Aim: Why no “kings” among the Greeks? What form of government should take its place?

From Homer to Herodotus: why no true monarchs? Geography: city-states (poli), rather than kingdoms Culture / State-Building - more tribal, like Jacobsen’s “primitive democracy” Technology: the phalanx/hoplites – creates “citizen landholders” with rights - why? Athens as a special case: The poor rowed its ships, demanded equal rights

From Homer to Herodotus: why no monarchs? A period of experimentation: Tyrannies Oligarchies Direct democracies No one idea dominated for long in any city Debate about which form was best – and best for who – the state or the individual?

From Herodotus to Sophocles: the needs of the individual, the needs of the state Who was right and wrong? Doesn’t Creon have right to expect she will follow the law? What if no one followed the law? Can “exceptional individuals” decide not to follow the law? What if the law or state is wrong? How does this relate to what’s going on in the Greek world? How does this relate to our world?

Socrates, Plato, Aristotle all were opponents of direct democracy Socrates taught the oligarchs of Athens, who tried to end direct democracy, and justified it intellectually because the common people were blockheads Plato believed in a state run by philosopher-kings – those most capable of getting to the truth Aristotle was the tutor of Alexander the Great and felt only those of the “middle class” should be part of government, not the uneducated “mob”

Were the Greeks unique or may there have been many other societies debating these types of questions before “empire” established itself?