Classics 362: Athenian Democracy

Explores key issues in the ideology and practice of Athenian democracy. Examines democratic values, institutions, rhetoric, and sociology in order to provide the basic tools to understand democracy in its ancient context. Engages with a variety of source material (literary, archaeological, epigraphic) in order to develop multiple skills of interpretation. Some questions examined include: What are the key features of Athenian democracy, how did it change over time, and how did it differ from modern democracy? How did the Athenians justify and critique this political system? How did they reconcile citizen egalitarianism with social inequalities of wealth, gender, and status? To what extent were women, foreigners, slaves, or the poor included or excluded from politics? Was Athenian democracy a robust political system or a system in crisis?