The first definition of “demos” was derived from a popular Athenian aristocrat politician named Cleisthenes, referring to the subdivision of land. Originally, Athen citizens were categorized into three social sectors: “the men of the plains, coast, and the hill”. In current events, these three social sectors are comparable to the current economic status classified as the rich, middle class, and the poor citizens. Cleisthenes removed these three sectors, gathered them together and divided these Athenian citizens into ten tribes, which were ordered to spread out all over Athens. Hence, the demos definition was derived from a Greek word, which means the presence of common people or citizens regardless of economic status. In other words, each
Cleisthenes then introduced his own reforms for Athens. He gave more power to the Assembly of Athens and less power to the aristocrats. He then divided all of Attica into ten tribes, which were called phylai. Each tribe in turn was given three pieces of land, which each contained many little villages called demes. The demes all together would then participate in the government by voting for people to make up the Council.
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.
Pericles’ Funeral Oration by Thucydides, and Sophocles’ play, Antigone, both illustrate cultural values that are crucial in understanding the dynamic of Ancient Athens. In these two pieces of literature, the cultural values are explained and understood through death. Pericles delivered the Funeral Oration as part of a public funeral for some of the Athenian fatalities in the first year of the Peloponnesian War. In Antigone, Sophocles is able to encompass values and conflicts through the death of Antigone’s brother. Pericles connects the death of soldiers to the importance of community, trust, personal freedoms, and social order that was essential in the success of Ancient Athenian Culture. Sophocles addresses the values of family, religion, and loyalty in his play, Antigone. The values highlighted in each of these works are very similar as they institute the importance of the patrioi nomoi (Athenian constitution) to the success of the Athenian state.
Democracy is defined as a government ruled by common people. The power of the should be in the hands of the largest class which is the poorest. The political system of ancient Athens was a Democracy, which involved all of its citizens.This system was divided in three parts: the ekklesia( a sovereign governing body who wrote the laws) the boule(representatives from the Athenian tribes) and the dikasteria, (the courts in which citizens argued cases in front of selected jurors). Every men could participate in the political process, being selected by lot to fill even the highest offices and being paid for pub- lic service. Four times a month proposals were debated and decisions were made openly so and any citizen could speak to the issues of the day.
Democracy comes from the Greek words “demos” meaning “people” and “kratia” meaning “power or rule”. Essentially “democracy” means “rule of the people”. Cleisthenes took Solon’s reforms even further and reorganised the Boule (legislative council) to ensure that it was represented by all sections of society and not just the aristocracy. The popular assembly consisted of all free male citizens who voted on laws proposed by the Boule. Eventually, citizens would be paid to attend the assembly and to serve in public office. This would ensure that the poorer citizens would also be able to
Democracy is defined as the the rule by the people which Athens did not show in their government. The Athenian Democracy was ruled by The Ekklesia, The Boule, and The Dikasteria. The Ekklesia, Boule, and Dikasteria were made of the assemblies, council of 500, and courts, which does not include all the people of Athens. Demokratia exemplifies that all the people have the right to power/rule the government.
Despite having a Limited Democracy, Athens enjoyed many freedoms. An example of these freedoms would be people voting, the Athenians could vote. Athens had a democracy with a very high citizen participation. Athens had a democracy where there was large amounts of participation in it. An example of this would be the Vase in Document 1, it shows multiple Athenian people that are working together on a project.
In Doc D, paragraph two, While in the Doc C chart it explains that Ancient Athens was democratic because according to the article,”It is more democratic by being government by the people instead of government by those elected by the people.” But on the other hand it’s less democratic because of “narrowing down the concept of demos to mean the adult male
Athens was a Democracy because, sense they created Democracy then it is what they want it to be. For example, if you created the word “Welcome” and that word meant nothing in that point in time, then wouldn't you be able to use that word anyway you want and no one could argue it isn’t what you want to be. So if Athens created Democracy wouldn’t it be what they wanted it to be. I read in Document D all male landowner citizens come together in a small group and vote over future laws.
After the Assembly had convened for the night, I circled the Pnyx listening to the different factions discussing the day’s events. The Moderate Democrats approached the Farmer and told him they wanted to help the little guys like himself. The Radical Democrats thought the more people who have jobs and are paid the more money there would be circulating through the economy. They also thought the Socratics were biased and that everyone should be happy if they get the right to vote. The Oligarchs believe an oligarchy would be the best for Athens because action happens faster when fewer people have a say. As I am about to leave, a Socratic approached me and tells me I have a place in their society because I am educated. But do I want to live in a society without all my merchant friends who also happen to be metics?
Greek democracy was best developed in the city-state of Athens from where the very word “democracy”, meaning “the rule of the people” stems. People ‘ruled’ by electing officials through lot and making important decisions by majority rule. Democracy was direct, meaning that the Athenians “allowed the whole citizenry to assemble in the central eklisia, or the equivalent today of the main city hall, to vote on important issues” (Makedon 1995). In this sense, Athenian democracy differed from representative democracy that is currently prevalent in most states, in which officials are elected through democratic vote and then given authority to make decisions for the people. In Athens, elected officials were paid, but the pay was very low so that it compared with the wages of the poorest citizens and only covered the compensation of their time and effort.
I noticed that many different characteristics were purposely portrayed within the dialogue of the story, The Odyssey. One example is the bravery of Odysseus as he conquers the many obstacles throughout his long journey home to Ithaca. Then, his wife Penelope, remains loyal to Odysseus even when he hasn't returned home in almost twenty years. Their son,Telemachus, aged from a little boy to a matured man. He proved to be courageous as he searched for his father and also as he fought the wooers. In my opinion, the goddess Athene, is the real heroine of the story because she assisted each of them through all difficult situations. Without her help, this story would not have such a happy ending. Once the family was again reunited, revenge was the
In the fifth-century BC, Athens emerged as one of the most advanced state or polis in all of Greece. This formation of Athenian ‘democracy’ holds the main principle that citizens should enjoy political equality in order to be free to rule and be ruled in turn. The word ‘democracy’ originates from the Greek words demos (meaning people) and kratos (meaning power) therefore demokratia means “the power of the people.” The famous funeral speech of Pericles states that “Our constitution is called democracy because power is in the hands not of a minority but of the whole people.” However, only citizens (free adult men of Athenian descent) could participate in political matters. Women and slaves held no political rights, although they were
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.
The term originates from the Greek δημοκρατία (dēmokratía) "rule of the people",[1] which was coined from δῆμος (dêmos) "people" and κράτος (kratos) "power" in the 5th century BCE to denote the political systems then existing in Greek city-states, notably Athens; the term is an antonym to ἀριστοκρατία "rule of an elite." The English