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Pericles (Click to select text)
Pericles was born into the best families of Athens, both on his father's and mother's side. He received a good education from his teachers, including the philosopher Zeno. So adept was Zeno at sophistry that it was said Zeno could prove any proposition to be false. Pericles learned most from Anaxagoras, who imparted to young Pericles the majesty and gravity he had in all his sayings and doings, superior to all arts of popularity. Anaxagoras was the first philosopher to attribute the order of the world to intelligence, rather than to chance or necessity, and to explain power as the affinity of similar things. With his mind occupied by such thoughts, Pericles was dignified in his language and serene and calm in his movements. Nothing could shake his majestic composure. One day, Pericles was in the marketplace of Athens doing business, and all day long some noisy pest kept following him around, yelling vituperation. He even followed Pericles home. Throughout the ordeal, Pericles maintained his composure. It was dark by the time Pericles arrived home, so he gave orders for one of his servants to take a torch and guide this critic safely back to wherever he lived. Some people said that Pericles was only trying to fool the public with a false front of virtue. But Zeno replied that if Pericles were faking virtue, his detractors should do the same, because even pretending to be good, if this is continued for long enough, will give a man the desire and practice that is needed for good habits. Pericles was very wealthy, and his skill with words made him famous in Athens while he was still a young man. But because he was afraid of being ostracized, and banished for being too great a man, Pericles stayed out of politics for a long time. He was not at ease among common people, but when he decided to participate in public affairs he joined the democratic party. His rival, Cimon, led the aristocratic party. Once he entered politics, Pericles gave up going to dinner with his friends, and he avoided all social events of any kind, believing that familiarity causes contempt. Such friendly meetings make it impossible to keep up a front of fake greatness. Perfect virtue, however, is most excellent in common things, and welcomes inspection. Truly good men do not put on one face for strangers and another for their friends. Only rarely did Pericles appear in public, and only on the most important occasions. Then, when he spoke to the people, his words were like thunder and lightning. By far, he was the best leader of his day, both for style and content. The old men noted a striking resemblance to Pisistratus in the way Pericles looked and talked. Thucydides [not the historian], a noble and distinguished citizen, later took Cimon's place as Pericles' principal political opponent in Athens. When the king of Sparta asked Thucydides whether he or Pericles was the better wrestler, Thucydides said: "When I throw him and get the fall, he insists that there was no fall, and by his powers of persuasion makes the spectators, in spite of their own eyes, believe him." Cimon was famous as a successful general and had more wealth than Pericles. Cimon did many acts of personal charity for the poor, such as inviting them to his house for a free buffet at any time, giving them clothes, and letting them pick fruit on his land. To compete with Cimon for the affections of the poor, Pericles began the use of the public treasury for new purposes, such as plays and other amusements, and distributions of money to the public. By the measures he introduced, the Athenians were transformed from a sober and thrifty people, who maintained themselves by their own labors, into dishonest and lazy addicts of public funds. The government shriveled into insignificance as the people, led by Pericles, overruled the decisions of their elected representatives. With the people steering policy by their uproar, Pericles became the most powerful man in Athens, yet he had never been elected to any public office. Having, in effect, bought their support, he made use of the masses against his political opponents so that he became a kind disguised as a champion of the people. Pericles contrived to have his rival Cimon ostracized, even though Cimon had won many glorious victories over the barbarians and had filled the city with treasure. War broke out between Athens and Sparta. When Cimon volunteered to come back and join the Athenian army, which he had commanded as its general many times, Pericles and his party compelled Cimon to leave. The Spartans gave the Athenians a severe beating, and the Athenians became anxious for peace. But the Spartans refused to deal with Pericles or any of the democrats, and would negotiate with no one but Cimon, whom they respected. Cimon arranged a peace on good terms, but again Cimon was sent away from Athens. This time, however, Cimon departed not as a banished vagabond but as the commander of an armada of 200 ships on an expedition to Cyprus, where he died. Thucydides, Cimon's close relative and a wise man, took over leadership of the aristocrats against Pericles and his democrats. Thucydides was not as good a general as Cimon, but he was much better at oratory -- in fact, the equal of Pericles. At first the war in Athens was not serious, and hardly more than the ancient contest between the haves and the have-nots. But with the personal rivalry between Pericles and Thucydides, aggravated by resentment over the bad treatment of Cimon, partisans actions became very passionate. To strengthen his power, Pericles spent even more public funds on lavish plays, pageants, and public banquets. He indulged the Athenians like spoiled children to keep from losing them to Thucydides. The Parthenon and all of the famous statues and buildings of Athens were paid for using the money that had been collected from the Greek allies to finance the war against the Persians. The aristocrats in Athens vehemently objected to such use of the money, saying that the allies would be right to consider this an open act of tyranny when they saw that the money raised for the war was being embezzled to adorn Athens like a whore. But Pericles responded that the Athenians could do as they pleased with the money because they really deserved it. Moreover, said Pericles, there were enough military supplies, so it was proper to spend the surplus on buildings that would give Athens eternal honor and create jobs. Thus most of the artisans and craftsmen of Athens owed their pay to Pericles, along with the soldiers and sailors. The plans for the construction were on a very grand scale. With all of these buildings going up at the same time, there was such a rivalry among the craftsmen that they not only built them exquisitely well, but also quickly, so that their masterpieces could be admired. In only a few years, most of the construction was finished. As the work was in progress, Thucydides and the aristocrats managed to get a vote that the expense was excessive. Pericles then said to the Athenians: "Then let the cost go to my account, not yours, but also let the inscription on the buildings be my name." After hearing this, the Athenians changed their minds and ordered Pericles to go ahead and to spare no expense. An ostracism was called, and Thucydides was the victim. Now Pericles had undisputed authority as the greatest man in Athens. He became less of a persuader and more of a commander, but he never went too far in exercising arbitrary authority. Pericles was generally able to lead the Athenians along by their own consent. Persuasion was always his preference, but he sometimes issued orders when it was absolutely necessary for the public good. Pericles' objective was always to make Athens prosperous and powerful. He never took bribes or used his power for his own profit in any way. Because of this, the Athenians trusted Pericles and had confidence in his character. Therefore they listened when he spoke, and by his words he steered them, using the twin rudders of their hopes and fears, through the many crises that were bound to occur in such an empire. When the Athenians were downhearted, Pericles cheered them up; and when they were reckless, he made them cautious. The family of Pericles, however, was not happy with him. In his military affairs, Pericles was very cautious. He would not, if he could help it, risk any fight where the odds were not heavily in his favor. Although others admired generals whose rash adventures achieved brilliant success through good luck, Pericles did not try to imitate them. Soon the plague caught Pericles too, and he gradually lost his powers of mind and body until finally he died. While he was on his death-bed, the leading men of Athens were talking about the great things that Pericles had done for the city. They thought that he could not overhear them, but Pericles raised himself up and said that they had forgotten the thing in his life that he was most proud of: his moderation in the use of tyrannical power. Not only was Pericles merciful and courteous among so many vicious enemies, but he also had the good judgment to realize that he deserved praise for not allowing himself to be carried away by feelings of hate or anger. Like Mount Olympus, the home of the immortals,10 which towers above the storm clouds and is always bright with sunshine, so Pericles was superior to the petty emotions of greed, anger, envy, and revenge. His godlike dignity and demeanor earned him the nickname of "The Olympian."
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