Athens: Birthplace of Democracy?
The Ancients
History Hit
4.7 • 4.5K Ratings
🗓️ 27 April 2023
⏱️ 66 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
When we think of democracy in the ancient Greek world, our minds often go straight to Athens, the purported birthplace of democracy. But was Athens truly the home of democracy? And if so, who's responsible for giving a voice to the people?
In this episode, Tristan chats to Professor Paul Cartledge from the University of Cambridge about the political landscape of ancient Greece and the origins of this revolutionary form of government. Looking at the radical statesman Cleisthenes; exploring his contributions to the democratic process, and delving into ancient forms of political exclusion and ostracism - can we really call Athens the birthplace of democracy? And if not, where actually is?
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | It's the Entrance on History Hit. |
| 0:13.4 | I'm Tristan Hughes your host and in today's episode, well I don't think on the podcast |
| 0:19.1 | before we've ever dedicated an episode to a particular form of government in ancient |
| 0:24.5 | history. |
| 0:25.5 | We're starting to change that today because in this episode we're talking all about |
| 0:30.2 | democracy. |
| 0:31.6 | Democracy in the ancient Greek world. |
| 0:35.4 | Now when someone mentions democracy in ancient Greece, many people's minds may well immediately |
| 0:40.1 | go to the city state of Athens, renowned as the birthplace of democracy. |
| 0:45.6 | And yes, Athens will play a prominent role in today's episode. |
| 0:51.1 | But was it really the home of democracy? |
| 0:53.8 | What did democracy mean in ancient Greece? |
| 0:56.5 | How was it structured and how does it evolve down through the centuries? |
| 1:02.0 | And also how did certain prominent figures, how did they view democracy? |
| 1:06.6 | Were they enamored by it? |
| 1:08.2 | Or did they despise it? |
| 1:10.1 | Or to explain all of this and so much more, I was delighted to get back on the podcast |
| 1:15.6 | a legend of the ancient history world. |
| 1:19.1 | His name is Paul Carstage, the agey Leventus senior research fellow at Claire College, Cambridge. |
| 1:26.1 | Paul, he is fantastic. |
| 1:28.0 | He is such an engaging and eloquent speaker and I really do hope you enjoy. |
| 1:36.5 | Paul, it is wonderful to have you back on the podcast after so long. |
... |
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