Pericles, Athenian History, and the Future of Democracy

When:
Monday, Sep 11, 2017 6:30p -
8:00p

Where:
Le Laboratoire
650 E Kendall St
Cambridge, MA 02142

EventScheduled OfflineEventAttendanceMode

Admission:
FREE

Categories:
Lectures & Conferences, Social Good

Event website:
https://www.meetup.com/Long-Now-Boston/events/242896058/

Although many contemporary academic historians resist the idea that history "teaches lessons," the Athenian Thucydides maintained that he intended his account of the war between Athens and Sparta to be a "possession for all time," due (in part) to the fact that "similar things are likely to happen again." Can the history of democratic Athens in the fifth century B.C. help us address current problems? Can it even help us predict the future of American government and society?


About the Speaker


A Professor of Classical Studies at Boston University since 01993, Loren Samons is a classical scholar and alumnus of Brown University who specializes in the history of Greece in the fifth and sixth centuries B.C., with particular interests in Athenian politics and imperialism. Author or editor of four recent books on ancient Athens, Professor Samons' current research focuses on the figures of Perikles and Kimon, Athenian foreign policy, and the composition of Herodotus' and Thucydides' histories, with potential lessons about the future of democracy that we can all glean from studying this particular time and place in ancient history. Professor Samons hails from Arkansas, where he first learned how to cast a flyrod and pick a guitar. When he is not teaching or writing, he spends most of his time harassing the trout population of North America.

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09/11/2017 18:30:00 09/11/2017 20:00:00 America/New_York Pericles, Athenian History, and the Future of Democracy Although many contemporary academic historians resist the idea that history "teaches lessons," the Athenian Thucydides maintained that he intended his account of the war between Athens and Sparta t...

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