Political Freedom In Ancient Greece

Ancient Greece was famous for its art and ideas. Greek people were very creative in great epics, history, dramas, philosophy, science, mathematics, and medicines. The ancient Greece was covered with mountains, rocky hills, and narrow valleys. Greek later became educated about trading with the Mediterranean. Modern Democracy is more concerned about peace, division of power and providing equal rights of every citizen of a country however, in the ancient Greece was involved with war among the state, misuse of political power, discriminate slaves and poor farmers.

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.

In Greece, monarchies were found when the Mycenaeans ruled Greece during the period 2000 to 1100 BC. Monarchy is defined as a system of government where a single ruler has supreme power. The word “monarchy” comes from the Greek words “monos” meaning “single” and “archo” meaning “rule”. This single ruler, known as a king, ruled for life and passed the rule on to his heir when he died. The most famous monarchy was that of King Alexandra of Macedonia who ruled all of Greece from 336 BC.

oligarchy, and democracy. I will discuss what type of governments each refers to and finally

The level of power sharing was different in a specific city-state. Sparta’s ruled by was oligarchy, the method by which governing was in the hands of a small unit of men. Corinth was ruled through tyranny (governance by which a tyrant took over political power by force). On the other hand, Athens developed a democratic system that allowed male citizens to share in its political power. The free inhabitants of Greek polis were offered citizenship, rich and poor alike. Male citizens were able to vote in regards to issues that concerned the government of their polis. It was expected that those who had political rights should participate in government affairs. Slaves and those born outside the polis were not given citizenship or allowed to vote. Though women had legal rights they were also not allowed to vote.

Both Greek Democracy and the Roman Republic contributed greatly to the development of the modern world, bringing into it the notions of democracy and republic. The evolution of these concepts took them to a level much higher than one present in Ancient Greece and Rome respectively. However, modern society continues to draw on somewhat idealized accounts of the ancient world for inspiration in improving today’s governing procedures.

Hello mother, I am having an interesting time here in Athens. I was so lucky to get permission to leave the city. Not many girls my age can say they have left Sparta. I’ve noticed that they are very studious people, and all the men know how to read and write. They put a lot more focus on the intellectual side of life, and the men aren’t forced to become soldiers. Most of the male citizens only participate in government and don’t have other jobs. They are very proud of their government, though I think it seems rather complicated. They have many different groups like the Council of 500 and the Assembly which is made up of all the land owning men in Athens.

In contrast to our political systems today, the lifestyle of the Greeks were centered around the virtue of reason that allowed for the growth of the city state, especially during the Classical Age. As a result of the failing democratic system in Athens that led to its downfall, Plato believed that the highest virtue was the triumph of reason over emotion and spirit.(T) Before reason, the main virtues were focused on strength and bravery, since Greece’s climate and geography didn’t allow for many resources.(MS1) As trade rose, Greeks were exposed to new ideas that contradicted their beliefs in the gods, so they began to focus on philosophy and the system of democracy, which made them rational.(MS2) In a reaction to Athens’ democratic system,

Monarchies, aristocracies, tyrannies, oligarchies, and democracies existed throughout the human history. What about ancient Greece? Were tyrannies or democracies more prevalent? When and where exactly? Let’s take a look.

While reading chapter four, I gathered that Persia and Greece, both countries which flourished at the same time, were both similar in political and social advancements but also had many differences namely, religions and philosophies. Greece was made of many small city-states due to the fact their citizens had to move often because they were under pressure from war, the large population and poverty. Alternatively, Persia, a country with much less war, created the largest empire of their time. From the long and eventful time period of 1000 B.C.E. to 30 B.C.E., Iranian and Hellenistic’ lifestyles and experiences were filled with new ideas. Persia and Greece were both growing at the same time so many similarities were shared.

It is understood that the public sphere looks tough and masculine, and the private one looks soft and feminine, and through this connection between between the primary sources and the Greek inscriptions that metics contributed to the polis, just like citizens, by paying taxes, socializing, trading, serving for the polis as hoplites, although they were not considered citizens and had fewer rights than the citizens of

The time between the Persian Wars and the coming of Alexander the Great is an often over-romanticized part of history, looked upon as Golden Age of democracy, epic stories and heroes of war, when in reality, life in classical Greece sucked some major kώλoς. With a democracy that did not work as well as people give it credit for, prevalently patriarchal principles, and petty conflicts between city states that inhibited a sense of Greek nationality, one’s experiences during this time period seem rather lackluster. In order to truly see this time as a ‘Golden Age’, one must look at the legacy this Greek tragedy of a time period left in its wake. With a profoundly positive legacy, it can be concluded that classical Greece was in fact a golden age. This is so, due to the advancements in science, literature, and philosophy, the seed of democracy being sewn to eventually grow into the pruned and more effective versions we know today, and the cultural influence of classical Greece was a muse to many a great creator to follow. In any case, epic battles are the least of what the Greeks gave to us.

The rich imagination of the Greeks gave color, verve and texture to every facet of nature and aspect of the world that they perceived. Their deep, open minded, philosophically rich and at the same time sensuous and lively outlook on existence are noticeable. It is this that has given their culture it’s lasting quality. The growth of Greek life and art are a marvel of individualism, and at the same time the ability to look at a problem from all angles. Thus we see that the Greeks were able to see all aspects of the issues that they faced and alternate between modes like lyrical, romantic, and tragic. Greek tragedy is one of its great achievements. Their sense of destiny fate and mythology which by analogy illustrates many philosophical observations

Freedom is an ambiguous term, heavily dependent on the context of time and/or place which, therefore, means that political scientists are not blessed with a universal definition of freedom to apply. Instead, they must deduct whether a society is ‘free’ based on a combination of identifying some general characteristics, as well as considering constraints that may arise from that society’s place in time or geographic location. Thus, the following comparison of freedom in Ancient Greece and Modern America will consist of an identification of similar and differing characteristics of the two, as well as an application of a ‘historical lens’ that accounts for constraints.

one essential conviction, expressed in the word democracy itself: that power should be in the hands of the people. Although democracy today has been slightly inefficient in this idea, with the wealthy, elite class challenging this right, “it nevertheless claims for itself a fundamental validity that no other kind of society shares….” To completely understand the structure of democracy, one must return to the roots of the practice itself, and examine the origins in ancient Greece, the expansion in the Roman Empire, and how these practices combined make what we recognize as today’s democratic government.