The Age of Pericles | The Career of Pericles (Lecture 4)

Lecture 4: Now that we have formed a better idea of the power of Athens and understand the world into which Pericles was born, it is time to look at the details of his family and career. In this lecture, we look at the Alcmaeonidae, one of the great clans of Athens, to whom Pericles was related on his mother’s side. We then follow his early days, beginning with his first notable public role, as patron of the first performance of Aeschylus’s Persians in 472. By the middle of the 5th century, we find Pericles successfully commanding Athenian expeditions to the nearby island of Euboea. During the period 445–430, Pericles was reelected general every year, effectively making him more powerful than any archon or judge. From this position of dominance, he not only led the army but shaped a new Athenian foreign policy that turned away from the Persian threat and, instead, addressed Sparta. The contradictions of Pericles will be emphasized: a well-born man who flourished in a democracy, a career of influence in a democratic system where men usually rotated out of power every year, and finally, a man who advised the Athenians to be cautious yet did more than any other to prepare them for war with Sparta.

Suggested Reading:
Plutarch. Life of Pericles. In Plutarch’s Lives: The Dryden Translation. Ed. by A. H. Clough. New York: Modern Library, 2001.

Lecture 5: https://rumble.com/v5e9q17-the-age-of-pericles-aspasia-lecture-5.html