Ostracism In Athenia Essay

INTRODUCTION: The concept of democracy used in Athenian society is derived from the word Demos-Kratos, which translates to ‘power to the people’ they achieved this by, for example, giving people the power to vote on the operation and execution of legislations. This system is well known for its stability and strength which have allowed an outline for modern western politics. Powerful Athenian statesmen, Kleisthenes, who reigned from 508BC, and Pericles, who reigned from 461-429 BC, significantly developed Athenian democracy through various reforms, these reforms constituted a remarkable re-shaping of Athenian society. They revised the citizenship law, the process of ostracism and the system of government, introducing reforms that would change the history of Ancient Greece. However, the equal rights were restricted to
The existence of ostracism was vital in the years after the defeat of the Persian invasion at Marathon in 492 BC, as tyranny was one of the main threats to Athens, however ostracism was used as a defence mechanism against this issue, along with Persian aggression. This reveals that, ostracism was used to relieve military tensions, ultimately decreasing the amount of political tension, as military disputes strongly correlate with politics. From this, we can see that ostracism served as a vital process in allowing citizens of all economic and social backgrounds to actively voice their beliefs in the political system, as well as reducing political tensions for the period in which it was utilized. The Athenian concept of democracy was successful in allowing a broad group of participants and hence ‘power to the people’, but it entailed limitations and its advantages only applied to an Athenian citizen as determined by the citizenship