Athenian Democracy Research Paper Based on Bettany Hughes’ documentaries on Athens and Sparta, answer any combination of questions that adds up to 1,5000 w

Athenian Democracy Research Paper Based on Bettany Hughes’
documentaries on Athens and Sparta, answer any combination of
questions that adds up to 1,5000 words. The Legacy of Socrates
Historical Context
Based on Bettany Hughes’ documentaries on Athens and Sparta, answer any combination of
questions that adds up to 1,5000 words.
First, though, a little bit of historical background:
Democracy—from the Greek words demos (people), and kratos (rule or power)—
was originally conceived, partly at least, as a bit of a geopolitical accident.
Although the idea of democracy may have been originally anticipated in some
crude form by the Athenian statesman Solon, the story of the birth of democracy
as a social reality is usually traced to the aftermath of the overthrow of the tyrant
Hippias.1
Once Hippias was defeated, his successor Cleisthenes helped establish the Boule
(βουλή), a city council in which the demos had a real and meaningful say in political
decision-making.2 This seems to have been the first instance in recorded history of
an experiment in the self-government of a people.
However, and given the power vacuum left by the overthrow of Hippias, a struggle
between Isagoras and Cleisthenes—both of whom belonged to the aristocratic
class—quickly ensued. With the support of the Spartan king Cleomenes I, Isagoras
won, had Cleisthenes exiled, and proceeded to behave in the quintessential way in
which we now understand tyranny, with all its concomitant abuses of power.
Having had a taste of freedom and political say under Cleisthenes, though, and
brief as it was, the people revolted, overthrew Isagoras, and recalled Cleisthenes.
Understanding the importance of individual freedom, as well as the importance of
the support of the people on which his own good fortune had depended,
Cleisthenes helped to establish a more meaningful form of democracy in Athens.
With the eventual Athenian victory against the Persians at Salamis and Plataea,
Pericles would strengthen democratic Athens, and lead it to its Golden Age: that
brief period of history in which the miracle of Classical Athens would emerge and
cement its legacy for all subsequent time.
In its original connotation (at least prior to Plato and Aristotle, who brought its philosophical legitimacy
into question), the word tyrant simply referred to a ruler with absolute, unchecked power. It did not
necessarily connote usurpation, cruelty, illegitimacy or viciousness. Hippias himself does seem to have a
cruel despot, though.
2 There had been earlier boules (there was one under Solon, for instance), but they were normally limited
to advisory and administrative roles.
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1. Although we may often take it for granted, democracy, even to this day, has never been either a
perfect or a stable system of governance. The Athenians themselves understood the potential
precariousness of this political ideal, and took steps toward protecting it. In no more than 500
words, describe at least five ways in which the Athenians established systems of checks and
balances—both concrete and symbolic—in order to preserve the integrity of the democratic
process. Explain also the significance of these systems.
•
2. Many popular history textbooks often paint an idealized and romanticized picture of the virtues
of Classical Athens. It’s easy to understand such idealizations: in the historic equivalent of a blink
of an eye, and seemingly out of nowhere, the Greeks produced individualism, democracy, rhetoric,
science, philosophy, literature, formal mathematics, drama, linguistics, sculpture, logic, theatre,
ethics, criticism, and many other intellectual, political and aesthetic achievements. In many of
these cases, not only did they create these disciplines, the Greeks also brought them to their
highest expression.
However, the story of the birth of democracy is full of fascinating—and often frustrating—
contradictions. Rather than diminish the greatness of this historical and ideological achievement,
though, one could argue that such inconsistencies and paradoxes actually add to the dramatic
character of this narrative because its success has never been an inevitable or foregone conclusion.
Its desirability and allure have always been closely matched by its fragility and its potential
dangers.
In about 750 to 1,000 words (in total):
a) Describe and explain five contradictions that seem to have been inherent to the very
structure—whether institutional or cultural—of ancient Athens.
b) Use your analytical and imaginative skills to speculate on how each of these apparent
contradictions could potentially be made compatible in an intelligent and thoughtful
person’s mind. In other words, though they seem contradictory at first glance (and they
very well could be!), how might it be possible to understand these ideas as an integral part
of a larger—and coherent—system?
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3. In about 300 words, describe and explain three ways in which Themistocles’ victory at the
Battle of Salamis was similar to the defeat suffered by Leonidas and his 300 Spartans at the Battle
of Thermopylae. What do these similarities suggest to you, if anything, about the nature of liberty
in the world stage?
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4. Just like Athens embodied a number of contradictions, so did Sparta. Describe, in no more than
500 words, three such contradictions. Explain also some theoretical way in which these
contradictions could potentially be resolved as integral pieces of a larger, and coherent, whole.
•
5. Although there is a sense in which the conflict between Greeks and Persians can be understood,
rather simplistically perhaps, as the fight between freedom and slavery, there is no simple or
linear way to characterize the nature of the struggle between Athens and Sparta. In their different
ways, both city states epitomize a number of internal tensions and contradictions—as well as
major and minor similarities and differences with each other. In various forms, and at different
times, neither city state seems to have had a consistent monopoly on any particular virtue or vice.
Who, for instance, truly represents freedom and liberty? The Athenians may have invented
democracy, yes, but nine tenths of its population could not vote. The Spartans, on the other hand,
may have attempted to impose a strict code of equality, obedience and conformity to the state—to
the point that even family life was controlled from the top down—but its women seem to have
been able to have a voice and visibility, and to enjoy a freedom, that was unimaginable in Athens.
And yet, for all its talk of equality, Sparta seems to have been founded on a deep sense of elitism.
And, of course, neither city state could have achieved any of its success without violence,
manipulation, extortion and the institution of slavery.
