Download Athenian Democracy-Summary Sentences

Here are some of the summary sentences you all came up with in class
Age of Pericles
The Age of Pericles argues that as the Athenian leadership evolved, there was a further
opening of access to government to allow rules to maintain power.
With the government expanding, the people grew really proud that they, the Athenians, had
democracy, and they spread it using empire.
The Age of Pericles argues that the Athenian need to spread and preserve democracy was
largely influenced by threats of conflict from without and within.
Athenian Democracy: Modern Mythmakers and Ancient Theorists
“Modern Mythmakers and Ancient Theorists” enumerates the concept that Athenian
democracy cannot be examined properly without considering the ages that preceded it and
succeeded it.
The text claims that the common viewpoint of early democracy, particularly that of Athens,
has been skewed by modern historians who have, over the years, shown a tendency to glorify
this time period.
Centaurs and Amazons
In Centaurs and Amazons, Plato and Aristotle bring up a discussion of social hierarchy and
subordination. Plato has several myths for why there needs to be a distinction between
certain social classes and their relative value.
Dubois argues for a view of the transformation of Athens from the 5th to the 4th centuries
bce in terms of ideas about subordination within society and between societies.
In Centaurs and Amazons, Dubois describes the appeal of hierarchical, elitist structure of
Athenian society after the age of Periclean democracy. These arguments emerge after the
Periclean “golden age” of democracy partially because of conflicts with Sparta, which
undermined elites’ faith in the power of the demos.
Dubois offers arguments for the justification of the stasis (dysnomia, disorder) that evolved in
ancient Athens with a post-democratic government.