Many people talk about democracy, few of them
knowing the origin of it. When talking about Western culture, what comes to us
first are those extraordinary and valuable treasures left by ancient Hellenes
and Romans. Democracy, a political form popular in modern society, was first
invented by the Greeks, the founders Solon and Cleisthenes, in such golden
time. Solon and Cleisthenes lived in the fifth and sixth century BC; both were
leaders of the ancient Hellenes; both organized reforms beneficial to the peasants
and the masses. Some say that Solon is the first founder of democracy, and
Cleisthenes the second. It is true that they share a lot of similarities; however,
obviously their ideas are not the same.
Solon lived in a time when tyrannical polity
was still popular in Greece. Lots of tyrants using insidious or some illegal
methods to grab the power of the poleis, Athens, under the influences of them, was
also a polis ruled by tyrants, and Solon being one of them. Athens at that time
was separated into two partisans: one is the combination of aristocrats, the
other of demos. As a leader, Solon had to keep the society peaceful. So when
the rule of aristocrats became too strict to the demos and the slaves, it was
time for the leader to keep balance and give protection, in Solon’s poems the
idea of balance frequently appearing.
Things were different during Cleisthenes’
time. After the reformation carried on by Solon, Athens came to an era of
development, in the opposite the tyrannical polity diminishing. The incomplete
reform brought more and more problems, especially after Solon’s death,
representing a reform built by the reputation of a man failed. So Cleisthenes
must find a new way to balance both sides. He chose democracy, making him the
real founder of this polity. Demos were given more equality and political power
because of the construction of Ten Tribes and Council of 500. The former
divided the polis into 10 parts due to the places where people were, instead of
the positions and blood relationships; while the latter gave the opportunity
for more people to express their ideas of the polis. Hence, a democratic polity
was built.
Because of the time they lived in, Solon was
a tyrant while Cleisthenes an archon, and the partisans which each of them
represented varied a little. Though Solon abolished debt bondage system and
preserved personal freedom, it was the aristocrat’s interests that he supported
and protected, as he was in the higher rank in the society. So in his opinion,
to preserve personal freedom and give right to the demos meant to keep the
aristocrat ruling the society still. In contrary, Cleisthenes faced a worse
conflict between the lower and the upper classes. If he had not protected the
rights of the demos, the society would have been in chaos. So democracy was a
must. In this occasion, the passion of participating in political affairs was fully
encouraged and people were active at helping the polis to be better. So
Cleisthenes’ reform had a main proposal of protecting masses, different from
Solon’s protecting the society ruling.
To further give a comparison between their
reforms and ideas of reforms, it’s better to look at what other people
recognize them as both at that time. Aristotle, known as a great philosopher,
believed that Solon’s reforms “represented the beginning of democracy”, which
was “friendly to demos (dēmotikōtata)”. What is more, in Herodotus’ views, the
ancient authorities believed Cleisthenes was the founder of democracy, or at
least the second founder. Both mentioned “founder”, however they were from two
dimensions, one was for the idea Solon developed to protect the lowers, the
other was for the actions Cleisthenes took to protect the lowers.
Similarities and differences always go
together. Whatever the differences are, it is undoubted that Solon and
Cleisthenes are two of the greatest people in our world. Founding the polity of
democracy, they are also the founders of our modern society.
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