The Role Of Tyranny In Ancient Greece

The Republic goes into detail about tyranny stating how it originates, as well as sticks, at least temporarily. In a conversation between Socrates and Thrasymachus in Book I, an important description of tyranny appears. A brief comparison between tyranny and democracy is explained as follows: “a democracy sets down democratic laws; a tyranny, tyrannic laws; and the others do the same. And they declare that what they have set down-their own advantage- is just for the ruled, and the man who departs from it they punish as a breaker of the law and a doer of unjust deeds. This,

The Oxford English Dictionary defines tyranny as, “cruel and oppressive government or rule.” In Archaic Greece, however, tyranny held a different meaning, i.e. rule by an absolute leader. A prominent Classicist Antony Andrewes elaborated on the characteristics of tyrannies and set up some ground requirements for a regime to be labelled a tyrannical one: existing aristocracy, rise of an outsider to power, reliance on physical force and so forth. Polykrates is the absolute head of Samos, he came to power after an insurrection, he waged wars with many Greek city states and enforced an oppressive regime. However, Polykrates also developed infrastructure, promoted the arts and established friendly relationship with some Greek city states and fought

In Greece, the beginning of a political system was very chaotic. Around the end of the “Dark Age”, there was no real system of government that could be compared to a known system of government.

In the centuries of rule among the ancient Greek polis, we can see examples of monarchy, aristocracy, tyranny, oligarchy, and democracy. As no city-state is alike, there are differences in how these forms existed from polis to polis. Scholars may still argue over the appropriate label for some of the forms of rule.

Though there were numerous factors involved in the fall of tyranny, the main cause for the Greek’s tyrannic end was the actions made by the Aristocrats. Tyrants desired to take away control from the Aristocrat’s and gain their power. They were able to come into a place of absolute rule by gaining favor from the Greeks. The majority of the Greeks were poor, so tyrants catered to the poverty-stricken in order to be supported (“What is Tyranny?”). Tyrants provided for their people by building structures like aqueducts that could be used to greatly benefit the poor by supplying a vital source needed for survival -clean water (“Tyranny”).

Greco-Roman mythology is rich in names, characters, and events. Dozens of gods, goddesses, and mortal women and men participate in a variety of activities that reflect or exemplify behaviors and power relations in Greek and Roman societies. A wealth of literature was written about the relationships between mortals and immortals in Greco-Roman mythology. Much was written and said about the place humans occupy in the complex mythical hierarchies. However, the role and place of women remain the topic of the hot literary debate. In Greco-Roman mythology, the image of woman is always

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

Tyranny: means power to a Lord, the Tyrant. This definition has a negative value and in ancient Athens was considered an abuse and the fear of a tyrant reinforced the desire for democratic forms of government. It is a government very similar to the monarchy, with a negative meaning of the term, in fact a tyrant does not take power

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.

It is when the power changes to another by force instead of inheritance. It wasn’t really uncommon in many places in Greece to have tyrants who were even praised and loved by their own people, because not tyrants were bad as we imagine them today. According to Mark Cartwright “Pesisistratos in Athens (from c. 560 BCE) - a typical benevolent tyrant who actually paved the way for democracy” were not a typical form of tyranny which we come to think of today. Come to think of it, it there is a ruler in a city who has made things worse for its subjugates and an able ruler throws him off and takes care of its city and population would be

Athens is known for the birth of Democracy. After many years of instability and class separation, reforms were made to change the political system. Democracy is different from any of the other political system as it is designed to be for people and ruled by people. The idea behind it that not just one person (monarch, or tyrant), or not even a small group of elite, but people from every class (tribe) was part of public life. All citizens could be part of the government and make decisions of laws (Brand, n.d.,


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

The transition to modern day democracy finds many of its roots in early Greek government. According to Marvin Perry, there were four stages city-states of Greece moved through: monarchy, oligarchy, tyranny, and finally democracy (39-40). In Athens, the administration of law through oral tradition favored the oligarchy, who subjectively ruled (Perry 40). Over time this unjust treatment of peasants festered to the point of civil war, until Solon was elected as chief executive.

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.