FROM THE "NATIONAL" TO THE POLITICAL CONSCIOUSNESS IN ATHENS OF THE 6TH CENTURY BCE, AND THE EMERGENCE OF DEMOCRACY

Eleni Krikona

Abstract


This paper addresses the construction of a "national" identity of the Athenian inhabitants during the tyrannical governance of Peisistratos and his sons (561/0-511/0 BCE) mainly through a series of religious practices, such as the transfer of cults from the rural areas to the city (asty) of Athens, the reorganization of the Panathenaia, the establishment of the City Dionysia, etc. The present paper investigates how this developed "national" consciousness in the late 6th century, in the sense of the citizens’ nationalization within the borders of the Athenian city-state, could enable the political unification of Attica and the emergence of Democracy, taking into account the constitutional reforms of Kleisthenes the Alcmeonid, after the expulsion of the Peisistratidai. This paper focuses on the interpretation of the concept of political equality and the formation of a political identity of the Athenians in the late 6th century onwards, two notions which are treated here as very closely integrated. It was that political consciousness, following the constitutional changes of Kleisthenes, which led the Athenians to their first great military victories in the early 5th century over the Persians. These victories, which indisputably confirmed the strength of the constitution, will be brought, in short, into discussion in order to clarify the transition of Athens from the narrow borders of an archaic city-state to the rise of its naval empire in the "golden" 5th century via the newly established Democracy. 
 

Keywords


Sixth century Athens; festivals; Kleisthenes the Alcmeonid; political identity; Athenian Democracy

Full Text: PDF

DOI: 10.14795/j.v3i1.150

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