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Cleisthene's Reforms Essay

1044 Words5 Pages

Upon the conclusion of tyranny, two parties contested for power over whom would be responsible over reshaping the government of Athens. One of which was being led by Isagoras, seen in the eyes of the great Aristotle as an acquaintance of the tyrants, the other being directed by Cleisthenes, who could be deduced as an Alcmenonid aristocrat. Isagoras prevailed in a minor victory in being chosen as Archon in 508. However, during that time Cleisthenes utilized a ploy played out by the tyrants, through allowing the people into his party and by means of the support of those in the lower classes imposed a sequence of reforms. Isagoras paying close attention to a number of instances played out in history, requested the aid of Cleomene, the Spartan …show more content…

This was the first instance in history where one can find traces of the classical Athenian democracy, ever since organizing Attica into the political landscape which would have a lifetime of about two hundred years. Cleisthene’s reforms took two formulas, one of which distinguished the basic foundations of the Athenian democracy, redefining how people within Athens viewed themselves with regards to one another and their relationship to the state. Cleisthene’s reforms were directed towards breaking the chain of power in which the aristocratic families held, interchanging regional loyalties with pan-Athenian solidarity, averting the rise of a new tyrant. He also, made the village or in the terms they used, “deme,” into a central unit of political organization, while managing to sway Athenians to assume their deme-name into their own. Therefore, whereas an Athenian man would have previously identified himself as “Demochares, son of Demosthenes,” he would now more than likely refer to himself as “Demochares from Marathon.” By replacing patronymic names with demotic names, they were breaking all ties with previous aristocratic families and placing emphasis on the new political community of

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