Polis And Its Effect On Greek Government

As stated in the lectures, hundreds of Greek polis were spread across the region in the eighth century B.C. These individual towns and cities did not unify, but were connected by two major components, language and religion. Polytheism, the practice of worshipping many gods, was a staple between these polis. Along with religious beliefs, a sense of political involvement, accompanied with the importance of citizenship, directly contributed to the similarities between these polis. Consequently, as a result of not becoming a single state, major cities such as Athens, Sparta, and Corinth would consistently be at war with one another (Strayer, p.112) A unified form of Greece eventually pieced itself together after the conquests of Alexander the Great, resulting in the immense spread of Greek culture, but this did not occur until centuries later. Ultimately, Rome would conquer much of the Mediterranean, including

The era between 350 and 310 BC marked a dramatic change in the Western World from the first, classical Hellenic Age of the Greeks, to the second, Hellenistic Age of the Greek Civilization. This classical period was considered the height of Greek civilization and deemed “The Golden Age” of ancient Greece. The polis (Greek city-state) was the center of Greek political life for the majority of this period. The poleis were small, independent, and self-sufficient; however, too politically divided to survive the blow of the Peloponnesian war. In 338 BC, Greece was concurred by Macedonia and the polis had lost their independence. “The abiding devotion to the polis […] greatly diminished during the fourth century” (Perry 45). The mentality of Greek citizens changed because of their defeat; they were now an individualistic, rational and secular society. People were no longer viewing the law as “an expression of sacred traditions ordained by the gods” but now saw it as merely mortal, obedience to the law faded, leading to a weakened society (Perry 46). The pride and duty of the polis mentality dwindled and emotional and political ties to the city weakened. Subsequently, Alexander the Great’s conquests, in 330 BC, moved the Greek civilization beyond the polis, to the Near East. For the first time, Greeks had to define their existence as part of a much bigger, more complex and alienating world. The death of Alexander the Great in 323 BC marked the end of the Hellenic age and the

“individuation,” of reflection on the connection between social order and social demands and the aims of individuals. It prompted reflection about the means of reconciling the conflict between private and public avenues. Participation in the politics of democratic Greece was an extenuation of the menial status of the people. This held true because the polis expressed not merely the material interests of those who ruled and were ruled, but also their freedom and their nobility. The realization of one’s purposes within the polis demanded that one be an active citizen. Man’s awareness and understanding of himself as an agent is shaped through interaction with the world. Membership of the political community was not merely essential for survival, but also greatly extended the range of ends of which it was possible to pursue. A self-governing community enabled men to act to secure the ends they desired, to express their autonomy, and by its very operation ensured that the

A Greek city-state was known as a polis. Some factors that determined a polis was the acropolis and agora.

These self-governed city-states were governed by the natural laws of the universe. The polis also had a psychological pull to the point where it was infested into the art, religion, literature and philosophy (Document 1). In a way similar to India though, everyone identified first and foremost with their polis identity, like the Indians did with their caste system (Document 1). The way to gain power in Greece was not though money, but through family names and heritage, but in 330 BC, Cleisthenes created the basis of his reform for Greece: the demes (Document 2). By doing this he takes out the powerful noble families and gives the lower class the power to decide what happens with their government and therefore became more “deme-ocratic.” He did many things to change the structure of Greece to make it fairer. For example he took the original four tribes of Greece and redistributed them into ten different tribes so now the tribes can have more “civic rights.” Another example of what Cleisthenes did to fix things was that he increased the Council members from 400 to 500. Now each tribe was only sending fifty representatives, instead of the original hundred. Finally, one last example is that Cleisthenes divided Greece up into thirty parts. Ten urban and suburban, ten costal and ten inland and each of these contained its own special number of demes. Now, men were to be identified first by their demes name, which is very similar to India’s recognition of their caste name or level (Document

Moreover, the political activities in Greek were recommendable for it treated individuals in a way that they had right to choose their leaders through the introduction of “demokratia” which means rule by people. Therefore, through using of the democratic governance most areas adopted their political culture,

together can be a bad action taken by the government. The reason I say this is because, in economic terms, reduction in government spending and increasing tax collection at the same time is like hitting someone with two hammers together. This will only lead to a shift to the left of aggregate demand and is it impossible for the people to pay taxes when the living standards is low. (Figure 2)

Political parties as we know them did not begin to develop until the late 1600s. The ancient Greeks, who were pioneers in developing democracy, had no organized political parties in the modern sense. The senate of the ancient Romans had two groups that represented people with different interests — the Patricians and the Plebeians. The Patricians represented noble families. The Plebeians represented the wealthy merchants and the middle class. Although these two groups often mingled, at times they voted as factions, or parties, on particular issues that were important to the groups they represented.

Who/What: Polis was the ordinary structure of a group in the old Greek world. A polis consisted of an urban focus, regularly fortified and with a consecrated

Polis can be translated from Greek to mean city and refers to the Greek city-states(Dictionary.com., 2017).In ancient Greece, during the archaic and classical-era, city-states was how Greece divided itself. A polis was, essentially, " its own small country"(Brand, P. J., n.d.). A polis was independent of their neighboring polis. They answered only to themselves, and no one else.Think of the states within the United States of America. Each has its own capital, a system of government, laws, constitution, natural resources, and approach to dealing with the general public. Now, imagine if there was no federal government, making sure the states do what is right, and keeping the peace between the states. Each state would look

The Polis or city state, became an important aspect in the rise of Greek civilisation, allowing the rise of Western Philosophy and Laws of physics which still affect us today. The Polis was based around the idea of Justice and a new way of defending itself, this allowed for the Greeks to grow and prosper. Some historians argue that without the Polis there would not have been the Greek Civilisation that has affected our way of life, however this statement is debatable, but it is evident that there is a correlation with the rise of the Polis, and the rise of Greek Civilisation. This essay will mainly use the human web by J.R. McNeill & William H. McNeill, The influence of Plato, Aristotle and the ancient Polis on a programme for congenital cardiac

In the Greek Polis, people only drank wine because most of the water was diseased/ standing and they didn’t want to risk getting sick. They also ate great amounts of oil, olives, figs, and fish because they are filled with fats that the Greeks thought were nutritious fats for the brain. Also, lots of the meat they had were also used as sacrifices to please the Gods. A food taboo for Islam in Indonesia is the consumption of pork and meats like beef and chicken. They can’t eat meats like these for they feel as though the animals aren’t slaughtered to Islamic standards. The image above shown above shows the fusion of the Greek and Islamic culture because it shows the wine that the Greeks drink and the lamb that the Islamic people would eat.

I see Greek polis as a huge place where important people would gather and meet to talk about important stuff. Where only people with high standards could meet to debate or negotiate.

“Polis is a term that is used to describe a tight knit small community of Ancient Greek citizens who agreed on certain rules and customs. Usually a polis was centered on a small town and the countryside the surrounded it” (Deering). The polis defined a public and communal space, the Agora, for the purpose of leading public affairs. The affairs of men and affairs were included as these had essentials parts to the entire community’s affairs. The Ancient Greek poleis are among the first recorded democratic governments in the world. The term polis has been translated into city-state as there was typically only one city and because an individual polis was independent from other poleis in terms of political, judicial, legal, religious and social institutions and practices (Cartwright). A polis offered security for its inhabitants and gave organization to government through structure, function and hierarchy.

What Aristotle called ‘Polity’ was based on political power and the best practical government. This notion differed from Ancient Greek democracy.