The Greek Polis and the Invention of Democracy presents a series of essays that trace the Greeks' path to democracy and examine the connection between the Greek polis as a citizen state and democracy as well as the interaction between democracy and various forms of cultural expression from a comparative historical perspective and with special attention to the place of Greek democracy in political thought and debates about democracy throughout the centuries.
- Presents an original combination of a close synchronic and long diachronic examination of the Greek polis - city-states that gave rise to the first democratic system of government
- Offers a detailed study of the close interactionbetween democracy, society, and the arts in ancient Greece
- Places the invention of democracy in fifth-century bce Athens both in its broad social and cultural context and in the context of the re-emergence of democracy in the modern world
- Reveals the role Greek democracy played in the political and intellectual traditions that shaped modern democracy, and in the debates about democracy in modern social, political, and philosophical thought
- Written collaboratively by an international team of leading scholars in classics, ancient history, sociology, and political science
One of the hallmarks of Greek civilization was the polis - city-states that gave rise to the first democratic system of government. But was the polis of ancient Athens really the birthplace of what we now view as modern democracy? The Greek Polis and the Invention of Democracy presents a comprehensive series of essays that trace the Greeks' path to democracy and examine the connection between the Greek polis as a citizen state and democracy from a comparative historical perspective, and with reference to recent debates on the Axial Age and its impact on world history.
Written collaboratively by an international team of leading scholars in classics, ancient history, sociology, and political science, essays address the interaction between democracy and forms of cultural expression in Athens during the classical period, the place and role of politics in the ancient Greek world, and the place of Greek democracy in political thought and debates about democracy throughout the centuries. Scholarly and thought-provoking, The Greek Polis and the Invention of Democracy offers illuminating insights into our links to the past while revealing ways that the concept of ancient Greek democracy has shaped - or not shaped - modern democracy.