Is freedom to be understood at the level of individuals, as Athens thought, or at the level of
communities, as Sparta did? Is a person freer as an individual or as part of something larger than
themselves, of which they are a part, and on which they can depend? Can freedom, equality,
strength, justice, individuality, community, honor, etc. be made compatible with each other, or
must the rise of one imply a proportional decrease of another?3
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If your last name starts with the letters A through L, write a short essay, no more than 300
words, explaining why, despite its various flaws, imperfections and shortcomings, Sparta
represents a number of nobler ideals, worth emulating and pursuing in our own society
today, than Athens does.
If your last name starts with the letters M through Z, write a short essay, no more than
300 words, explaining why, despite its various flaws, imperfections and shortcomings,
Athens represents a number of nobler ideals, worth emulating and pursuing in our own
society today, than Sparta does.
•
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All these, by the way, are simply rhetorical questions. You do not have to answer them.
6. It is probably an understatement to say that the way in which women were treated in Athens
and Sparta could hardly have been more different. For all its conservatism, and in its own strange
way, Sparta seems to have been centuries ahead of the rest of the world with their progressive (?)
sexual politics. And for all its talk of freedom, there is a real sense in which ancient Athens could
be compared to certain places in modern-day Afghanistan and Saudi Arabia, where women are
cloistered and denied any meaningful rights, voice or representation.
•
If you identify as a woman, write an essay, no more than 500 words, explaining why,
if given a choice, a woman should prefer to be a member of Athens, rather than Sparta.
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If you identify as a man, write an essay, also no more than 500 words, explaining
why our own society should accept and celebrate the Spartan practice of allowing, and
even heartily encouraging women to exercise their right to engage in consensual extramarital affairs (even if not intended for reproduction). In writing this essay, work on the
assumption that this is a right only granted to women, and not to men.
I realize these two are tough questions to ask, but that’s part of the point: to get you to start
thinking outside of your own cultural norms, to try to see things from a perspective different from
the one you’re probably used to. You might just surprise yourself.
•
7. For the past century or so, economists and other social scientists have been keenly interested
in the question of conspicuous consumption.4 This interest has been fueled primarily by the
rise of capitalism and its corresponding market values, as well as by the rise of various forms of
economic inequality in societies where, in theory at least, there should be enough wealth to satisfy
everybody’s most basic needs.
In her documentary on Sparta, however, Bettany Hughes makes reference to the Spartans’
frugality and conspicuous non-consumption. Perhaps this characterization should not be too
surprising—Sparta was, after all, the model of what could be loosely thought of as a form of protocommunism (or proto-communitarianism?)—but the idea of this practice certainly feels foreign
to a modern American reader.
In about 500 words, defend the potential virtues of conspicuous non-consumption for a
modern-day society (that is to say, one which we could possibly create and live in ourselves
without having to start from scratch). How could such a value and practice help us produce a
better society? How does the Greek concept of sophrosyne fit in?
However, to think in terms of capitalistic conspicuous consumption vs communist (or
communitarian?) conspicuous non-consumption, or between individualism vs collectivism, is
perhaps rather too simple, and possibly even misleading. In order to gain some perspective about
a possible middle ground, therefore—as well as to find fascinating examples of proof of
principle—you might want to do some research and look at the phenomenon of conspicuous
non-consumption in countries such as Finland, Sweden, or Denmark, and document your
findings in your response.
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See Thorstein Veblen, Jean Baudrillard, Geoffrey Miller, Robert H. Frank, Kerwin Charles, Erik Hurst,
Nikolai Roussanov.
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8. Explain in around 400 words how one might reasonably compare the social function of the
rituals surrounding the Eleusinian Mysteries, as well as the corresponding birth of dramatic
tragedy,5 to The Purge films.
That may seem like a strange question at first, but this Wisecrack video covering The Philosophy
of The Purge should help give you some perspective. The film franchise, as it turns out, may be
much more thoughtful, reflective and philosophical than it is normally given credit for.
Now, the concept of neoliberalism did not exist in ancient Athens. What should be relevant from
the video, though, is the symbolism, the structure of the social fabric, the hierarchy of socioeconomic classes, the relationships and interactions between the members of a society, the
institutional networks and systems that determine a society’s way of life, the cultural norms,
values and expectations on which coexistence and cooperation depend, the short and long-term
consequences of violating such norms, the relationship between the need for social order and the
impulse toward chaos, etc.
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And yes, I would certainly recommend you read Friedrich Nietzsche’s The Birth of Tragedy at some point.
Do make sure it’s an edition that includes his ‘Attempt at a Self-Criticism.’
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9. Explain in about 200 words how, for the Spartans, the Phalanx represented a model not
simply for military strategy and efficiency but for how an entire society ought to be structured and
animated. Also, how does dancing fit into this scheme?
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10. In around 750 words, describe three methods that the Spartans devised in order to create
and maintain eunomia (good order), both internally (with regard to those who were citizens) and
externally (with regard to those who were not citizens).
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11. Though virtually all subsequent empires have looked back to the Spartans as inspiration for
what it means to be true warriors and conquerors (from Alexander the Great all the way to
Napoleon, Churchill, Hitler and beyond), most have been silent about—and virtually none have
been willing to openly embrace and promote—the spartan enthusiasm for homosexuality.
In around 300 words, try to defend the proposition that, more than any other reason, the most
important factor in Sparta’s military success and reputation—as the most formidable warriors in
all human history—was ultimately due to their celebration and embrace of homosexuality.6
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For this exercise, it is irrelevant whether this explanation is factually correct or whether you personally
accept it. The point, as with many other questions in this assignment, is to get you to question your own
assumptions, and to think imaginatively about, and learn to enthusiastically defend, alternative possibilities
from the ones you are used to.
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