Download Ancient Greeks 600 BCE

Political and philosophical contributions to modern
democracy.
 Direct Democracy…what is this?
 Why does direct democracy NOT work in our modern
society?
 Why would elections be UNnecessary in a direct
democracy?
 What are the benefits to a direct democracy?
 What are the negative aspects?
 Greeks had “city-states” due to geographic boundaries
 Each “polis” had its own government, usually:
 Tyranny of one or a few rules
 Aristocratic councils
 Direct democracy
 Sparta had a military aristocracy
 Athens - more diverse commercial state that was proud of its artistic
and intellectual leadership
 Can you name any other Greek polis’?
 Can you name any modern city-states?
 Concept of “citizenship”
 “demos” means the people
 Each citizen had rights AND obligations
 Definition of citizen was quite different than we are used to
 Property owning, “free” males, over 21
 Only 1/1oth of population qualified
 Solon (594 BCE) Reforms
 Outlawed slavery based on debt & cancelled farmers’ debts.
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What was the reason and effect of this?
Established classes of citizens based on wealth instead of
heredity. What is the difference?
Citizens could bring charges against wrongdoers.
Council of Four Hundred
All resulted in increased participation in government
 Cleisthenes (508 BCE) Reforms
 Reorganized assemble to balance power w/ rich & poor
 Allow all citizens submit laws for debate
 Established Council of Five Hundred
 Chosen at random among citizens to set assembly agenda
 Result was 1/5th of population now citizens
 Persian Wars of (490-479 BCE) brought all polis’
together to defend against Persian Empire & Xerxes.
 Pericles (461-429 BCE) Reforms
 Increased paid public officials & began paying jurors.
 What was the intended effect of this?
 Increased participation in gov’t more than any other
polis, ushering in “direct democracy”.
 Decline of Athenian Democracy
 Peloponnesian War (431-404 BCE)
 Sparta & Athens basically cripple each others power and
culture leaving a void to be filled by Alexander the Great and
ultimately the Romans
 Make a list of the Greek political contributions to our
modern democracy.
 Make a list of 5 vocab words from this discussion.
 Turn to your partner and define orally each of the
words on their list…then have them do the same for
yours.
 Major philosophers
 Socrates (469-399 BCE)—question conventional ideas of gov’t &
religion by using “reason” & “logic”
 Developed Socratic method of Q & A
 Plato (427-347 BCE)—student of Socrates
 Wrote The Republic that outlined a vision for a perfectly governed
society run by philosopher kings
 Governed by the wise, not the rich
 Aristotle (384-322 BCE)—student of Plato
 Wrote Politics & Ethics that examined the nature of the world and
human beliefs, thought, and knowledge.
 “Man is by nature a political animal; it is his nature to live in a state”
 What does that mean?
 Moderation and balance in human behavior, similar to Confucious
 Alexander the Great (356-323 BCE)—student of Aristotle
 “Hellenism”—spread of Greek ideas, gov’t, language, culture,
architecture throughout AfroEuroAsia
 Major Philosophies
 Used logic & reason to examine the nature of the
universe
 Does the sun rise/set because of gods or laws of nature?
 Applied “laws of nature” to man
 Humans behave in an understandable and predictable way
 Stressed the importance and capability of the individual
 Examined issues of morality to apply to gov’t and society
 Ways that people should act, not because of the gods, but
because that would benefit Greece & Greeks
 How are these ideas present in our modern democracy?
Why are they so fundamentally important?
 Architecture—columns
 Literature—Illiad, Oddysey
 Plays: tragedies & comedies—Sophocles
 Geometry & anatomy—Hypocrates, Euclid
 With your partner, work out a list of all the
contributions the Greek provided to a modern
democracy. These can be concrete or abstract!!!
 Once complete, turn to page 8. Examine the Venn
Diagram at the bottom and add these ideas to both of
your lists
 No single Greek political style, but democracy is the most
famous.
 Classical Mediterranean political theory involved:
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Ethics
3 branches of government
duties of citizens
skills, such as oratory.
 an intense loyalty to the state, a preference for aristocratic
rule, and the development of a uniform set of legal
principles.
 Governments supported an official religion, but tolerance
of other faiths was the norm