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"we are rather a pattern to others than imitators ourselves" "we provide plenty of means for the mind to refresh itself from business" "we throw open our city to the world, and never by alien acts exclude foreigners from any opportunity of learning" https://t.co/gYPqlksSyU
Pericles' name literally means "surrounded by glory", and his life is another example of nominative determinism in action born wealthy and influential, but rather than being a failson he instead challenged and inspired others to greatness https://t.co/jtjLucRr6T
he had many tutors in his life, including Zeno of Zeno's Paradox fame Corroborates with David Banks' hypothesis that exposure to great teachers at a young age has an outsized effect https://t.co/kwDFhcYlKT https://t.co/tePbBHbn1X
Pericles had his political opponent Cimon ostracized, ie cast out of town – by acusing him of aiding the enemy (Sparta). big Lee Kuan Yew energy here https://t.co/83QP9u4hkG
A recurring thing about "great men" is that, on top of having personal excellence, they are of course always lucky to be at the right place at the right time. Pericles showed up at the right moment to be a catalyst for transformation by broader forces beyond his influence https://t.co/kI1bVpta3m
According to Plutarch, Pericles' lover Aspasia's house in Athens was an intellectual centre, attracting nerds like Socrates she had been alleged to have been a hetaira, a sort of highly-educated geisha-esque elite courtesan type? complicated, scholars argue about it https://t.co/yLfNrOgFzZ
Consider the role of the Parthenon, which Pericles personally oversaw the construction of – an ambitious, awe-inspiring building to house goddess Athena – the patron and protectress of the city (and citizens) of Athens. Do any cities today have such searing aesthetic resonance? https://t.co/KtOFcL4hFW
first thing that comes to mind are the domes of Florence – similarly-ish funded by the Medicis (I believe by Cosimo?) – this is a "Cathedral of St Mary's", so it's Catholic... still making sense of this stuff, there's something here https://t.co/L1gB6n7XPY
I'm also reminded of a temple I visited in Srirangam, Trichy – this one was initially built by Chola kings in the Sangam era, ~600BC – then the subsequent history gets very complicated, lots of rebuilding by lots of different people I think https://t.co/MyLhbBUi4H
Thucydides claimed that Pericles was basically so persuasive (and his Funeral Oration proves it, IMO) that people esteemed him so highly that he led them as "first citizen". Plutarch may have had a slightly different opinion https://t.co/Y7Y2Kj39i4
funeral oration thread https://t.co/JcX8LrXz0L
I quote from Pericles' Funeral Oration enough times that it makes sense for me to make a thread. [~431 BCE] (Someday maybe I'll even work through multiple different translations and compare them to each other, but for now, I'll work with what I got) https://t.co/QPoCToCNzz https://t.co/33TOFRAYKu
Galton on the Athenians, (h/t @snow_monkey_) https://t.co/DUhE8x7GFB
