Athenian Democracy Essay

The Question of Democracy: Athens Democracy’s inception on a complex, workable level is attributed to Greece and specifically the city-state Athens, but there is question as to whether or not Athenian democracy was indeed a democracy in its purest form or at all -- at least during the Age of Pericles. One can investigate the matter through Thucydides’s claim that under Pericles, Athens was not a democracy, responses to this claim, and speeches spoken by Pericles himself. After one critically reads Thucydides's claim and acknowledges historian perspective on the matter, it becomes apparent that by its own terms, Athens was a democracy. Refutes to this claim accuse Pericles of manipulation and can be summed up by

Idealizing a person after death seems to be a common human trait, but that does not make all retrospective opinion of the dead invalid; considering this, the attitude Athenians held towards Pericles after his death contributes evidence in support of Periclean Athens being indeed democratic. Plutarch mentions many critics of Pericles realizing how much they took for granted his leadership skill. It is easy to criticize a constant without realizing what it enables while in play, and this is the case with Pericles and many of his critics. Because Plutarch specifically states critics admitted to Pericles’s moderation in government relative to his leadership position, one can figure at least some of these critics believe Pericles was successful in maintaining a state of democracy given that he did not abuse his power as they thought he did.

An additional piece of evidence that is indicative of democracy’s presence in Athens is the fact that Pericles was not immune to punishment by the people. Athenians questioned Pericles and punished him for things they viewed as wrong-doings. During the beginning stage of the Peloponnesian War, Pericles was fined for an unsuccessful strategy, indicating Pericles did not hold so much power that he could not be criticized. A tyrant or monarch would not typically submit as easily or in the same manner to his people’s