The Athenians held many ideals about individuals, households, and government all of which affected Athenian reality. The Athenians utilized a government controlled by the citizens of the polis and their elected leaders. Athenians also valued justice, intelligence, and freedom as the basis of their government. Athenians treated women as the head of the home, when a man was absent. Individuals must be successfully educated and trained.
The Melian Debate, 415 B.C., is a prime example of Athenian treatment of individuals and government. The Melians plead with the Athenians to let them be allies and friends instead of becoming part of the Athenians empire. The Athenians failed to agree with the Melians proposition and decided to come after them regardless of the Melians feelings on the matter. The Melians, when given the choice, decided to stand up and fight against the Athenians, if they refused to accept their proposition.1 Both sides fought back and forth for a time, the Melians took control of some of the Athenians camp, but inevitably were forced to surrender. The Athenians Slaughtered all grown men and sold all women and children into slavery. With the land free for inhabitants, the Athenians sent 500 colonists to take control of the land. The Athenians refused to accept the Melians proposal because they determined that it would make them look weak and vulnerable, both to enemies and to conquered lands. The Athenians believed that to leave the Melians as independent as they were would jeopardize the security of their empire because it would make them seem afraid of a small island with little to no power. Backing down from the Melians would have been against the feelings of the Athenians, “ ...if any maintain thei...
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...rotect their women and children.10 Plato states that much like the dogs used to hunt, if women receive “the same nurture and education” then they too would be as good as men, and should not be treated as if they are not inferior to men. “Men and women alike possess the qualities which make a guardian; they differ only in their comparative strength or weakness”, Plato is saying that although men and women are different they both have strengths and weaknesses that are required.11
Finally, there were many ideas held by Athenians especially when talking about individuals, households, and the government that reflected Athenian reality. The Athenians preferred a strong democratic government. Individuals were educated and held in high esteem. Households consisted of everyone in the home, including slaves. Women, children, and slaves were in many ways treated the same.
In comparing the Ancient Athenian system of government, and the Modern Day American political system, there are many similarities. In Ancient Athens, democracy was developed in response to a long history of oppressive rulers who used their position of power for their own benefit. Ancient Athenians sought a government where all citizens were considered equal under the eyes of the law, and all had a fair say in the running of their country. Following a series
The culture of ancient Greece reflects the importance of the individual in society in many different ways. The Greeks used art, philosophy, and even their system of government to convey their beliefs in the importance of one single man in a society.
During the age of Pericles, the ideal form of government was believed to be a government formed by all of the citizens regardless of wealth or social standing. This was known as democracy, literally meaning “ government of the people” [Document 3.] This government favored the many instead of the few. Athens was a direct democracy, meaning every citizen participated in debates. Western civilization used this philosophy of government by many, and created an indirect democracy where citizens elect officials to make and enforce laws.
Athenian women in the textbook were described as having a restricted life. Men in Athenian society had great sexual liberty, where multiple partners, sexual relationships with teenage boys, and prostitutes were not looked down on. These reflections of Athenian women do match what is in the textbook. According to Xenophon and Aristotle, women were inferior to men, and because of this, they had more restrictions.
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 ...
For instance, if a woman were to be the wife of a guard, then she would be expected to live at the level of that status, too. She is expected to be able to contribute to society a great deal more, rather than stay at home and take care of her children and household. Plato points out that although women are not as strong as men, they are still strong nonetheless.
The Athenian government was a democratic government, which means it was ruled by the people to vote and have a voice in society. The democracy was slowly formed by leaders Solon and Cleisthenes. Solon took over when Athens was in political turmoil. He introduced new reforms to forgive debts, outlaw new loans, free people that
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
Athens was one of the largest Greek city states. (Stockton, 4). It was about one thousand square miles (Stockton, 4). Athens was founded in the 8th century BC (Muller). It was at first ruled by the college of archons. (Muller). After a term of one year, the archons became members of the Council of Elders (Muller). The people had a voice in the popular assembly, the Ekklesia (Muller). However, it did not have real power until 600 BC. By then, it was an established institution of Athens (Muller). It became the central policy making body in the 5th century. There were two main governmental bodies, the Assembly and the Council. (Acropolis). The Assembly was responsible for policy making. (Acropolis) The Council was responsible for administration and implementing the Assembly’s policies. Not everyone could participate in Athenian politics. Slaves, resident aliens, and women were excluded.
The population size of the polis were small, and each male citizen was cognizant of their role and value within the community, and developed a strong spirit of independence. This sense of independence is what led the citizens within the polis to choose their own leaders, and overthrowing leaders that had done wrong by the greater populist or that the populist felt had abused their power. Athens, furthered this sense of independence by creating a democratic Athens, where full citizens were expected to run the governme...
Plato indicates how women might live is a man's world, but there is little doubt that it is a man's world. Women might become guardians, but only by becoming honorary men: by having, men make room for them. Woman will be equally responsible for enforcing the laws and establishing which traits are to be valued. They will be socialized into a Patriarchy. Patriarchy is based on an ideology of men's superiority over women. Plato's philosopher-queens will be unable to overcome
In order to trade in the marketplace, they paid a special tax. Even access to the judicial system was limited. Slaves were considered property which could be bought, sold, or hired out. Masters were responsible for their slave in legal actions, having no identity. Women and children were under the protection of a father, husband, or other male acting as a guardian in all important affairs. These women and female children could not enter into contract, own property, or marry without the guardian’s consent. As for male children, they were also under a guardian until they were of age and entered adulthood. The status system in ancient Athens has been accepted and unchallenged with references in the ancient texts which makes it a historical perspective to embrace. It is easy for those scholars who accept the class system as essential for analysis of society or work within the institution of legal history as essential for a means of
The power that the oligarchy held was divided among three bodies of democratic like government. The first was the ekklesia. The ekklesia was the people. It consisted of every male citizen in Athens. It functioned as the major decision making body of government. All male citizens could vote, be elected, and had equal say. Freedom of speech was also honored.
All free adult men who were true born Athenians had the right to participate in the Assembly and make political/economic decisions
The term democracy comes from the Greek language and means "rule by the people."(Democracy Building 2012) The democracy in Athens represents the events leading up to modern day democracies. Like our modern democracy, the Athenian democracy was created as a reaction to a concentration and abuse of power by the rulers. Philosophers defined the essential elements of democracy as a separation of powers, basic civil rights, human rights, religious liberty and separation of church and state. The most current definition of a democracy is defined as a “government by the people; a form of government in which the supreme power is vested in the people and exercised directly by them or by their elected agents under a free electoral system.”(Dictionary.com). The American democracy was greatly influenced by the Athenian democracy. The Founding Fathers of the American democracy borrowed ideas from the Athenian way of governing. Presently, Americans live in a democracy that is much different than that the Athenian democracy, and what the Founding Fathers of the American Democracy envisioned. Although there are some commonalities between Athens and what our Founding Fathers intended, there are major differences as well. Differences between the modern American democracy the Athenian democracy and what the Founding Fathers envisioned are size of the democracies, the eligibility of a citizen to participate in the democracy and how a citizen participated.