Events Calendar – British School at Athens
Bust of Pericles, Roman copy, Vatican Museums, wikicommons
BSA Friends’ lecture
Professor Paul Cartledge (AG Leventis Senior Research Fellow Clare College Cambridge), ‘Pericles: Statesman, Demagogue, Eccentric’
Abstract:
Pericles ‘All-round Famous’ is one of the greatest ‘names’ of the ancient Greek world. His name has become a derivative adjective: ‘Periclean Athens’, even ‘Periclean Greece’. But given the available evidence – literary (Thucydides, Plutarch), epigraphical, and material-cultural (the building programme) – have his overall achievement and legacy been correctly assessed? In this lecture using the same title as his recent book Paul Cartledge will re-examine his illustrious career under three main subtitular rubrics: statesman (did Thucydides get that right?), demagogue (was Pericles really so different from his rival would-be ‘leaders of the demos’?) and eccentric (just how odd were his public-facing career and private life?).
Bio: Paul Cartledge has published solo and jointly over 30 books, the latest Pericles: Statesman, Demagogue, Eccentric (Reaktion Books, 2026) in the series he edits ‘Great Lives of the Ancient World’. Prof. Cartledge first joined the BSA as a Student in 1970 and is a longstanding Friend. He is a Commander of the Order of Honour (Hellenic Republic) and an Honorary Citizen of Sparta. He holds honorary degrees from the Universities of Thessaloniki and Thessaly.
Hybrid event
Please note, this lecture will not be recorded.
To attend online via Zoom webinar, register here
To attend in-person in London, register here
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We suggest £10 if you are a BSA Supporter, £15 otherwise. Please quote “Friends Lecture” in the Additional Comments field. Thank you for your generosity!
When: 15 September @ 6:00 pm - 7:00 pm BST
Where: Room 264 Senate House – London –