CLA160H1 Lecture Notes - Sortition, Strategos, Peloponnesian War
Document Summary
Reading #6: the invention of democracy, thucydides peloponnesian war. Athens was the first western democracy (and considered its origin). The rise of the polis brings changes in these fields: construction of great monuments (parthenon for instance), innovations and creations in poetry and artistry precipitated by democracy. Democracy permeated all aspects of athenian life: social, individual, philosophical, political etc. The conception of the individual and related aspects changed greatly (lovers, slaves, sex life ). Athens as a political structure and a way of living . It did not always used to be a democracy. In the archaic period, athens was governed by the elite resulting in many conflicts between the elite and the demos. The region of atheca in which athens was situated had very poor soil. It was monopolized by the rich and the poor paid and worked (and a lot of the times fell into debt).
