In his eulogy delivered before the Athenians in 431-430 B.C during the Peloponnesian wars‚ Pericles states‚ “we are called a democracy‚ for the administration‚ is in the hands of many and not of the few.” In this quote‚ Pericles is communicating the idea that they are a democracy because the type of government that they have is special to them as well as very inclusive‚ unlike other governments at the time. The eulogy of Pericles should be considered accurate to a moderate extent because while on
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Socrates and Pericles‚ two of these philosophers‚ had polarizing opinions about the city-state and its citizens. While Pericles chooses to praise the Athenian citizen‚ Socrates criticizes Athens’ people. Pericles gave his opinion at a funeral during the first battles of the Peloponnesian War‚ while Socrates gave his during the trial that ultimately led to his death. The Athenian city-state has become a model for today’s systems of government and a hearth for western philosophy‚ so Pericles’ opinion
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of Athens clearly knew and recognized that they lived in a democracy‚ Pericles goes out of his way to remind them of this as a means of praising and extolling the uniqueness of Athens and its system of government. It also supports the argument that Athens has a way of life that is superior to other poli within Greece‚ and its people must therefore fight for it and the values it upholds as a democracy. In fact‚ one way of looking at Pericles’ ancestor reference in the previous section could be as build
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believe that there were multiple occurrences contributing the end of Greek‚ or Athenian democracy. These back to back occurrences contributed to the weakening of their city as a whole and as a result the eventual end of democracy. Though it seemed like there might be moments of democracy from time to time‚ these events were really the death knell. The most major were the Decelean War‚ the plague and death of Pericles‚ and the Macedonian take over. When Sparta turned its military attentions to Athens
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Week 3 : The Ancient Greece Democracy in Ancient Greece was the ideal way of governing‚ since all the citizens could take part to the political life. To this day‚ Athens represents the only example of a direct democracy. The Persians have always had a very different culture from the Greek culture‚ so we can call it almost the opposite. The Persians have tried to conquer the Greek islands many times‚ but every time the Greek countries (that used to fight each other) have found the power to unite
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in the fourth part I will examine the changes in decision-making and in last part I will talk about Socrates use of cross-examination to find out the meaning of the oracle’s message. As a source of information I am going to use Plutarch’s essays Pericles and Alcibiades‚ Plato’s Apology and Crito‚ and Thucydides’ Peloponnesian War. I The meaning of sophism. In Athens all young aristocrats were getting traditional education in gymnasium. They studied music‚ poetry‚ mathematics‚ athletics‚ etc. But
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Discuss the Athenian definition of democracy. Is the city state the only kind of state in which true democracy can exist? What happens to democracy when it is applied to a society with a large dispersed population? What are other examples of democratic societies besides Athens? Compare and contrast Athenian democracy with American democracy. Is the United States a democracy in the classical sense of the word? The ancient Greek word "demokratia" was ambiguous. It met literally "people power"
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The Athenian Democracy was classified as a direct democracy which means that they were a form of government in which a group of just ordinary people make decisions. Any male citizen could make a decisions but women‚ slaves and others were not allowed and were born elsewhere. Even though it was made up of male Athenians and women didn’t have much right‚ the people in a way were all treated equally. The Athenian democracy pretty much dissolved due to numerous changes. The Athenian government was broken
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National Question #3 Alexander Hamilton stated‚ “It has been observed that a pure democracy if it were practicable would be the most perfect government. Experience has proved that no position is more false than this. The ancient democracies in which the people themselves deliberated never possessed one good feature of government. Their very character was tyranny; their figure deformity.” A democracy‚ also known as a republican government‚ has been implemented in many societies. It grants every
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While democracy in ancient Greece may not have survived in it’s original‚ non-representative state‚ it has still left a lasting impact on modern day democratic society. Athens was the birthplace of democracy‚ being the first place to adopt it as it’s political system. Athens having been the great economic power it was‚ showed the world that a government where the people hold equal power to each other‚ can work‚ that a small group of ruling elite isn’t necessary. Even after the fall of athenian power
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