Athens: The Conflict Between Oligarchy And Democracy

The conflict between oligarchy and democracy often seems to be a relatively recent phenomenon for many in the modern world, however it is often disregarded that this conflict goes back millennia in the western world, all the way back to ancient Greece, and specifically back to the city-state of Athens. Though very different from the modern, western concept of democracy, Athens’ democratic system was revolutionary for it’s time and often stirred conflict between democratic and oligarchic forces, not only within Athenian society, but also among it and other city-states such as Sparta, and Greece as a whole.
Before beginning, the terms oligarchy and democracy should be defined. For sake of this essay the term democracy will be loosely defined
First a bit of background on the rise of democracy in Athens. In 594 B.C. an Athenian reformer by the name of Solon attempted to break a political monopoly of various aristocratic families, and in the process abolished debt slavery, opened access to public office to a greater amount of people, and allowed all citizens of Athens to participate in it’s legislative body. 50 years later another reformer, Cleisthenes, defied the tradition of appointing based on heritage and familial ties, introduced political appointment via public lottery, and the idea of Ostracism, by which one is banished from Athens for threatening democracy. Also during this time, the Persian War struck the Greek peninsula, radicalizing Athenian politics in the direction of democracy against the “tyrannical” Persians. Additionally, the lower classes gradually obtained citizenship, usually via gaining influence in the military (another reason the Persian war contributed to democracy), but at the same time, these reforms brought great class conflict, nearly leading to Athenian civil war on several
As already stated Socrates believes that democracy will lead to moral relativism among the citizenry, and additionally that relativism will spread not only throughout all of society where father is equal to son, but it will even extend to noncitizens. Additionally, Socrates believes that democracy and the decadence and relativism that follows will cause the people to be weak-willed and easily manipulated by a demagogue, which will necessarily come about, because according to Socrates, the people always have a champion. This champion arises as a “protector of the people”, and acquires influence by fulfilling the mob’s wishes, and various other methods until he has enough power to purge his enemies and take