Why Did Pericles Want To Create An Ideal Society

The Greeks were a group of people from vast backgrounds and factions. Many groups of Greek people were very powerful, and wanted to create an ideal society in many different ways. Ideal is “The imagination; desirable or perfect but not likely to become a reality”. Key elements of humanism, an ideal societies are free will, freedom of choice, and society vs. individualism.The groups such as the Spartans, the Athenians, and the Melians were very powerful societies during this time, while Athens, was the main society that was searching for the ideal. Athenians were people focused on individualism , Spartans were focused on societal needs, and the Melians were neutral. All of these characteristics in the end led to the demise of all three of …show more content…
Democratic, free, open, tolerant, mold for future. Strength, freedom, democracy, and well rounded are all adjectives that Pericles said described Athenian life. Pericles gave this speech, and he said that it was held in honor of the warriors that had died during the first year of the Peloponnesian war, and he was trying to console their grief stricken family members. The golden age of Athenian culture is usually dated from 449 to 431 B.C. This time period consisted of peace between the Persian and Peloponnesian war. Pericles was Athen’s leader during this period as they strived for the ideal. As individualists, Athenians claimed that according to their morals, they wanted each person in their society to contribute to society in different ways, doing different jobs. However, if an individual would become too powerful in their society would become too powerful, or have views that opposed most people in their society, those people would be exiled, or even killed. In 399 BC the philosopher Socrates stood before a jury of 500 of his fellow Athenians accused of "refusing to recognize the gods recognized by the state" and of corrupting the youth. Athenian law prescribed death by drinking a cup of poison hemlock, and Socrates drank the hemlock …show more content…
This was an ancient Greek war fought by the Delian League led by Athens against the Peloponnesian League led by Sparta.The Peloponnesian War reshaped the ancient Greek world. Athens, the strongest society in Greece before the war's beginning, was reduced to a weak city-state, while Sparta became established as the leading power of Greece. The Melians stayed that they were neutral in this war, they were neither allies, nor foes of Athens or Sparta. However, Athens did not agree to these terms, so they told the Melians to choose them, or the Spartans, and the Melians stuck by their decision. Athens ended up attacking the Melians, and devastating their society, killing many