The first idea to come up in the head of an average person after being asked about the birth of the democracy is the fact of it having Ancient Greek origins. Moreover, very well-known city-states, such as Athens and Sparta are often associated with the beginning of the modern society; notwithstanding the significant role of the Ancient Greek alphabet creation is not usually understood. According to a big number of researchers, this invention brought the whole new attitude to the people of our world, including the creation of a democracy and a philosophy.
The first Greek city-state to use the alphabet of some kind were the Mycenae. Linear A and Linear B are the names for the two found types of alphabets. The Dorian invasion and the fall of Mycenaean
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It was not just used by the small group of people, typically bureaucrats, which usually happened in the Bronze Age of Greece (in Mycenae, for example), but by at least all the male landowners. It was often used to write jokes on vessels that were used to drink wine during the symposiums, which were basically some kind of parties. The fact of being able to write something by yourself was a privilege, that everyone wanted to have. Therefore, the spread of the alphabet through writing the names or jokes on the cups happened much more quickly, than we usually imagine (Eric Powell, 2017, Vol. 70, Issue 3). The language gave not only the opportunity to write jokes, but it also made people able to write things, that they were unable to keep in mind. The spread of the alphabet usage made people able to create not only the basic stories, which are not needed to be remembered precisely, but difficult to understand and, therefore, to remember, philosophical thoughts. It was the freedom people in Athens needed, because there were not enough ideas in mythology for them to explain the world around. This is one of the reasons of the prosperity of Athens; the lack of this freedom is commonly told to be one of the causes of the Mycenaean civilization, where the language was not used for that purposes. Moreover, with the quick spread of alphabet people received the ability to negotiate and create laws, to carry out surveys of some kind. This brought the idea of the importance of a single person to an ancient world, which created the society close to one we have today in many countries. Not only it changed the way of a development of Ancient Greek culture (Eric Powell, 2017, Vol. 70, Issue 3), but the fact of being a citizen started to mean more for people, because they felt the freedom to express their thoughts, and that is how the democracy
The Ancient Greek contribution ranged by the 1900-133 BC, however its influence on the Western Literate Society lasts to this day. As the Greeks expanded their empire, they spread their ideas to other countries, while also borrowing from other cultures. During this period of time, the Greeks made many significant and long-lasting contribution to our modern culture in Philosophy, Art, Democracy, Drama, Math, and Science. These givings of important ideas, inventions, and structures have had an extraordinary influence on the surrounding environment, society, and in the future. The essential contribution of Greeks to the Western Civilization are Democracy, Art, and Philosophy.
It is surprising indeed that Even today, tyrannies and dictatorships exist in the world when more than two and a half thousand years ago the ancient Athenians had developed a functional and direct form of democracy. What contributed to this remarkable achievement and how it changed the socio-political. scene in Athens is what will be considered in this paper. The paper will have three sections, each detailing the various stages. of political development from the kings of Attica to the time of Pericles when, in its golden age, Athens was at the height of its. imperial power.
The Ancient Greeks were nothing if not influential. Ever since it 's formation in the 8th century B.C., Greek civilization has impacted many of the world 's greatest thinkers and shaped the landscape of Western Civilization. Aside from their art and philosophy, the Ancient Greeks were particularly interested in politics and, in the case of Athens, a new system of government known as: democracy! Long before the American founding fathers declared their independence from Britain, Athenian citizens governed their own state and voted to solve political turmoil. However, ancient Athens was no perfect twin to American democracy, and being an upstanding Athenian citizen meant more than simply voting and going about one 's business. A standout Athenian
This Athenian democracy was the first of its kind, and was certainly not the last. After Cleisthenes returned from exile, he created the first real government of the people – the demos, aroun...
In the fifth-century BC, Athens emerged as one of the most advanced state or polis in all of Greece. This formation of Athenian ‘democracy’ holds the main principle that citizens should enjoy political equality in order to be free to rule and be ruled in turn. The word ‘democracy’ originates from the Greek words demos (meaning people) and kratos (meaning power) therefore demokratia means “the power of the people.” The famous funeral speech of Pericles states that “Our constitution is called democracy because power is in the hands not of a minority but of the whole people.” However, only citizens (free adult men of Athenian descent) could participate in political matters. Women and slaves held no political rights, although they were essential in order to free up time for the citizens to participate in the matters of the state. The development of Athenian democracy has been fundamental for the basis of modern political thinking, although many in modern society UK would be sceptical to call it a democracy. Plato and Aristotle in The Republic and The Politics respectively were critical of the Athenian democracy, by examining the culture and ideology present the limitations and possible downfalls of a democratic way of life. Within this essay I will outline these limitations and evaluate their validity.
