Ancient Athens: The Origins Of Athenian Democracy

The origin of the word ‘democracy’ itself stems from the Greek for demos, meaning the people, and of the verb kratos, meaning to rule. The root of the word, demokratias, deriving from Greek insists that democracy itself first came into fruition in ancient Athens. This starting point of democracy in Athens marked a momentous advance in the politics of organised society and in which way said society should be governed. While ancient Athens is held to an almost unreal standard for producing a groundbreaking system of government, this democracy is entirely flawed. While the democracy in Athens existed and lead to further political advancement, like all prototypes it did not meet the epitome of perfection. Most notably the biggest flaw of the Athenian

However, Cliesthenes, the ruler during this time, was not the sole participant in the slow establishment of democracy in Athens. His predecessors, Solon and Pisistratus, laid very important groundwork; for instance, outlawing debt slavery and attempted to equate the power between the rich and the poor, respectively. Solon especially was praised by “fourth-century Greeks who regarded [him] as the father of Athenian democracy” (Ehrenberg, 67). Despite this, Cliesthenes is deemed to be the one to lay the last major foundation that lead the way for Athenian democracy; announcing every free man in Athens to be a citizen. This sudden acceptance into citizenship allows the entrance of all free men to participate openly in the newfound democratic government of Athens. This directly caused the implementation of several political institutions which pushed Athens to adapt their foundations of democracy into a long standing government system which aims to protect their core

Socrates, one of the most well known philosophers of this period, was persecuted for another core Athenian value - freedom of speech. Accusals between Anytus, Meletus, and Polycrates all include the same reasons mainly that Socrates has done an “injustice by corrupting the young, and by not believing in the gods in whom the city believes” (Plato Apologia 24b). The former charge can be attributed to Socrates’ position as a teacher of many students from affluent families who were deemed to have wronged Athenians. Students like Alcibiades and Critias, the latter a leader of the Thirty Tyrants, which took oligarchical rule of Athens after their loss of the Peloponnesian War. The Thirty Tyrants went on to terrorise Athens until their they were overthrown, but due to the democratic nature of Athens they could not be punished for their actions directly. The Athenians sought reparation for the damages brought by the Thirty Tyrants. Unfortunately as they could not directly punish the individual tyrants, so they chose to punish their teacher, Socrates, who they were assured corrupted these men during their formative years under his wing. Along with Socrates’ consistent criticism of the Greek Gods and their specific formation of democracy also tarnished his public image. Regardless of Socrates’ right to freedom of speech, his words discrediting the