Democracy Vs. Oligarchy In Ancient Greece

Democracy versus Oligarchy

The Greek’s political life relied on the city-state, also known was the Polis, which was a self-governing community. The Polis is described as “a clearly defined territory under the authority of a single political community” (Western Civilization Section 5).

Now, Greece contained around 862 city-states, but the main three were Corinth, Sparta, and Athens (Western Civilization Section 5). All three of them contained their own form of government, just like the other city-states. Corinth was a monarchy, meaning it was ruled by a king. Sparta was an oligarchy, which means it was ruled by a group of men.

Unlike the other two, Athens experimented with government rulers; therefore, they were a democracy. Even though each

Instead of being spiritual, religion relied on the community and its personal feelings instead of valuing their Creator. While there are several city-states, Sparta and Athens had the most impact on the Greek society.

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Sparta was founded by war captives who sought to conquer. The chief took over lots of small cities, but the main city that had an impact was Messenia. The Spartans took the Messenians captive and turned them into their slaves, also known as the helots.

“Helots were owned by the state rather than by individual Spartans” (Western

Civilization Section 8). Even though the Spartans were the one in charge, the Messenians outnumbered them 10 to 1 (Western Civilization Section 8). This led the Spartans to become who they were known to be, a military society with an armed camp. They focused on how to be a warrior and created the idea of “arête—fighting courageously for

Sparta” (Western Civilization Section 8). Despite how they constantly focused on their military, their economy was centered on agriculture which was managed by the helots.

The military and the helots both contribute to the importance of Sparta, but

Athenians now had a direct democracy, meaning “citizens—not representatives—debated and voted on the issues” (Western Civilization Section 7). All these decisions of the citizens were made in the Athenian Assembly. The Athenian Assembly was where “the center of

Athenian democracy and where all citizens could participate” (Western Civilization

Section 7). After Solon’s guidance, a new reformer named Cleisthenes sought an interest in democracy. He was the reason multiple traditions were broken, including the idea that filling the office positions were only hereditary. This growth of democracy helped the lower class obtain citizenship rights, and they usually did this by fighting in the military.

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However, both Solon and Cleisthenes did not fully change all the ideas the Athens’ democracy originally had. The idea of citizenship was still limited. “Women, slaves and foreigners—together more than 50% of the population—were wholly excluded from political participation” (Western Civilization Section 7). This proves that even though the

Athenians had a democracy, there were still limitations to it.

Athens and Sparta both had multiple similarities and differences. Athens had