PERICLES AND ATHENIAN DEMOCRACY

Abstract

The fifth century BC was very turbulent in the history of Ancient Greece. Two great wars took place - Greco-Persian and Peloponnesian - and the rise and fall of Athens took place on the wings of these war events. The statesman Pericles was responsible for the rise of Athens. In this paper, the politics of Pericles will be analyzed. We will especially look at the development of the Athenian democracy and what kind of influence Pericles himself had on it, and in what way it reached its greatest heights. In addition, we will use the sources of Plutarch and Aristotle, in order to give a clearer picture of the political position.