Ancient Athens

Ancient Athens

The last Olympic swimmer just touched the wall and the race has ended. Cameras are replaying every single movement from the race and a winner has been clearly decided. Just as these Olympic swimmers will gain a medal for placing, ancient Athens had numerous accomplishments of its own. Athens “prosperity … was due in large part to its stable and effective government” (SOURCE 1). When analyzing the history of ancient Athens, is easy to see how the accomplishments of a democracy, Greek philosophy, and Greek literature all shape Athens.

Athens is the home of democracy. It is the first known example of where people began to govern themselves. The democracy of Athens slowly developed around 500 BC, during the Classical Age. In early times, kings ruled Athens. In later years, aristocrats replaced the kings. The aristocrats dominated Athens and the poverty-stricken people of this time. These poverty-stricken people had little say in what occurred in their lives. There were however, three main bodies of the Athenian democracy. The first one was an assembly, which consisted of, “all people eligible to take part in the government” (SOURCE 1). According to SOURCE 1, “only free male Athenians over the age of 20 who had completed military training were allowed to vote.” This in turn, shows that all women, children, or any others not classified under this rule had no say. Since the ruling of aristocrats left no utterance for the poor, a man by the name of Draco stepped in, to reform the laws. His idea of punishment was harshness. It is evident through the following quote, “… the harshness of Draco’s laws did not resolve the dispute between classes; they only made it worse,” that a new look at the laws would have...

... middle of paper ...

...owney, Ed. Plato. N.p.: Great Neck, 2006. MAS Complete. Web. 23 Nov. 2013.

Lewis, David M. "Pericles." Encyclopaedia Britannica. 1994-2012. MAS Complete. Web. 23 Nov. 2013.

"Pericles." Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia. 6th ed. 2013. MAS Complete. Web. 23 Nov. 2013.

Stearns, Peter, Sam Wineburg, and Steven A. Goldberg. "The Classical Age and Greek Achievements." Teacher's Edition: World History Human Legacy. By Susan E. Ramirez. N.p.: Hot, Rinehart and Winston, 2008. 134-47. Print.

Symes, Carol, Judith G. Coffin, and Robert C. Stacey. "The Civilization of Greece, 1000-400 B.C.E." Western Civilizations : Their History and Their Culture. By Joshua Cole. Brief 3rd ed. Vol. 1. New York: W.W. Norton &, 2012. 64-65. Print.

"Typhoid Was Disease That Ended Athens' Golden Age." Toronto Star (Canada) 04 Feb. 2006, Life sec.: L06. Newspaper Source Plus. Web. 23 Nov. 2013.