Which Athenian statesman and orator presided over the 'Golden Age of Athens' in the 5th century BCE, promoting democracy and funding the construction of the Parthenon on the Acropolis?
Answer and explanation
Correct answer: A. Pericles
- Step 1: Pericles dominated Athenian politics between 461 and 429 BCE as general (strategos).
- Step 2: He used funds from the Delian League to rebuild Athens following the Persian Wars, overseeing the construction of the Parthenon, Propylaea, and Erechtheion, and delivered the famous Funeral Oration recorded by Thucydides.
Answer
Pericles
Why not the others: 'Solon' Solon was an early 6th-century BCE lawgiver who laid foundations for Athenian democracy by abolishing debt slavery (seisachtheia); 'Cleisthenes' Cleisthenes is regarded as the 'father of Athenian democracy' for reforming the tribal structure into ten demes in 508 BCE; 'Alcibiades' Alcibiades was a charismatic but controversial Athenian general who advocated the disastrous Sicilian Expedition during the Peloponnesian War.
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