The Greek Polis
Originator of Political Philosophy
And Science
Brief History of Greece
• The first great civilization in Greece and
Crete was the Minoan.
• It lasted roughly from 2000 BCE until 1400
BCE.
• Around 1400 BCE, the Mycenaean
civilization supplanted the Minoan, and
dominated Greece until about 1100 BCE,
when barbarians known as Dorians
invaded.
Emergence of the Polis,
or Greek City-State
• Starting around 800 BCE a new
civilization, the Hellenic, became dominant
in Greece.
• The Hellenic civilization was composed of
two strands, the Dorian and the Ionian.
• This civilization gave rise to a new form of
social/political organization: the polis.
The Polis
• The polis was an independent, self-
governing city of between 50,000 and
300,000 people.
• Several dozen polises (Greek “poleis”)
dotted the Greek countryside
• In each polis, politics, religion, and social
life were closely intertwined.
Types of Government
• Two types of government were used in the
Greek Polises.
• The Dorians generally had an oligarchic
form of government.
• The Greek word oligarchy means rule by
the few.
• The Ionians developed the first democratic
form of government.
• Democracy means rule by the people.
Sparta and Athens
• Generally speaking, the Dorians depended
upon agriculture, while the Ionians were
seafarers and merchants.
• The two primary polises were Sparta and
Athens.
• Sparta was Dorian, oligarchic, and had an
agriculture-based economy.
• Athens was Ionian, democratic, and
depended on seafaring and trade.
Foreign Wars
• The greatest challenge to Hellenic
civilization came from Persia, to the east.
• Greece fought two Persian wars, in 490
BCE, and in 481 BCE.
• The Greek polises formed an alliance, led
by Sparta and Athens.
• The Greeks won both wars, ensuring that
the roots of western civilization would
include Greek thought.
The Great War
• After the Persian Wars, Greece was
divided into two power blocs.
• One, the Peloponnesian League, was led
by Sparta.
• The other was the Delian League, led by
Athens.
• These power blocs fought a great war,
from 431-404 BCE.
THE PELOPONNESIAN WAR,
431-404 BC
• During the war, the soldiers of the
Peloponnesian League besieged the cities
of the Delian League by land.
• The Delian League used its navies to
supply itself with food, and to harass the
home cities of its enemies.
• The Spartans and their allies finally
defeated Athens and its allies.
Socrates and The Rise of
Political Philosophy
• One of the greatest contributions of
Hellenic Civilization was its origination of
political philosophy.
• Just before and during the Great War, an
Athenian citizen, Socrates, began raising
questions such as, “What is justice?”
• Socrates asked these questions of his
fellow citizens, in public places.
Socrates (c. 469- 399 B.C.E.)
The Socratic Method
• Socrates’ mode of inquiry, asking
questions and analyzing the answers,
became known as the Socratic Method.
• Socrates was perceived by many
Athenians as a threat to their settled way
of life.
• He was finally put to death by Athens for
impiety and corrupting the young.
Death of Socrates
Jacques-Louis David (1748–1825)
Plato (c. 429- c. 349 B.C.E)
Plato
• Socrates’ most famous student was Plato, who
wrote the first great works of political philosophy.
• Plato’s most famous work is The Republic,
• Plato’s books are written as dialogues, or
conversations.
• These conversations are usually between a
character named Socrates, and other Athenian
citizens.
• In the Republic, Socrates is portrayed as talking
to two young men, Adeimantus and Glaucon.
Plato and Aristotle
from School of Athens by Raphael
Aristotle
• Plato started a school, called The Academy.
• His most famous student was Aristotle.
• Aristotle wrote many works of philosophy, and
made the first systematic effort to collect and
organize information on a wide variety of topics.
• Aristotle might be considered the first scientist.
• His works are written as treatises, which are
more systematic, but much drier than dialogues.
• One of these is the Politics, the first systematic
treatise on politics.