What Was The Importance Of Polis In Ancient Greece

The most distinctive feature of Greek political culture lay in the extent of popular participation in political life that occurred within the city-states. This participation was based on the unique ideas of “citizenship,” of free people running the affairs of state, and of equality for all citizens before the law. Political participation in Greek city-states was much wider than in Persia, but it varied considerably between city-states and over time. Early in Greek history, only the wealthy and wellborn had the rights of full citizenship, but middle- and lower-class men gradually obtained these rights in some city-states.

“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.

Athena Polias, one of the most important roles of Athenian history. She is the daughter of Zeus, the great god of ancient Greece, and Metis. Her birth was unlike any other. Once Zeus discovered that upon Athena’s birth, she would overthrow his power of ancient Greece, he flattered Metis until the opportunity that he could swallow her along with the unborn child. One day, Zeus had been complaining of a headache, and ordered one of the gods to split his head open to discover what had been going on. Once his head was sliced with an axe, Athena appeared fully grown and complete with armour, ready for battle, giving for the name “goddess of war”. Though what seems to be an obscure normal father-daughter relationship, it is believed that Athena

During this time they created what was known as the polis or city-state. The polis was a fundamental institution in Greek society. Citizens of polis assembled in the central place for political, social, and religious activities. Although the polis was great individually it ruined the unity of Greece as a whole. With the creation of the polis came a new military system.

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.

The polis was made up of several different classes of people, just like many societies of that time as well as the present. There were several drawbacks such as women, slaves, and immigrants not being able to participate in politics. Those involved in the polis were expected to participate in such meetings that dealt with the oversight of the city and its dealings with issues. The Athenian democracy depended on every capable citizen fulfilling his role within the polis. The involvement of all male citizens and the expectation that they should participate actively in the running of the polis is clear in this quote from Thucydides: "We alone consider a citizen who does not partake in politics not only one who minds his own business but useless". Ancient Greece is credited with the identification of democracy because of the large scale in which they produced their governing ways. “As early as 900 B.C., Greece again expanded contacts with civilizations to the east, and Greek civilization became more complex. The rise of empires, most notably the Athenian Empire, brought a more sophisticated economy, trade, colonization, and war” (Curtis).

Being that Greece was admire for its political, economic and cultural aspects, the Greek polis played a significant role in influencing western society. Without the polis, Greek Civilization would be extremely less significant and influential on the Western world. Urbanization had begun a significant process by 8th century BCE. Eventually, thousands of poleis existed within the Greek world (in important places such as Athens, Corinth, Thebes, Aegina, Sparta, Argos and many more). A polis was not just a place of living or a system of government, it was the pride and spirit of the Greek people.

The ancient Greeks followed a set of values, collectively thought of as paideia, that shaped both their society and their legacy. However, this led to a dichotomy of whether the best preservation and propagation of Greek society and paideia originated with improving and being true to the self or in being consistent with the civic state. While these differing ideas could come into conflict, often both worked simultaneously to achieve the same end.

Greece had a mountainous landscape so it was hard to develop a single central government. Greece’s typical political organization were city-states that used direct democracies. Each city state had a different governing style. A main factor that led to Greece’s fall was the lack of community due to the rise of feudalism in society, independence, and competitiveness. Alliances shifted constantly while tension and conflict increased between the rich and the

It is very interesting to talk about Greece and precisely the ancient Greece which had left a crucial history to learn and share to others over the world today. It also left a mark, trace or line of politics systems and comprised: democracy, oligarchy, tyranny, monarchy, and furthermore aristocracy for politicians on the worldwide. Logically, “Greece was a collection of some 1500 separate communities scattered round the Mediterranean and Black sea shores ‘like frogs around a pond’.” (Cartledge, P., 2011) However, its capital is Athens, and Sparta is another great city which is next to Athens. They have different cultures, values, and lifestyles.

Persia and Greece both have dissimilar social structures that consist of certain individuals. In early western Iran, the society was categorized into three social classes. The classes consisted of warriors, priests, and peasants. Warriors had the privilege in gardening, hunting, and fighting. The priest was in charge of supervising sacrifices. And the peasants or common people were farmers and shepherds. The Persian King had his groups of people as well. There were the son of Persian aristocrats, noblemen, the central administration, the king’s bodyguard, and many servants/slaves. On the other hand, the Greeks had two societies: Athens and Sparta. Athens was divided into four classes. The top classes were allowed to hold state office while the lower class could not. Sparta was separated into three classes: Spartiate, perioeci, and helots. The Spartiate could participate in politics, serve the military, and run Sparta. The perioeci could own land, serve in the military, and they were in charge of Sparta’s communication and trade. Last but not least, the helots were at the bottom and the most disliked. They were slaves and they were only allowed to serve in the

There is so much to learn about Greece! There were different social structure in Greece. That was because there were different social structures in different city-states. Two of these were Athens and Sparta.

Just as civilization took a few thousand years to develop into a well functioning society, so did the evolution of polis in Ancient Greece. From the 8th century to the 4th century, Greece was changing their style of politics, which was greatly influenced by its landscape and human knowledge. The polis was very small in population. This small size city-state gave individuals a sense of belonging, which in offset, its citizens were intimately involved in the political and cultural community. This evolution of change in Greece eventually led to a positive outcome.

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.

(1) The physical environment and Mediterranean climate has greatly shaped the social and political background of ancient Greece. The Greek people surrounded the Aegean Sea and dwelled in its multiple islands. Mountains were also a dominant presence in Greece’s mainland environment. The Greek people inhabited isolated plains and valleys throughout the mountains that allowed them to dwell in separate communities. The rugged landscape and the lack of large rivers made transportation difficult. The inability to easily travel between city-states made it hard to unite Greece under a single government. All of these different factors contributed to Greek individualism. Due to travel over land being so difficult, Greeks turned to trade by sea which