Imagine a world that, as a woman, your sole purpose in life was to satisfy a husband that was chosen for you by your parents! During the Golden Age (ca. 500s-300s BCE) of ancient Athens this was the harsh reality. Political leaders claimed they had held the members of their society to a higher standard of democracy, equality, and fairness. In reality it was the exact opposite the Athens used military forces to gain power over neutral island nations, the women and children were not equal to the men, and they had and used slaves. Athens used military presence to intimidate other civilizations into joining their political rule. The Melians were colonists of Sparta who refused to submit to the Athens (1). Athens and the Melians negotiated over land, power, and beliefs. Athenian negotiator states “…we have come in the interests of our empire…”(1) showing they believed that there was a clear sense of power in their nation and the Athens had a right to be the sole power of the colony. Melians didn’t want to go to war but would not back down on their beliefs. Both states recognized that if the coercing continued there was a chance all neutral states would become enemies based on the fear that the Athens would someday come for their colonies as well. Contradicting the comfort it …show more content…
Slaves ranked very low in the minds of the Athens “the use… of slaves hardly differs at all from that of domestic animals” (5). This shows they owned slaves but may have treated them with some sense of respect but they were still thought of as property. The use and ownership of slaves shows that social classes (if there was a set class systems) were not at all equal. The Athenians believed that there was a natural ruler and a natural subject, “for rule of free over slave, male over female, man over boy, are all natural…” (7). A slave system means that Athens lacked a true democracy and didn’t hold every society member to
Firstly, only male citizens had equal rights to vote, freedom of speech, and opportunities to participate directly in political arenas, which is only 12% of the population. For example Citizen women, Children of citizens, Metics, and Slaves did not have the right to vote which is the other 68%. This shows the Athenians were not democratic because not the whole population wasn 't a system of government, when not even half of them were. Also in Athen nobody had the freedom of thought and or speech. If someone
Pericles argues that Athens has become a model for others, and articulates what it is to be a good citizen. This can be seen when he says, “although the eyes of an enemy may occasionally profit by our liberality; trusting less in system and policy than to the native spirit of our citizens; while in education, where our rivals from their very cradles by a painful discipline seek after manliness, at Athens we live exactly as we please, and yet are just as ready to encounter every legitimate danger.” (Thucydides, 2.39) It proves that Ancient Athens’ valued greatness and worked in order to achieve the excellence of the state, by focusing on rebuilding themselves back up after the Persian war. Pericles played a big role in this because he showed his ambitions to rebuild Athens, which lead to the thriving of other subjects such as literature, philosophy, science, art, and religion.
Athens, had many challenges, both geographically and alliance wise. The Athenians were advised to appease all feuds within its neighboring polis. Greece was needed to unite under one cause, and that could not be done while the polis in Greece were at war.
I am going to describe why the Greeks became so great due to the numerous men who were willingly bound to the law and not forced. Unlike Persians, the Greeks actually learn from their misguided decisions, such as practicing a tyranny or an oligarchy. Free men of Greece felt susceptible to the laws written because the laws are not ever changing claims, they remain stable, “[w]hatever this master commands, they do; and his command never varies” (Herodotus, 405). Misdirections and misfortunes in most allied states of the Spartans have led to demonstrated improvements and resolutions within those states. However, Spartans announced to their allied states ultimately that they have been misguided by their misdirections.
Another factor that makes the Athenian society the best is their
The historian Thucydides described himself as a wealthy Athenian general whose exile to the Peloponnese allowed him to personally observe, from both the sides of the conflict, a comprehensive account of the Peloponnesian War. Book 1 in Thucydides’ “History of the Peloponnesian War” is dedicated to explaining over fifty years of the events and proceedings that led to the abandonment of the Thirty Year’s Peace and subsequent war. In Book 1 he identifies four main incidents, which I shall refer to as ‘grievances’, regarding the conduct of Athens towards both their Delian members and the Peloponnesian allies. Yet he also mentions what he deems to be a more ‘real’ truth than these four grievances that led to Sparta and the Peloponnese going to
The replies from the Athenian envoy, shows that everything the Athenians do is for the interest and benefit of their empire. They are just after more power and they will do anything to attain it, even if it means engaging in war and killing innocent people. However, when it comes to the Melians, it’s evident that they believe in morality and actions of justice. Although they are considered to be inferior and weak than the Athens, they believe in fighting for justice instead of throwing all
Overall, ancient Athens was indeed not truly democratic as a result of the government having male citizens have authority, being an oligarchy government instead of a democratic government, and voting not accessible to women, free foreigners(Metics), and slaves except for male citizens. So that is why I conclude that ancient Athens was indeed not truly
In Ancient Greek Civilization, women were viewed as submissive. A man always controlled the women; that either being the Father or Husband. Women were forced to stay in the house and complete all household duties. Women were not even granted the right to attend assemblies, participate in politics, or even represent themselves in court. Having little to no overall power in your society can have a huge burden on Women but this can also fuel certain Women to strive to change the society they live in.
Introduction Monarchy, aristocracy, tyranny, oligarchy and democracy were all forms of government found at different times and in different city-states in Ancient Greece. Elements of more than one of these forms also co-existed, however, and the modern connotations of labels such as these are not necessarily the same as those that prevailed in Ancient Greece. In this paper I firstly describe these various forms of government and provide examples of their use in Ancient Greece. I then compare and contrast the models.
The Athenian and the Spartan civilizations were very unique and different but the people shared many similar ideas. The Athenians believed that their government was original and that everyone should participate directly in government. On the other hand, the Spartans believed that every man should train for the military. Both the Spartans and Athenians believed in an equal society where the members were devoted to the polis. During this time, Athens supported a democracy.
Unlike the Romans, Athenians had a strict but fair schedule that allowed them to enjoy citizenship equally. Equally, hard workers have brought Athens power just as much as hereditary leaders. According to Document B all citizens should be allowed to speak their opinion and have a share in election because of the hard work they do to make the city powerful. Athenians allowed poor and common men to win a position in government which was a transition from the wealthy having power to everyone having power.
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.
Gender inequality is not a new topic. Throughout history, women have faced significant sexist discrimination starting with being denied basic rights enjoyed by men. In many societies, women have been categorized as inferior to men. Greek poet, Homer, consistently highlighted this ‘women are inferior’ theme throughout his writings of The Iliad and The Odyssey. Even though this degradation of women has currently been brought to light in the 21st century, it continues to remain a serious issue.
Women’s roles has changed dramatically throughout history. By looking at the lives of women, it would be possible to tell how the civilians at that specific period of time were living. In this paper, women’s lives in mainly three civilizations would be discussed, the Sparta, the Athens, and the Hellenistic era. In Sparta, women were needed to live at home, while their husbands remained in military barracks until the age thirty.