Pericles ushered in what is considered “radical democracy.” This meant that ordinary Athenian citizens were paid by the state to participate in public affairs. Previously, only the wealthy could afford the time to participate in politics.

Pericles is perhaps best remembered for a building program centred on the Acropolis which included the Parthenon and for a funeral oration he gave early in the Peloponnesian War, as recorded by Thucydides. In the speech he honoured the fallen and held up Athenian democracy as an example to the rest of Greece.

Which of Pericles goals do you think had the greatest impact on the modern world? He introduced direct democracy which allowed more people to be involved. We look at Athenian democracy to help improve and make our own. What steps did Pericles take to strengthen democracy in Athens?

Tragedy: Tragedy dealt with the big themes of love, loss, pride, the abuse of power and the fraught relationships between men and gods. Typically the main protagonist of a tragedy commits some terrible crime without realizing how foolish and arrogant he has been.

The Ancient Greeks took their entertainment very seriously and used drama as a way of investigating the world they lived in, and what it meant to be human. The three genres of drama were comedy, satyr plays, and most important of all, tragedy.

I would argue that the theme of family in general, and its connotations, is the real backbone to Greek tragedy, and therefore the most important universal theme. Family acts as the motivating factor in both Sophocles’ ‘Oedipus Rex’ and Euripides’ ‘Bacchae’. …

a person who often has exaggerated or overly emotional reactions to events or situations: You’re such a drama queen! You always have to have all the attention.