First some quick review: Why were the Persian Wars significant?

• Greek nationalism! Greek city states formed alliances and it worked!– Can this last? They Greeks loved their independence (city

states) but teamwork wasn’t so bad!• Creation of the Delian League (more on the results of this

today!)• The Greeks blocked western Europe from becoming

Persian (this would’ve really changed the course of history!)---democracy could spread in the long term!

• Yesterday we saw all the cool stuff Athens could focus on as a result of their win and wealth! Today we will see (long term) what happens in their society/government as a result of the Persian Wars

PERICLES! LEADER OF ATHENS DURING THEIR DEMOCRATIC GOLDEN AGE

• Commander of Athens during Persian and Peloponnesian War

• Defender of democracy! (Funeral Oration)• Created opportunities for poorer men to participate in gov’t– Paid to be on juries, courts controlled by local districts (not

aristocrats)– You were even allowed to vote to ostracize (banish) a public

figure• Helped rebuild Athens– Public building projects (Parthenon)– Hired artists, sculptors, etc to adorn the city– Funded schools– He is WHY Athens even had a golden age

Why was the Delian League considered to be “undemocratic?”

• Last time we looked at the city-states, we discussed the Persian War

• Well…after the war the Greeks decided to create a permanent alliance:

Delian League• Formed around 478 B.C.: an alliance

between Greeks to ensure they stay united and keep fighting the Persians .

• Athens was in charge—handled the overall structure/organization of this

Why was the Delian League considered to be “undemocratic?”

• Athens made all the decisions about the alliance

• Athens moved the treasury from Delos to Athens without consent– How do you think they got so rich so quickly and

funded a golden age? • Athens was starting to act like an imperial

power—in fact—the delian leage was eventually nicknamed as “The Athenian Empire”

• Athens forced other city states to remain in the League

But let’s not be so quick to hate on Athens…• Remember….the goal was to prevent the Persians from

ever attacking again• To do that, the Greeks needed to be united and

prepared• But some of the allies started to neglect payment (you

need money to train soldiers and build weapons), or they wouldn’t send troops to help

• That must’ve been really frustrating to Athenian leaders • To an Athenian, it seemed like everyone was willing to

slack off on their work yet still wanted to reap the benefits

• So Athens had to step up and be a little bossy!

The consequence of Athenian actions related to the Delian League led to…

• The Peloponnesian War (431-404 B.C.)• War between Athens and Sparta (and their alliances)• Became more of a war between democracy vs. monarchy• Pericles used this time to promote democracy

– THE FUNERAL ORATION IS A PIECE OF PROPOGANDA!

Sparta says: This is NOT a democracy!

• All Spartans were SUBJECTS of the state.• Your entire purpose was to serve the need of

the state.• The need of the Spartan state is war!

Why was it difficult for the Athenians to attack the Spartans? (HINT: THINK GEOGRAPHY)

• It was hard to attack Sparta since they were inland (Athens’ navy becomes useless)• Remember…it’s the Spartans that have the

formidable land army• Nevertheless, Athenians made great gains during

the early years of the war

Peloponnesian War (continued…)• Athens and Sparta did have a truce for about 10

years but then Sparta got sick of Athenian arrogance

• Sparta planned on cutting off food resources and destroying the land (full fledged attack!)

• During the attack on the city of Athens, Pericles encouraged all citizens located on the outskirts of the town to come into the city walls for protection.

• His plan was to protect everyone in the city while troops went around to try to surround the Spartans

• But…Plague broke out. Pericles died

SPARTA PULLS A SURPRISE MOVE ON ATHENS!

• Sparta allies with Persia later in the war and wins• Interesting fact—upon arriving in Athens and

destroying the city the Persians wanted to burn it to the ground. The Spartans refused to out of respect of their fellow Greeks. Athens surrendered unconditionally• Preview of a LONG TERM EFFECT: City states starts to eventually turn on city state…which further disunifies them and allows for more powerful leaders to later gain control of Greece (to be continued…Alexander the Great)

How did Athenians’ actions during the Peloponnesian War contradict democratic ideals?

• “ Bodies of dying men lay one upon another, and half dead people rolled about in the streets …The temples too were full of the corpses; for the calamity which weighed upon them was so overpowering that men, not knowing what was to become of them, became careless of all law…”

– Thucydides, A History of the Peloponnesian War; commenting on the plague outbreak in Athens

Answers: • People ignore civic duties (that’s a big no no according to Pericles!) • Corrupt rulers undermined the democratic process of voting and tried to

gain power

Were Athenian views of women reflective of a democracy?

• Read the handout and answer the questions!• Discuss answers together and then discuss: - Pay attention to who is saying these quotes. How might that influence society?

But then again…is our democracy fully supportive of women?

• It took a long time to pass laws allowing women to vote• Women tend not to make as much money as men• More men make up CEO’s, higher government positions, and

more men are in the army

At the end of the day…

• Athenian culture was thought (from many feminist perspectives) to be very misogynistic

• Often times, men would go off to their own drinking parties and created objects that glorified the phallus

• Women were thought to be of the “private sphere” not the “public” one

• Feminists argue that constant glorification of masculinity is the root of the many wars Greeks were involved in