The Greek city-state Athens created mass contributions to western civilization.
A first aspect of western civilization that was a contribution of Athens was.
government. Solon, a main known for his fairness, created reforms for the.
Athenian government because of a possible threat of rebellion against the poor and.
rich. His reforms enabled all male citizens to vote, a judicial plan, canceled debt.
and promoted industry. The system allowed all citizens to take part in the.
government, which was the first democracy. Cliesthenes later improved on the.
reforms, creating a council, making Athens a full democracy. Without Solon and.
Cliesthenes, we probably wouldn't by governed as we do now. We might of even.
still be governed by a king or an aristocracy. To add, salaries for public officials.
came from Pericles's actions; to make the government even stronger.
Another aspect of Athens that affects the western civilization is the.
philosophy of the time. Some of the great philosophers in Athens, besides the law.
giver, Solon, were Socrates, Plato, Aristotle. Socrates was a very ugly, but very.
wise man. He would go around asking questions that was simple to answer and.
explore those answers with further questioning until the questions become.
unanswerable. His questioning frustrated people and they wanted to accuse him of.
corrupting youth. This led to his death. Socrates taught the Athenians and other.
Greeks to think and to search for wisdom. Socrates" death then led to another.
great philosopher, Plato. He was the pupil of Socrates and when he was put to.
death, Plato was infuriated. Plato was perplexed that Socrates, whom is just, was.
put to death for injustice. He felt the citizens of Athens could not create justice.
and govern themselves. He wrote a book, The Republic, in which he illustrates his.
perfect society. This book was practiced by Europe for 1,500 years and also gave.
Greeks his piece of mind. A student out of Plato, Aristotle was a man hungry like.