Athenian democracy includes participation of all adult, free, male, citizen, made possible for all. If at the beginning and during the thriving period of the Athens democracy the occupations of a state position was considered to be an worthy duty for the citizens, the taking in of ...
civilization. They started the Olympic games. Greeks come up with the idea of an alphabet
Sometime around 750-600 B.C.E., the Greek poet Hesiod produced what is generally thought to be the oldest surviving Greek poetic works. During this time, Greece was near the middle of its Archaic period, a period of technological, social, political, and cultural innovations. This was the period in which the first true alphabet system arose, the system which allowed Hesiod and other poets like him to record permanently the oral stories and lyrics so important to Greek culture. This was also the time in which the Greek polis emerged – what is today translated as “city-state” – as a result of increases in population size. Hand in hand with the increase in population and formation of political bodies like the polis comes the colonization of foreign land which marked this period. Colonies arose all around the Aegean Sea and onto the coast of North Africa, spreading the Greek culture well beyond its homeland (Earth 128-131).
Herodotus believed that freedom from tyranny, democracy, had a positive effect on Greek cultural identity because tyranny’s are inevitably and fundamentally weak. Tyranny weakens the city state by corruption in high offices with in the city state and suppressed new ideas and growth with in the city state. Herodotus’ opposition to tyranny is deduced from the fact that no Greek state lasted long in tyranny. As for democracy having a positive effect on Greek cultural identity, Herodotus praises the democratic system, because he sees equality as a good thing each man is able to achieve for himself while strengthening the city state. If the people are prospering and achieving then the city state prospers and grows. Democracy allowed for people to have a voice and effect change. Through democracy Greeks were able to control their own destiny, and their own success.
Around 508 BC, Athens, a Greek city-state, created a democratic constitution. ‘Democracy’ in Greek was
On which they would scratch the name of the person that represented a threat.”(Doc E)This demonstrates why Athens was a democratic society since not only did civilians get to decide on who is in office and who is not. Furthermore, because democracy means rule by the people, and male citizens of ancient Athens voted laws and officials into place.(doc c) This exemplifies how salient the majority's opinion was instead of opinions of just a few rich men .In addition, Athens “....constitution favors many instead of few.”(doc a) Also Athenians had the freedom to do whatever they desire a long as they did not disrupt any other citizen or violate a law. “The freedom which we enjoy in our governments also to our ordinary life…...we do not feel called upon to be angry with our neighbor for doing what he likes. But all this ease in our private life does not make us lawless as citizens.”(doc A) Therefore, this exhibits that this is a democratic government because this is a characteristic that can be seen in democratic governments today. To summarize why Athens was a democracy.Citizens were free to do what makes them jubilant as long as it did not interfere with the laws or fellow citizens. Male citizens could vote and elect the rulers and vote laws into place. These aspects all demonstrate why Athens
In conclusion one could say we may live in a very different and much more complex global world, but the reality is without the ancient Greeks we wouldn’t have the government structure that we currently enjoy today. The truth and reality is that by the time Aristotle even came into play in history there had already been a large amount of Greek democracies already in existence. The foundations that the Ancient Greeks laid and more importantly the political foundation that the Athenians created had an everlasting imprint on how the democratic structure has taken shape in European countries as well as in the United States.
Raaflaub, Kurt A., and Josiah Ober. Origins of democracy in ancient Greece. Berkeley: University of California Press, 2007.
The Greeks system of democracy was an entirely new concept when it was created, and one that has had lasting affects as it continues to influence present day politics around the globe. Modern day democracies may very well not exist if it wasn’t for the success the Athenians had with democracy. Today we look back at these ancient civilizations and we try to better our current society by learning from their mistakes and building on their success.
The alphabet would fall under recordkeeping technology. It was primarily used to establish direct communication amongst clans and other peoples. Since communication has been established it made recording historical events possible. Recordkeeping solves the issue of enforcing laws, customs, educate the next generation how to perform certain tasks and how to build and use certain technologies. With recordkeeping one can also record historical events that society has experienced. It also provides future generations with a snapshot of how life may look like at the time it was recorded. Three consequences that my categories in general