About Us
The Sons of Pericles is an international brotherhood dedicated to the preservation of Hellenism. In addition, the Order espouses philanthropy, civic responsibility, athletics, education and individual excellence.
As an international fraternity, the Sons of Pericles expands across the United States, Canada, and Greece. Our worldwide chapters form the base of our organization and strive to positively impact their local communities. The organization is divided by state(s) and province(s) into Districts. The Supreme Lodge is the international governing body of the Sons of Pericles and its primary purpose is to ensure the success and growth of the local chapters. Open to males 14-27, the Sons of Pericles is the Junior Auxiliary of the Order of AHEPA and has as its counterpart the Maids of Athena, open to women ages 14-27.
Who We Are
Our Mission
Like our Brothers in the Order of AHEPA, The Sons of Pericles strive to promote the ancient Hellenic ideals of education, philanthropy, civic responsibility, family and individual excellence through community service and volunteerism. The Sons of Pericles have adopted the motto "Heritage, Service, Brotherhood" to define our specific and significant impact.
Heritage
Our predecessors' initial purpose was to assimilate Hellenic-American immigrants into American culture. Assimilation came at a high cost, with the expectation that integrating into American culture was synonymous to losing our Hellenic identity. After fighting for freedom of expression and identity for decades, our needs have evolved and our current mission builds on our past: we strive today to preserve the Hellenic history and culture of our ancestors. We promote the values of Hellenism and attempt to impart our culture on young Hellenes and Philhellenes alike, all while uniting the Hellenic Diaspora, with the goal of strengthening its attachment to and ability to aid Greece.
Service
We often put Hellenism and Philanthropy into two separate categories, but our impact as a service organization embodies the reality that community service is a rooted value of Hellenism. Φιλανθρωπία (Philanthropy) and φιλοξενία (Philoxenia) literally translate to "love of mankind" and "friend to the stranger," respectively. The deeper definition of these terms entails the never-ending effort to serve our communities and remain hospitable to all people, regardless of background.
We contribute to that effort by donating every year to a National Project, in addition to donating and serving our communities in the form of disaster relief, environmental clean-up, aiding abuse victims, aiding orphans and disadvantaged children, and much more.
Brotherhood
We strive to develop and strengthen a fraternal bond with our members, young Hellenes and philhellenes of like minds and values. Through athletics, social events, cultural programs, etc., we take the term "brother" seriously and pride ourselves on the ability to foster lifelong relationships between our members and the members of the other orders in the AHEPA family.