Assess Whether Pericles Was a Good or Bad Leader Essay

Pericles (C. 495-429 BC) was a very influential politician and general in Athens. He is state to pose brought about a very most-valuable time in Athenian history known as The prosperous sequence of Athens where he brought about or placed publicagement on certain things like art, which gave Athens the reputation as the cultural and educational centre of antiquated Greece, architecture, where he created a project to bedeck the city and provide work for Athenians with most of its products like the Parthenon still live on and giving us an idea of the glory of Athens. He also do valuable contri yetions to drama, the bringing about of body politic and the establishment of the Greek empire. Democracy, which every last(predicate)ows all citizens to warp and be involved in the running of the responsibility was a c erstpt reaffirmed by Pericles. This is why he made trusted he played a major role in the ostracizing of Cimon who was characterized as be a tyrant. Other historians may argue that Pericles ulterior motive for doing that was to envision that he came into power with his main opposition out of the way scarce for a man who made so many important advancements for the Athenians, I strongly debate he did it not with the intention of capturing power but helping give the Athenians a voice.This made him a very vast political attracter as he was able to rid the state of the many problems of dictatorship and oligarchy like corruption which was further emphasized by one of his ancient admirers, Thucydides who said, he kept himself untainted by corruption, although he was not altogether indifferent to money-making He excelled all his fellow citizens in skills of oratory (Diodorus Siculus) The art of oratory has been a rare skill feature by very few state who turned out to kick some(prenominal) of the most well known speeches in history. Oratory has been a very influential tool for some of the existences capitalest draws and Pericles falls in th at category of leaders with exceptional skills. mass such as Abraham Lincoln whos famous speech, the Gettysburg Address gained parallels to Pericles great funeral oration by the American Civil War scholar, Garry Wills which leads many to conceptualise that one of the greatest advance(a) speakers drew fervency from Pericles.This gesture alone shows the great oratory skills of a great man in Athenian history. This extraordinary ability is attested to by Thucydides who formerly again was full of praise for the famous Athenian when asked about whether he or Pericles was the better fighter by the S break dancean king, Archidamus. Without hesitation Thucydides said Pericles was better and justified it by truism that even when he was defeated, he managed to convince the audience that he had won. This shows how he was able to persuade and influence the Athenians which even though some may say was manipulative and defeated the concept of democracy gave the simple Athenian citizen thou ght provoking ideas to straighten out an informed choice. His speaking skills, which were able to draw the exact emotions got from the Athenian people was up to now criticized by people like the poet, Ion, who says that Pericles had an arrogant and somewhat big-headed modality of talking, and that into his pride there entered a good deal of disrespect and shun for others.This is senior highly debatable as we are supposed to believe a soulfulness who says Pericles had a good deal of disrespect and dislike for others, the aforementioned(prenominal) Pericles who put the true Athenian people first and made sure they had a say in how their home state was ruled. By that remark alone I believe Ions quote about Pericles should be discarded as total rubbish and the ranting of a person simply envious of his (Pericles) ability. Plutarch mentions in his criticism of Pericles about the strange incident in Agaristes (Pericles mother). He says, She, in her dreams, once fancied that she ha d stipulation birth to a lion and a few days thereafter bore Pericles. I do not believe this is actually counts as a criticism of him because even though a lion may be a dangerous animal, its traditional symbolism of greatness should be taken into account. Other symbolic attributes for a lion are strength, courage, power, royalty, dignity, authority, dominion, justice, light and ferocity which I believe are all attributes displayed by Pericles in twain his political and force career.Ancient Greek symbolism for a lion is the protector of the home and Pericles really showed that in the battles protecting his dearest home, Athens. There is also the argument of whether Pericles was actually a leader or just got carried away by the masses. Plutarch said, he was no longer the aforementioned(prenominal) man as before, nor alike submissive to the people and ready to put up and give in to the desires of the multitude as a steersman to the breezes. Here, Plutarch suggests, Pericles had no leadership over the Athenians and that he put the city in funny house to do as they could do what they want which is reinforcemented by others saying he made the Athenians idle, talkative and greedy (Plato). This motion would but soak up to be rejected with strong leaven against it in his speeches and oratory skills. Thucydides offered the pass up leadership style of Pericles by arguing that Pericles was not carried away by the people, but he was the one guiding the people.The evidence, as said in the last paragraph is in his great speeches and his ability to draw a certain reaction from the Athenian people and so though some may argue that he left the Athenians with no authoritative leader which could only be gained through other methods of governing like dictatorships, he offered a better alternative as he served more as a sort of guardian for the Athenian people and guided them to knead predominantly good choices like getting rid of the tyrant, Cimon. Pericles, for mor e than 20 years was involved in the military. He led many expeditions in general naval ones. He was a wise and cautious military leader and he never went into battles that were mostly likely a wild clown chase for the Athenian people. This was a great attribute for a military leader because he did not just march his men on to grounds when the odds were not in their favour to have them killed or running back to Athens with their tails between their legs.He avoided the high risk of losses and instead chose each battle wisely and as such there are no major criticisms of his Periclean Grand dodging which sought to preserve, not expand, the empire, this strategy could not reach completion however as his successors changed everything and lacked the military abilities and character that caused it to work under Pericles. Pericles legacy cannot be understated as most of it still survives till like a shot. The concept of democracy practiced by all free states in the modern world and used as a measure of a countrys justice and fairness is one of them. His most visible legacy however is found in the artistic and literary works of the Golden Age and The Acropolis, though in ruins, is still a great symbol of modern Athens and a remembrance of a great man that once roamed those very streets.I believe Pericles was a great leader both in politics and in the military and I also support the idea that his abilities in both areas caused the famous bust statue of him around to have a helmet sitting on top of his head to show the both equally talented faces of the great leader that is Pericles. In the movie The ghastly Knight (2008), the character Harvey Dent famously says to the lead, Batman, You either die a hero or live long enough to see yourself father the villain. I believe its the latter that caused the ostracizing of Pericles because there is no evidence that he did anything major to deserve that sort of punishment but even if his story with the Athenians should end o n a bad note, I believe he still is one of the greatest leaders in Ancient History and even if he wasnt perfect, I mean, who is? and had a few flaws and bad traits, he still ensured that Athens was a major part in history and the effect he had is still present today in modern day Athens.