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Essays on athenian democracy
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Contemporary perspectives on athenian democracy
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Athenians Democracy Ancient Athens has two documents that discuss democracy. The first one is “Document A: Pericles” and the other one is “Document B: The The Athenian Constitution”. In document A, I found that is truly democratic because your social class is not allowed the interfere with someone 's merit. For example, if you’re poor you’re still able to serve the state or be part of the government. In document A it also states that “you get equal justice.”
Amanda Milito HI 101-OL3 Professor Brozyna October 21, 2016 Essay #1 Athenian Democracy & American Democracy Similarities The similarities between Athenian Democracy and American Democracy are uncanny. The Athenian democracy was the first of its kind developed in 508BC.
Democracy is commonly known to be present in the government of Athens. Athenian democracy and democracy in the United States are both similar and different in certain ways. Democracy in the United States still contains basic principalities of Athenian democracy, such as participation status, elections, and government power, although, some parts were changed and improved. The United States has a representative democracy; in which it is a republic.
The birthplace of democracy: A look into the life Aristotle once said, “The roots of education are bitter, but the fruit is sweet.” Athens was established in 3000 BC, while Sparta was respectively established in 431 BC. Athens was also referred to as the “birthplace of democracy,” a government system still in use today! Athens was a superior city state over Sparta. This is because of Athenian cultural achievements, government and social climate.
Citizenship : Why Athens was the Better System Athens was a small city compared to Rome that honored and protected citizenship. There was a constant importance of acknowledging all citizens hard work and participation. Athenians made it clear that the poor helped build the city 's power and not just the wealthy. They took politics very seriously and made sure that everyone had a voiced opinion. Hard work and equality is what makes a nation outstanding.
In Plato's Gorgias, it is apparent that Socrates has no desire to be a good statesman as it is defined in the eyes of the Athenians. His calculation is that Athenian rhetoricians place no reliance on facts or truth, nor are these their aim. Instead, they rely on the illusion of knowledge, and this morally weakens both themselves and their audiences. It is clear however, that if he wishes, Socrates is able to match most or all of the other statesmen in Athens, as is clearly indicated by his very eloquent speech which ends the dialogue. Additionally, under his own definition of a good statesman, it is evident that Socrates is more than qualified.
3. Compare and contrast the idea of democracy in Ancient Greece and Rome. Which system was more democratic and why? Democracy is the modern day standard for governmental systems. However up until 500 BCE, the concept of Democracy was a foreign concept, and the great civilizations of that era were run by monarchs, aristocrats, and religious leaders of sorts.
Was ancient Athens truly democratic? Democracy is a system of government by the whole population or all the eligible members of a state. I do not believe that in the 4th to 5th century BCE ancient Athen were democratic for many reasons.
When you look at the literal definition of democracy in the Merriam-Webster dictionary, there is a decently large explanation. When looking at this definition and trying to decide whether the Athenian democratic system was truly democratic, one would have to go with the answer no. While it has been stated that Athens is the “cradle of democracy”, and that it was better than any of the other governments in the world, it was still a work in progress. The Athenian democracy, while it did give more power to the people, still left a lot of citizens out. The current American democracy may have steamed from Athens, but they do not really have that much in common.
Under Article I, Section 8 of the Constitution, Congress has the power "to make all Laws which shall be necessary and proper for carrying into Execution the foregoing Powers, and all other Powers vested by this Constitution in the Government of the United States, or any Department or Officer thereof". Essentially it allows Congress to pass additional laws that are necessary and proper for carrying out its
Pericles, a key political figure of 5th century Athens states, “Our constitution does not copy the laws of neighboring states; we are rather a pattern to others than imitators ourselves.” The Athenians had no desire to follow what appeared as mediocre government, the Athenians pushed for the best form they could find. Arete, for Athens, meant every person had a voice in politics. Politics embraces the reason of the mind as well as the emotion of the heart. Therefore, the very essence of a good human being would lie in being a politically active person.
Socrates started his life as an average Athen citizen. His parents worked, making an honest living. But as Socrates grew up, he began to realize that his mind questioned things and wondered how come no one else questioned the same things or at least think about the answers to the questions that were not answered. So, as his mind kept wandering, he began to acknowledge the questions that were not answered and sought for those answers. He ended up believing and teaching things to other people, whether it went against the way the Athen government or not, he still continued his work.
According to Socrates perspective, the democracy of Athens was corrupt and even though they courts were made in such a way that everyone was judged fairly, it wasn’t such because there were no rules or principles set forth. When a person was brought to court in the Athenian court and the person spoke against the jurors or offended them, he or she could be prosecuted based on that. In summary, judgment was passed based on emotion rather than on justice. In the Apology, Socrates stated, “my present request seems a just one, for you to pay no attention to my manner of speech-
Democracy, a form of government, allows the people in their own nationality to vote for people in order for them to become representatives as a result to vote on new laws that would affect their own nationality. One of the many states of Greece, ancient Athens was indeed not truly democratic as a result of not inclusive, other than male citizens, to gain authority in ancient Athens, ¨Demokratia was ruled by male citizens only, excluding women, free foreigners(Metics) and slaves.¨(Document D), therefore ruling Athens was only accessible to male citizen since since women, free foreigners(Metics), and slaves were not allowed to rule as a result of not being male citizens. One of the many states of Greece, ancient Athens, was indeed not truly democratic as a result of not even using the essentials of democracy that is used today, “Thus, by our standards, it was oligarchy, not democracy.¨(Document D), therefore ancient Athens was not using democracy as their form of government, they were using oligarchy,another form of government in which a small group of people has power and control, as their form of government instead of democracy.
As we had read in the assignment titled ‘Boundless World History’, “Democracy in Athens was overthrown in 411 BCE because of its poor handling of the Peloponnesian War.” Athens and Sparta had engaged in the Peloponnesian War that was between 404 and 431 BCE. In ancient Greece, Athens and Sparta were two of the most important city-states. According to most historians, the Peloponnesian War battle, which was supposed to have almost consumed the entire Greek world, was the most important battle of its time. Since Sparta won and Athens ultimately lost the Peloponnesian War, it can be stated that Athens was unable to accomplish the Peloponnesian War successfully.
