n this paper I am going to compare and contrast five forms of government In the Ancient Greek city-states, monarchy, aristocracy, oligarchy, tyranny and democracy. A variation of all of these five forms of government can be found in the Ancient Greek city-states. My main focus will be on Athens and Sparta to show these variations.
A monarchy is a form of rule in which a leader is born into the role through bloodlines or it can be morphed into tyranny if taken by force rather than inheritance (Cartledge, P. The Democratic Experiment). After the Dark Ages all true monarchs were all but gone except for the reconfiguration in Sparta (Carr, K.E. Government in Ancient Greece). Sparta had two kings instead of the more typical singular family rule.
An aristocracy is a form of rule in which the elite all of the decisions. An example of this is in the city-state of Athens where only the wealthiest can hold powerful positions in government. An Example of this in in Sparta was with the elders you had to be an aristocrat and of a certain age to have power over the people (Brand, P. J. Athens & Sparta: Democracy vs. Dictatorship).
Tyranny is a form of rule that is
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Sparta had two kings born into the position making them similar to a true monarchy. At the same time Sparta was involved in an oligarchy, It had a group of senior members who called all the shots. The Spartans were also involved in tyranny, the helots were treated like dogs and were under constant attack from the Spartans. In Athens it was almost as confused. Athens was a democracy which should have given all an equal opportunity, however one had to have wealth to obtain power lending it more toward an aristocracy. Tyranny in Athens was reserved for the women of the population. It is very clear that in both cases of these city-states all of these forms of government were being used in one form or