Cleon (English pronunciation: //; Greek: Κλέων, Ancient Greek:
[kléɔːn], Kleon) (died 422 BCE) was an Athenian statesman and a
strategos during the Peloponnesian War. He was the first
prominent representative of the commercial class in Athenian
politics, although he was an aristocrat himself. Contemporaries
Thucydides and Aristophanes represented him as a warmonger and a
demagogue; modern historians provide a more balanced view.
Public service  Opposition to Pericles  Cleon first came to
notice as an opponent of Pericles in the late 430s through his
opposition to Pericles' strategy of refusing battle against the
Peloponnesian League invaders in 431 BC. As a result, he found
himself acting in concert with the Athenian aristocratic
parties, who also had no liking for Pericles. During 430 BC,
after the unsuccessful expedition by Pericles to the
Peloponnesus, and when the city was devastated by the plague,
Cleon headed the opposition to Pericles' rule. At this time,
Pericles was accused by Cleon of maladministrat