Politics In Ancient Greece

Pericles takes time to laud democracy as a form of government. He believes the division of political power equally amongst citizens inevitably leads to laws that benefit the Athenian people as a whole. This in turn increase overall equality, and by extension, social mobility. Such a government is a just government in the eyes of Pericles, and thus, a shining example of Athenian superiority. “[Athens’] administration favors the many instead of the few; this is why it is called a democracy. If we look to the laws, they afford equal justice to all in their private differences; if no social standing, advancement in public life falls to reputation for capacity, class considerations not being allowed to interfere with merit; nor again does poverty bar the way, if a man is able to serve the state, he is not hindered by the obscurity of his condition.” (2.37.1).

from Plato’s Crito, written over two thousand years ago, Socrates, a citizen of Athens, explains his view that citizens are forever indebted to their nation. Speaking on behalf of the Athenian

Two of Aristotle’s most famous works, Nicomachean Ethics and Politics, offer an outline of his perfect society and how Athens could ascend to his ideals. According to Aristotle, the strive for the most good society starts with individuals and then collectively builds up to the Chief Aim through active participation in politics. He explains that an Athenian earns his freedom and citizenship by subduing his animal instincts and passions. Instead of succumbing to these urges,

The citizens and foreigners of ancient Greece “experimented” with a cornucopia of forms of governments – everything from ancient tyranny to infancy democracy. Often these political systems operated concurrently resulting in the political agitation similar to that necessary for the culinary mixture of oil and vinegar, which always eventually separates. At other times these conflicting polities were united for a common goal of defense against invaders. This ancient reality, in my opinion, substantiates the understanding that any number of groups, though they disdain or disagree about the political or social persuasions of the other, can choose to respect and accept the other regardless of those differences.

During the dawn of the Greek civilization, rulership consisted of one king that rule the entire occupied land. Such system included only family members, tribe members, and wealthy individuals to receive whatever good the empire had to offer. It took many years until new reforms came about in regards of rulership. The Athenian democracy was developed by the efforts of the leaders and philosophers who were encouraged to think and answer the why freely. Although it was called a democratic system, only male citizens had the opportunity to participate. In this essay, I will discuss how the Athenian democratic system was developed, why, and the efforts of the Greek thinkers in developing the Athenian democracy. Additionally, we will have the chance to examine if it was truly democratic.

Pericles’ Athens provides a compelling counter-example to Plato’s pessimism about democracy. Pericles prescribes a mixture of individual

The first evidence of democracy, government in which the citizens had a say in the rulings, was discovered in Ancient Athens. However, the direct democratic system seemed so successful that it overshadowed the Athenian’s views towards the power of their government. Through close examination of the writings of Sophocles and Plato, one can discover the that the Athenian’s thoughts regarding the governing power, evolved during Classical Athens’s 200 year span. Although at a glance the government of Ancient Athens did not seem to progress much during it’s time, a deeper look at Sophocles’ Antigone, written in 441 BCE, and Plato’s Crito, written in 360 BCE, reveal that the Athenian attitudes toward the authority of the state appeared to evolve even within eighty years.

Aristotle said that life in a properly constituted polis is the best. He said that the polis cannot be defined as citizens, because people die and can be replaced. Aristotle divides constituency into two parts. Good – monarchy, aristocracy and politeia. Bad- tyranny oligarchy democracy, because it is corrupted. Aristotle came to overvalue the idea of citizenship; life in a properly constituted polis was the best life that Greeks could aspire to.

Democracy, when we find "democracy" from the dictionary, it shows us "late 16th century: from French démocratie, via late Latin from Greek dēmokratia". Around B.C 508, Cleisthenes returned to Athens. He projected an idea which had never had no one did that in history. Everyone had a chance to vote what they want. That's how democracy was. He's the first one who proposed democracy.

Regardless of the intent of the government, the shape of a regime cultivates the character of her individual citizens. Because of this, when the Athenian empire focuses on its external good and ignores the internal good of the polis it destroys both its original ideologies and the virtuous character of its citizens. While there are assuredly other factors which contributed to Athens’ decline and not all empires fall because they disregard virtue, still raises questions about the fragility of an empire. Once a democratic regime disregards the well being of its citizens, it destroys itself from the within. Perhaps if Athens had not rejected the reforms of Socrates and Plato the empire would have never

As a civilization develops it grows and builds based on what is available for the people to use. In the case of the early Greek, the development of the city-state led the way for communities to grow. Along with the development of settlements that grew, the Greeks delved into systems of government including that of democracy. The religion of the ancient Greek and the rise of democracy played a role in the development of these city-states that covered the Greek landscape.

Greek democracy was able to coexist with military needs and divisions in social classes by Greek warfare. For a long time the Greek city-states were at war with each other. Warfare was mainly wealthy people that had enough money to own houses. Greeks realized that the way to keep things in order was to fight in organized formations. The men that were poor were only able to fight with a sword, a shield, and a helmet. Foreigners in Athens and Greece had little to no freedom. The next thing is slavery and is was a pretty big part of Greek city-states but it only took place in the very early civilizations. Sometimes even if you belonged to the state you will still would not have freedom but the women have more freedom. Even though most people had

The word ‘polis’, which means city-state in ancient Greece, is actually the word that the modern term ‘politics’ derives from. In this crucial time period in human history, starting around 460 BCE, the ancient people of Athens had a highly developed governmental structure that allowed a level of equality and freedom to men that had not been seen before in history. This type of government demands that the citizens all actively participate and enforce the decisions that they make, “The polis (city-state) system was based on an unusual dominance of the spoken word above all other instruments of power. This spoken word becomes the political means par excellence, the key to all state authority, it becomes the tool for achieving dominance and authority

In the 5th century B.C.E, the Persian empire fought the city-states of Greece in one of the most profoundly symbolic struggles in history. Their wars would determine the viability of a new direction in Western culture, for even as Greece stood poised to embark on an unprecedented voyage of the mind, Persia threatened to prevent the Hellenes from ever achieving their destiny. Persia represented the old ways — a world of magi and god-kings, where priests stood guard over knowledge and emperors treated even their highest subjects as slaves. The Greeks had cast off their own god-kings and were just beginning to test a limited concept of political freedom, to innovate in art, literature and religion, to develop new ways of thinking, unfettered by

We have argued in this course that there is nothing more paradoxical than the focus and emphasis of Ancient Political Thought in Greek culture. Of course, this may be because of our modern preoccupation of our current political foundation have lead us to believe that people associate democracy and leadership as an antidote to conflict and corruption. This may also be the case since Greek culture illustrates that the polis was the final form of political association during the time when Aristotle was setting out his ideas. But even if this was the case, there is still much about politics we can learn. Despite the current understandings surrounding leadership and democracy as an antidote to stasis, it will be argued that both of these ideas