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Beliefs & Ideas
Component 31: Greek Religion
> General Resources
> Quizzes
> Further Reading
Component 32: Love and Relationships
> General Resources
> Quizzes
> Further Reading
> Videos
Component 33: Politics of the Late Republic
> General Resources
Component 34: Democracy and the Athenians
> General Resources
> Quizzes
> Further Reading
Ober, J. (2008) Democracy and Knowledge. Woodstock: Princeton University Press.
Ober argues that democracy provided great benefits to Athens, particularly in the way that direct democracy allowed the state to make use of a range of knowledge.
Ehrenberg, V. (2010) From Solon to Socrates. Abingdon: Routledge.
A classic work. Chapters 3 to 8 provide good information for the student of Athenian democracy and society.
Cartledge, P. (2016) Democracy: A Life. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
A scholarly book for the general reader which traces the development of democracy from its earliest forms. It has good chapters on the development of Athenian democracy.
Lewis, J. D. (2013) Early Greek Lawgivers. London: Bloomsbury, chapter 6.
Offers a short introduction to Solon. A useful starting point for the student.
Blok, J. and Lardinois, P. M. H. (2006) Solon of Athens: New Historical and Philological Approaches. Leiden: Brill.
A more advanced book, with detailed essays on aspects of Solon’s life and career. Useful as further reading.
Hall, H. (2014) A History of the Archaic Greek World. Chichester: John Wiley & Sons.
A view of the development of political and social systems in the Greek world during the 8th to the 6th centuries, drawing particularly on archaeology. A very good read, which encourages scepticism of some of the ancient textual sources about the period.
Ehrenburg, V. (1950) ‘Origins of Democracy’ in Historia, 1: 514–48.
An essay analysing what we know about the reforms of Cleisthenes and their context.
Anderson, G. (2003) The Athenian Experiment. Michigan: University of Michigan Press.
A careful analysis of the evidence for the development of Athenian democracy, with detailed footnotes and a good source list.
Ober, J. (1996) The Athenian Revolution. Woodstock: Princeton University Press, chapter 4.
An excellent book from a leading academic which combines both historical analysis and political theory.
Rhodes, P. J. (2006) A History of the Classical Greek World. Oxford: Blackwell, chapters 4 & 5.
A very useful detailed summary of the events and developments of the 5th century, backed up by sources.
Hansen, M. H. (1991) Athenian Democracy in the Age of Demosthenes. Oxford: Blackwell, chapters 5, 6, 9 and 10.
Despite the title of the book, these chapters include discussion of 5th-century sources and structures.
Azoulay, V. (2010) Pericles of Athens. Princeton: Princeton University Press.
An assessment of Pericles’ life and how he has been assessed by later generations, focusing on the crucial question of what it is to be a leading man in a democracy.
Ma, J., Papazarkadas, N., and Parker R. eds (2009) Interpreting the Athenian Empire. London: Bloomsbury.
An analysis of the Athenian Empire, and how it developed under the Athenian democratic system.
Finley, M. I. (1985) Democracy Ancient and Modern. London: Hogarth.
Five essays by a leading 20th century scholar comparing ancient and modern democracy.
Buckley, T. (2010) Aspects of Greek History. Abingdon: Routledge, chapters 13 & 14.
A very good and clear summary for students of the events of the period, backed up by sources.
Azoulay, V. (2010) Pericles of Athens. Princeton: Princeton University Press.
An assessment of Pericles’ life and how he has been assessed by later generations, focusing on the crucial question of what it is to be a leading man in a democracy.
Hansen, M. H. (1991) Athenian Democracy in the Age of Demosthenes. Oxford: Blackwell, chapter 4.
Despite the title of the book, this chapter on ideology includes discussion of 5th-century sources including Pericles’ funeral oration.
Jones, A. H. M. (1960) Athenian Democracy. Baltimore: John Hopkins University Press, chapter 3.
Jones, having pointed out how few Athenians have left us with a written celebration of their democracy, looks to reconstruct what proponents of Athenian democracy would have said in defence of the institution.
Harris, E. M. (2006) Democracy and the Rule of Law in Classical Athens. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, chapter 2.
This chapter focuses on the key contrast between Athens and Sparta in Pericles’ oration.
Goldhill, S. (1987) ‘The Great Dionysia and Civic Ideology’, Journal of Hellenic Studies 107: pp. 58–76.
Assesses the importance of appreciating the context in which comedies and tragedies were performed.
Rhodes, P. J. (2003) ‘Nothing to do with Democracy: Athenian drama and the polis’, Journal of Hellenic Studies 123: pp. 104–119
An interesting assessment of the importance of democracy to our understanding of Greek tragedy.
Blackburn, S. (2012) Plato’s Republic. London: Atlantic Books.
An interesting and accessible book covering some of the key questions thrown up by Plato’s Republic.
Schofield, M. (2000) ‘Approaching the Republic’ in Rowe, C. J., and Schofield, M. (eds) The Cambridge History of Greek and Roman Political Thought, pp. 190–232, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
An explanation of the philosophical context in which Plato/Socrates outline ideas of the ideal state and an assessment of some of the key issues.
Santas, G. (2010) Understanding Plato’s Republic. Oxford: Wiley-Blackwell.
An accessible introduction to the text and the key concept of justice - Chapter 8 is particularly relevant, as it discusses Socrates’ criticisms of democracy.
Ober, J. (1999) Political Dissent in Democratic Athens. Chichester: Princeton University Press
Ober assesses the ideas and aims of key ancient critics of democracy, including the Old Oligarch, Plato, Aristotle and Thucydides. Chapter 1 on the Old Oligarch and chapter 4 on Plato are especially useful.
Osborne, R. (2004) The Old Oligarch: Pseudo-Xenophon’s Constitution of the Athenians. London: London Association of Classical Teachers
A really useful edition of the text, with an excellent introduction and interesting and thoughtful commentary.
Cartledge, P. (1990) Aristophanes and His Theatre of the Absurd. London: Bloomsbury Academic
An accessible introduction to Aristophanes in his wider social, political and religious context, with a useful discussion of how to assess Aristophanes’ own views on the key issues of the day.
MacDowell, D.M. (1995) Aristophanes and Athens: An Introduction to the Plays. Oxford: Oxford University Press
A classic study of the plays of Aristophanes, with chapters on each play.
Dover, K. (1972) Aristophanic Comedy. London: Batsford
An overview of Aristophanes, with particular attention paid to his techniques for achieving humour, emphasising the role of the comic poet in criticising society.
Bowie, A. (1996) Aristophanes: Myth, Ritual and Comedy. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
A more advanced study, which focuses on the context in which the plays were performed, and what elements would have affected the audience’s reception.
