transformation of government
- During the seventh and sixth centuries BCE, aristrocrats ran the show in most of Greece
Aristocracy
- Aristocrats: members of the ruling class
- they attended symposiums, meetings where the elite men would enjoy wine and poetry, performances by dancers and acrobats, and the company of hetaeras (courtesans) while discussing politics
an exclusive club
- no women except the “entertainment
- no middle class
- no slaves
- sometimes, even certain aristocrats were excluded
Tyrants seize control
- sometimes aristocrats would form alliances with hoplites (well-armed soldiers), and set up an alternative form of gov’t called a tyranny
- tyrant: someone who rules outside the framework of the polis
- modern meaning of tyrant: an abusive or oppressive ruler
- the Greek meaning of tyrant: someone who
clash of the tyrants
- Hippias was a tyrant who ruled from 527 to 510 BCE
- his brother was murdered, and his rule became harsh
- eventually he was expelled from Athens (this is called being ostracized)
- in revenge, he began working with the Persian king Darius I, helping them invade Marathon
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