Ancient Greek Democracy

Compare and contrast monarchy, aristocracy, tyranny, oligarchy, and democracy as forms of government in Ancient Greek city-states.

Low population density and the infant state of transportation and communication technologies during the Bronze and Iron ages meant that most settlements in the Mediterranean world lived a semi-hermitic existence, a fact that favored the development and many political and social structures. According to the ancient Greek thought, the Greek colonies were founded by legendary heroes who became perpetually worshipped in the dynasty (γένος) they created; thus, every dynasty possessed its own land, cult, and customs. Eventually, such a family would became big enough to form an urban center (πόλις), and the community would

Given this sense of strong family ties among the members of a community, true monarchy never existed in ancient Greece; even at places like Macedonia and Epeiros, the kings were under the nominal control of the Assembly (which were all blood related to a certain degree). While Aristotle had distinguished the political systems in three classes (monarchy/tyranny, aristocracy/oligarchy, and limited democracy/radical democracy), from a modern perspective, most every political system in ancient Greece was some form of aristocracy—the rule of a select few with the right pedigree. Aristotle’s critique on radical democracy was validated when his protégé, Alexander the Great, united the Hellenic world and spread its culture to the known world. Even so, no political system can be thought as universally better than any other; every system has strong and weak points, and every system can be abused. At the end, a system should be evaluated on its ability to provide for its citizens and respond to national

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