Athenian Democracy

Catalog description

Discussion-based seminar familiarizes participants with the origins, characteristic institutions and political ideology of the Athenian democracy of the 5th and 4th centuries BCE. Engages selected topics in the study of Athenian democracy and gives participants an idea of the substance of contemporary debates within scholarship. Topics will include: The origins of the Athenian democracy; women, slaves, and other subordinate social groups within the democracy; elite critique of democratic ideology and episodes of outright civil war; leaders and masses; the role of the court system within the democracy; democracy and the Athenian empire; and violence in Athenian society. The goal of the course, in addition to a greater familiarity with the Athenian democracy, will be a research paper with a well-chosen topic and a distinctive thesis.