History

The Erechtheon was a temple on the north side of the Acropolis in Athens dedicated to  both  Erechtheus, a king of Greek myth and the legendary founder of the city of Athens, and also the god Poseidon. The temple was built circa 421 to 407 BCE, near the end of Pericles's Golden Age and his massive building program that transformed the city of Athens. In the courtyard outside the temple grew the city's sacred olive tree. The porch on the north side of the temple, as seen here, is considered by many to be one of the best examples of columns of the ionic order. The porch on the south side was supported by six maiden figures (the six caryatids). In the nineteenth century Lord Elgin--of the Elgin Marbles infamy--carted off one of the caryatids to his home in Scotland and destroyed another one in the process. Thus, only four remain in the Acropolis Museum. (See below for the Porch of the Maidens. Some of the caryatids are reproductions.) Photos credit C. Wayne and Dorothy Miller.

Read the Pericles Funeral Oration (along with the document background information and the study questions) and answer the following question in a paragraph:

Citing specific evidence from the Funeral Oration (not the textbook), what were the main features of Athenian democracy according to Pericles?

Some Suggested Websites for further study on this assignment:

• The Greeks: Crucible of Civilization is an excellent site that accompanies the PBS series.  See, for example, the page on Pericles.
• See the extra credit assignment with material on Thucydides.
• Dr. J's Illustrated Pericles' Funeral Oration by Janice Siegel, Illinois State University, is a rather interesting take on Pericles.
• Pericles' Funeral Oration -- Hear and Read the Full Text (also a Greek version)
• The Funeral Oration, Context and Meaning; Text and Translation