Ancient Greek Democracy Dbq

The ancient Greek Civilization is famously known for their architecture, philosophical thinkers, mythology, and their knowledge of astronomy. Even with all of this Greece had slaves among their civilization.

The Peloponnesian War between the city-states of Athens and Sparta (and their respective allies) lasted from 431-404 BC. Conflicts between the two cites dated back further, however, with

The Greeks are known for many things.They are respected in so many ways and have a ton of history behind them.They are the most advanced in their history. Many of their discoveries are taught in school as lessons in History. Stories like the most famous The Odyssey Book 12-14 By Homer where it explains when Odysseus crosses paths with her crew members where the Encounter The Sirens. Sirens are a perfect example of the many mythologies dealt with in Ancient Greek.

Pericles’s funeral oration was given to honor the soldiers lost in war by commemorating the military accomplishments of the Athens government and to distinguish the roles of men and women in Athens society. Pericles’s speech was given in 430 B.C.E at the end of the first year of war. He then died a year late in 429 B.C.E. Pericles’ Funeral Oration is included in Thucydides’ writing titled History of the Peloponnesian War.

Today in 431 B.C., the Peloponnesian War broke out. According to what Pericles has told other sources, Athens’ wealth and power were climbing throughout the thirty year peace period, Sparta became very jealous and skeptical of Athens. After disagreements over the city of Corinth, Sparta had declared war on Athens. Since Athens controlled most of the sea, they decided to build walls that would go from the city to their seaport, Piraeus. This made it easier so they could stay in the city, and they still get the supplies they needed. Since Athens decided to stay put because they were secure behind the walls, this allowed Sparta to surround Athens.

When people wonder about Ancient Greece the first thing that comes to their minds is Greek mythology; gods and goddesses that have helped shape many historical events. “In ancient Greece, stories about gods and goddesses and heroes and monsters were an important part of everyday life.” (“Greek Mythology.”) The civilization showed that numerous characters and stories helped shape Greeks. The beliefs the Greeks had with mythologies was they understood the meaning behind all the characters that are known today. However, to the Greeks, they were not just characters, these were their gods and goddesses who gave them meaning and understanding of the world around them. Worshiping the gods and goddesses helped them with their religious rituals and the temperament of the weather. A famous wine-jar that was made during this time period was “Achilles killing the Amazon Queen Penthesilea, 540-530 BCE, black-figured amphora”. (Khan Academy) The civilization that they lived in grew around their worship and achievements.

The Peloponnesian war (431–404 BC) was an ancient Greek war fought by Athens against the Peloponnesian led by Sparta. Thucydides famously claims that the war started “because the Spartans were afraid of further growth of Athenian power, seeing as they did have the greater part of Hellas was under the control of Athens”. The two main protagonists from opposing sides Lysander and Alcibiades had the most influential impact on the end of the war.

Peloponnesian war took place between 431 and 404 B.C. and involved two Greek city-states, namely, Sparta and Athens. Each of the participants in the warfare was backed by its closest allies as they sought to win at all cost, no matter how long it would take. The conflict started in early 440 B.C. when allies of Athens began revolting against frequent attacks by Sparta. At the height of animosities, situation changed from the clashes between limited formational units to complex military operations with large-scale atrocities. Athens led Peloponnesian combat against the Delian League led by Sparta.

In general, democracy rested on the belief that the cumulative political wisdom of the majority of the voters would outweigh the eccentricity and irresponsibility of the few. (Martin 113)In addition to democracy, the Greeks most important contribution to Western civilization, many elements of modern culture are rooted in ancient Greece. Philosophers, especially Plato, Aristotle, and Socrates impacted the way people thought about the world around them. Greek architecture is still commonly used today, as evidenced by our use of pillars and columns. The ancient Greeks also excelled in sculpting. They figured out how to make graceful, emotional, and realistic statues which needed no additional support. Poetry, theatre, and drama also made up an important part of Greek culture. Some Greeks studied science, math, history, and their studies form the basis of many of todays theories. Science helped others understand a little more of these subjects. In Greece, as in todays world, science was based on observation, not myth, even though myths were considered an important part of life to every Greek. The Greeks are also considered to be the first people who recorded history only after consulting witnesses, forming the base of modern history.

In 399 B.C.E. Athens, Socrates, one of the greatest axial philosophers, was charged with impiety and corruption of the youth by Meletus, Lycon, and Anytus. Socrates was convicted of these accusations and executed. Socrates was one of many great thinkers in Athens, which was experiencing a Golden age as the most progressive and learned democracy in Greece. Strangely, Athens executed Socrates for his speech, which contrasted with Athenian democratic values. Moreover, Socrates was seen as annoying to authorities of the time, but never considered threatening enough to receive punishment to Athens before this. In order for Socrates to be executed, Athens needed to have undergone a deep shift that changed perceptions of Socrates from a gadfly to a danger to society. As a result of a crippling defeat by Sparta in the Peloponnesian Wars, Athens was paranoid of threats to its democracy, Athenian citizens were looking for a scapegoat for their recent troubles, and Socrates made enemies out of powerful politicians and thinkers due to his irritating Socratic method and uncustomary beliefs, therefore, he was easy to blame and execute.

According to his opinion, a society decays when it passes through each government in this order (oligarchy → democracy → tyranny). Plato didn’t like direct democracy for the fact that common people didn’t know philosophy, and, therefore, couldn’t make good decisions but often made unwise decisions. In fact, they were often manipulated by demagogues, who, in order to get power, act by pleasing the crowd even if public opinion is not a good idea. Plato calls such demagogues tyrants. From this and from what I have observed in our modern world politics, I can conclude that modern democracy is nothing else but a tyranny in a hidden form.

bstract This is a brief review of two Ancient and Classical Greek government types in the date-range from 800-323BCE and where they were most prominent. Keywords: Greek, government, democracy, oligarchy, aristocracy, tyranny,monarchy Comparing the Ancient Greek Governments Introduction This work will cover several forms of the Ancient and Classical Greek governments that were used.. The governments covered will be aristocracy, democracy, monarchy, oligarchy, and tyranny.

Greeks had the first government that worked as a democracy. A democracy is when almost every works in the government and nothing can happen without it going through the citizens. Only women and slaves didn’t get to participate. In fact they were rarely seen in public unless they were gathering water. They didn’t get a lot of respect in some places; they rarely owned their own land and their fathers picked out who will get to be their husband. The women busied themselves with the house and the slaves.

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

Historians have long considered Ancient Greece to be one of the most influential societies on modern day life. Ancient Greece has inspired the modern world in five main areas: theatre, government, philosophy, art, and architecture.