citizens would fall naturally into three groups; famers and artisans,
warriors, and the ruling class
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Aristotle
 Student of Plato
 Questioned nature of human belief, thought, and knowledge