Plato's View Of Athenian Democracy

Compared to the modern theories of democracy that were developed during the Enlightenment era, certain aspects of the Athenian democracy structure, including the pure Athenian male citizenship and constant law modifications that reduced protection for the people, made the system less democratic. The term “democracy” originates from the Greek language to mean the “power of the people”, which is not seen within the Greek democracy, as only pure Athenian men were allowed citizenship, the right to vote, and be involved politically. Complications concerning discriminated people’s rights have always been an issue; the Athenian democracy is to be “of the people”, yet has privileged a specific group of men that make up the lesser of the population, …show more content…
Much of Plato’s ideas on government are published in his work The Republic, such as his “Allegory of the Cave” that briefly demonstrated Plato’s belief that the human soul and city were made of the same parts, yet each individual was swayed by one and those who were rulers or philosophers, who had been enlightened with the truth, were those truly fit to lead a society, unlike the unified ruling of a democracy. The philosophers were the people who were never searching for power and control over others, as they were focused on discovering the perfect society for everyone, even while they were more fit to lead than those in charge, at least in Plato’s mind. More evident in “Plato’s Cave” than his perspective on the soul and city, Plato expressed his views on how those who have been revealed to the light, or the truth, such as Socrates, can later be killed for attempting to reveal to others these beliefs, alike to how Socrates was put on trial and sentenced to death. During the time when Socrates was still alive, Plato became his disciple and seemed to idolize him and was deeply affected when his democratic society betrayed and killed Socrates for sharing his findings and beliefs, which would have led to Plato’s issues with democracy. Plato’s views on the Athenian democracy were shaped by his personal experiences of Socrates death and his beliefs in a perfect society, two ideas that ultimately led to the philosophers problems with the democracy as a