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Pericles has the rare distinction of giving his name to an entire period of history, embodying what has often been taken as the golden age of the ancient Greek world. "Periclean" Athens witnessed tumultuous political and military events, and achievements of the highest order in philosophy, drama, poetry, oratory, and architecture. Pericles of Athens is the first book in decades to reassess the life and legacy of one of the greatest generals, orators, and statesmen of the classical world. In this compelling critical biography, Vincent Azoulay takes a fresh look at both the classical and modern reception of Pericles, recognizing his achievements as well as his failings. From Thucydides and Plutarch to Voltaire and Hegel, ancient and modern authors have questioned Pericles's relationship with democracy and Athenian society.
About the author
Vincent Azoulay is assistant professor of ancient Greek history at the Université Paris-Est Marne-la-Vallée and a leading expert on the politics of classical Greece.
Summary
The definitive biography of the legendary "first citizen of Athens"
Pericles has the rare distinction of giving his name to an entire period of history, embodying what has often been taken as the golden age of the ancient Greek world. "Periclean" Athens witnessed tumultuous political and military events, and achievements of the highest order in philosophy, drama, poetry, oratory, and architecture. Pericles of Athens is the first book in decades to reassess the life and legacy of one of the greatest generals, orators, and statesmen of the classical world. In this compelling critical biography, Vincent Azoulay takes a fresh look at both the classical and modern reception of Pericles, recognizing his achievements as well as his failings. From Thucydides and Plutarch to Voltaire and Hegel, ancient and modern authors have questioned Pericles’s relationship with democracy and Athenian society. This is the enigma that Azoulay investigates in this groundbreaking book. Pericles of Athens offers a balanced look at the complex life and afterlife of the legendary "first citizen of Athens."
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"[F]ascinating…Azoulay is one of France's most coruscating classicists…With a pellucid foreword by the peerless British ancient historian Paul Cartledge, maps, illuminating figures…it is indispensable reading for historians. The elegant, pungent prose of the translation itself is exquisite…. An intellectual feast awaits those interested in the problems of extracting truth about any particular historical figure from a maze of discordant voices."---Edith Hall, , Literary Review
Report
"Striking a balance between adulation and hypercriticism, the author depicts Pericles as a formidable strategos overseeing grandiose public works, including the Parthenon, Odeon, and Long Walls linking Athens to its port of Piraeus, while inwardly mastering the art of remaining silent and suffering 'outrageous assaults without striking back.'. . . Solid, well-researched . . . a worthwhile addition for lovers of ancient history and classical Greece."--Publishers Weekly
