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Pericles: A True Hero

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Athens was one of the most powerful and revered city-states in Ancient Greece. A very controversial leader in Athens of this time was Pericles. Pericles was born into the wealthy and influential Alcmaeonidae family in 495 BCE. He came to power as a statesman in Athens in 461 BCE, and ruled unto his death is 429 BCE. Pericles set three goals for Athens which included strengthening democracy, empire, and glorifying Athens. Although many people consider Pericles a hero, it was questionable how he reached his goals. According to Meriam Webster dictionary, a hero is defined as "a person who is admired for great or brave acts or fine qualities". Pericles was not a hero, nor great leader because he was dishonest about money coming from the Delian League, brought the plague to Athens, and had an unprepared military that was rarely successful.

Pericles was not a hero because he brought a horrible plague to Athens. This begun when the Spartans marched into the Athenian countryside and started to burn their food supply. In response, Pericles rounded up all of the residents and animals of the countryside inside the city walls. Within the next 2 years, a horrible plague spread through Athens, killing 1/3 of the population. A true hero would not have been this careless to have a large concentration of people in such a small area, …show more content…

His traits of lying, being careless, unprepared, and not thinking things throughout greatly outnumber his positive traits. Pericles was also disliked by his own people. This can be seen in a quote by Plato, a renowned Athenian philosopher "as I know, Pericles made the Athenians slothful, garrulous and avaricious..." (Plato, n.d.). Pericles was dislikes by many, and with good reason. He was an awful leader and a model for the exact opposite of a hero. Would you chose a leader who lied to others, killed 1/3 of your country's population, and destroyed your country's

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