Solon: The Most Influential People Of Ancient Greece

Of many ancient rulers, two are made very memorable. Lycurgus, ruler of Sparta, and Solon, ruler of Athens, made significant impacts on their polis that would continue throughout ancient Greek history. The reforms that were created by these rulers can be disputed in regards to their benefit on their city-state. The reforms Solon implemented were more efficacious in producing democratic change in Athens then those reforms that were executed in Sparta by Lycurgus. Due to the fact Solon is a man of middle ground, two reforms that are seen as superior to those of Lycurgus’ are the changes in trade as well as government.

In the time before Solon there was a lot of conflict in Athens. Some between the aristocrats and the peasants. The rich had enslaved a lot of the poor people and most of the other poor people had debt with them. This drove the poor to seek a revolution because it was becoming unbearable. Other conflict that existed was  between the different aristocratic families themselves. Megacles and Cylon’s factions had a blood feud going that was quite serious at the time of Solon. Solon made several different laws to fix these problems. He was able the end the blood feuds for the most part and give both the poor and the rich a benefit from the new system of laws. Thus successfully getting them to work together instead of them

The civilians of Ancient Greece had to be resourceful. Most civilizations had rivers to channel, irrigate, and predict. Ancient Greece is a series of islands. This means that the people of Ancient Greece had to learn to live on the ocean. They had to deal with being more vulnerable to land attacks as they were used to battling with ships. And they also had to deal with huge ocean storms. These storms could destroy a new society with no notice. (Acrobatic, 2014)

1. During the Mycenaean civilization, who was the great poet and what were his two important literary works that influenced the Greeks and formed part of Western literature? Homer, The Iliad, The Odyssey

Ancient Greece had a major impact on the Western World due to many factors. Documents 1 and 2 reveal that the Western World has been impacted by political factors of the ancient Greeks, whille documents 4, and 5 show us that the Western World was impacted due to cultural reasons.

The years within 600 B.C.E to 600 C.E are often referred to as the Classical Age. For a society to be considered classical, parts of their followings have to be in use in present day societies. Civilizations during this period developed various religions, cultures, and institutions that have left a lasting impact on the present day world. Classical societies were usually well organized, and powerful in their time. Greece was one of several classical societies during this period, and many aspects of Greece still influence present day societies.

Socrates and Aristotle were both Greek philosophers who contributed philosophies. Socrates believed that all people contained real knowledge within them and that self critical examination was needed to bring this knowledge out. Socrates once stated, “The unexamined life is not worth living.” In this philosophical idea, Socrates is suggesting that an individual, who chooses to not think about their own actions, does not truly care about their own life. Aristotle believed in the concept of examining individual objects and being able to perceive their form and establish universal principles. These principles did not exist as a separate higher world of reality beyond material things, but were apart of things themselves. Aristotle has

The ancient Greeks lived in the dry, hot mountainous land of what is modern day Italy. The lack of science and technology of the time caused them to believe the gods were responsible for everything around them.In document 2 states,”According to ancient greeks, their gods controlled every part of daily life--the weather, crops, love, money and business, phases of the moon, earthquakes, and even weather a loaf of bread burned in the oven.” So was this more helpful or hurtful? The Greeks not only lived a mountainous area but also an extremely unstable and very volcanic area. Many city states could be destroyed in a moments notice. Document 3 states that,”This got the Greeks interested in a particular kind of religion called oracles. Oracles are

Solon was a lawmaker, poet, and an athenian statesman. He made attempts to make laws against economic, political and moral decrease in archaic athens.

Mythology was very huge in Ancient Greece. There are so many different folktales and myths

He was the man who saved Athens when it was in an economical, social, and political crisis. He wrote a set of laws that covered all the aspects of society, crimes,economy, and punishments that were much fairer than the Draco laws. He saved all the farmers from their debt and freed all the enslaved citizens, this act was popularly known as the “shaking off of burden”. (Cadoux, Theodore) He also helped the economy by encouraging the poor people to plant and export olive oil to earn more earnings to feed their families.


755 BC: Aeschylus, King of Athens, dies after a reign of 23 years and is succeeded by Alcmaeon.

Although Solon is recognized as an eminent figure in developing the early stages of Athenian democracy, writings and other accounts of the life and beliefs of the Athenian statesman and writer are relatively sparse. As a poet, Solon merged political theory with forceful expression to craft poems centered on the role of Justice and the state. Of the scarce secondary descriptions of Solon, Herodotus’s account in The Histories ranks highest, in which Solon emerges as a sagely but transient advisor to the myopic monarch Croesus. While Solon’s appearance is short-lived, the pith of his words echo throughout the parable of not only Croesus, but The Histories as a whole. In juxtaposing these connected works, a clearer image of Solon comes into focus. He is a man obsessively concerned with complex, interrelated facets of society: authority, justice, and the divine, particularly as they relate to certain ideals– ideals of happiness, success, and goodness, and what it means to live in a society in which these ideals are rejected.

BCE. Their population was so large they began to migrate to other islands. The name Minoans

Throughout the course of time, different civilizations across the world hold one thing in common by which a society or culture can be based upon or help influence the structure. The one common thing that has help a civilization grow throughout the period of time would be the formation of a religion. Religion is a center point for many societies throughout history. As the center for the different civilizations, it helped form their different traditions and customs. The same could be said about the people of ancient Greece, where religion or mythology played an important role in their lives as it was the pedestal of their culture and how they base their lives upon. The formation of a religion across the large number of regions of Greece, help the different locations mold themselves by the customs that were created from the adaptation. During what was known as Ancient Greece, the people would hear tales of the twelve Olympians and how their actions influence the world around them. Within this period of time for the people of Greece was that of growth, as they sought to bring new ideas into light as they exited from a dark period within their own history.