How Did Ancient Athens Influence Greek Culture

2003b). The council would decide on the policies that would later be discussed and voted on by the assembly. As the name suggests it had 500 members made up from an equal distribution of the different demes (our village Demos) that made up their society. Inclusion of this layer of Athenian democracy is vital to understanding the differences between ancient and modern versions of democracy.

To answer this question we must define what democracy really is, especially if one might not understand the true meaning. Democracy is the rule by the people, meaning that the people have a say in what the government does. The Athenian Democracy was the Ekklesia (Assembly), the Boule (Council of 500), and the Dikasteria. With the facts I have gathered, ancient Athens was definitely not a Democracy.

Democracy, the form of government in which there is a rule by the people, is said to have originated and thrived in the classical period of Athens, from 500-350 B.C.. Democracy inherently gave all that were considered citizens power to participate in politics. That being said, it is highly debated as to how much power the people, also known as the demos, exercised in this democracy. Many practices and informal institutions can be said to have limited the power of the demos. The democracy in Athens could be said to have been a democracy in theory yet not in practice, as can be proven through a variety of primary sources recounting Athenian political institutions and practices. Such primary sources that can demonstrate this include Herodotus’ History, Thucydides History of the Peloponnesian War, and Demosthenes’ Oration Against Eubulides.

In 776 B.C a new era began for athletes. The first olympic games were held in Olympia, Greece. “The ancient games were not only an expression and definition of common cultural values, but also an arena for intense competition between Greeks.” (Gold, silver, and bronze) The olympics were an important part of Ancient Greece culture because, it brought their civilization together, kept the greeks fit and ready for war, and the games were used to satisfy their gods.

Ancient Athens was not truly democratic because the middle class was in charge of politics. The upper and lower classes were not in politics at all. It was not democratic because the only people that could vote were men who are of citizen birth by both parents. People whose parent is a slave could not become a citizen so they could not vote. Democracy was excluding women, free foreigners and slaves.

The city-states of Ancient Greek provide examples of different types of government structures that, even

In doc A paragraph two, I think that The Ancient Athens Democracy is democratic because it claims in the document that the Athens leader clearly respects his soldiers. This is noticed because he made a speech at a funeral for all of them that had died in the first year against Sparta’s soldiers.The leader did this to respectfully show his appreciation about how they fight for their democracy.

Have you ever heard of Athens and the first democracy, well I have been studying it for a few months. After studying Athens widespread forms of government and it’s so called democracy, I have come to a conclusion that Athens wasn’t truly democratic for many textual reasons. Here's why

Even though Athens was the birthplace of democracy Athens, itself, was not a democracy. The reason why they are not considered a democracy is because of the 240,235 people only 12% or 29,900 of the population were allowed to vote. Men were the only citizens who could vote (Document C). The Franchise was open to all the men who were citizens by birth only. Both parents had to be citizens as well. Women weren’t allowed to be part of the Franchise (Document B).

The word democracy is from the Greek word ¨demokratia¨: demo, meaning the people, and kratia, meaning power or rule. Therefore, democracy technically means rule by the people or citizens. There are many examples of democracy, such as letting all citizens, at a certain age, vote for a presidential canidate. In fact, there is a gigantic debate about whether Ancient Athens was democratic or not. Based on the evidence, No, Ancient Athens was not truly a democracy.

The Greeks created first democracy in the world. People voted for their leaders, and were involved in public life. Greeks philosopher provided the origin of western philosophy, medicine, and natural sciences. Greek architecture is evident in every court in the U.S. Greeks invented drama. Drama is the form of tragedy and comedy. Minoan culture around (2000 B.C.E. - 1400 B.C.E.) was earliest civilization in the Aegean region emerged on the large island of Crete. By 2800 B.C.E., to make weapons they used metals, especially bronze. Minoan had many trade networks. The peasant paid high taxes. Mycenaean culture around (1600 B.C.E- 1100 B.C.E.) was highly militaristic society. The king collected taxes and controlled bronze and wooden production. The

Was ancient Athens truly democratic? The definition of “democratic” by Google definitions is “favoring or characterized by social equality.” I support that ancient Athens was democratic, because it’s a lot like the United States, and we are a democratic society. A question pondered down through history about ancient Athens is “were they a true democracy?” I believe yes they were. One example is citizens were allowed to vote. If a person was not a citizen, they would have to appeal to the low-courts. If the courts decided that a person had no right to be a citizen, the person was sold as a slave. However if the person won, he or she had a right to be a citizen without any further questions. Also, citizens could vote for various offices. For

Today, much of the world’s governments have converted to democracies. Some governments work better with a monarchy, for others a democracy is the right choice. For Athens a democracy brought the city to peace, but they went through many different types of governments before they settled on the democratic government. The Athenian government moved and changed from a monarchy, aristocratic oligarchy, tyranny, and finally to a direct democracy, through the different rulings of different archon emperors and leaders.

However, in order for this to happen the Athenian citizens were to cooperate with the system. The assembly which was part of the Athenian government had several tasks to take care of which included: making administrative declarations, electing individuals into official positions, creating a constitution, and punishing those who committed crimes. The idea of how much an individual will get paid, who can serve in public offices, and who possesses authority were all dealt with in an arbitrary fashion. This is to give everyone an equal opportunity. People were penalized for misconduct. The laws were to be followed strictly according to the Rule of Law. Those who served in high positions were able to run for election as many times as they desired. “They did not have a salary because it prevented them from running for office simply to acquire money” (Hunt 82). These improvements drove the Athenian Empire towards democracy. A change from power in the hands of the archons to power in the hands of jurymen was implemented.

Democracy comes from two Greek words: a noun demos which means, "people" and a verb, kratein, which means "to rule" (Ober 120). Democracy first appeared in Athens towards the beginning of the fifth century B.C. The biggest difference between Athenian democracy and almost all other democracies is that the Athenian version was a direct democracy rather than being representative. Democracy came about in Athens as a result of the growing navel power and the reforms made by leaders such as Cleisthenes and Pericles.