Cleisthenes the Athenian: An Essay on the Representation of Space and Time in Greek Political Thought from the End of the Sixth Century to the Death of Plato

by Pierre Lévêque, Pierre Vidal-Naquet, David Ames Curtis (Editor)

Two thousand five hundred years ago, in 507–506 B.C.E., the institutions of Athen were rocked by the reforms of Cleisthenes. Although the word did not yet exist, here was the foundation of democracy. First published in French in 1964, Cleisthenes the Athenian has become the classic study of the philosophical, political, and aesthetic background and significance of these reforms.The book has influenced a generation of scholars in anthropology, sociology, urban planning, political science, philosophy, and classical studies. This English translation contains the complete text of the original essay and is supplemented by a discussion among Vidal-Naquet, Leveque, and the philosopher Cornelius Castoriadis on the invention of democracy, as well as a new authors' introduction.

Genres: History

216 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1996

About the author

Pierre Lévêque was a French historian specializing on Greece.

Reviews

[Katelis Viglas · Rating 5 out of 5]

Historical study, by two specialists of French Historical Psychology school. A detailed analysis of the innovations made by Cleisthenes the Athenian in the archaic and classic Athens. The so important Cleisthenes's reformes are examined throught a new perspective, a new light shedded on them. In the social and political life of Cleisthenes's Athens the parameters of science, philosophy and Art play for first time so much important roles, as for producing civilization, and of course, democracy.
They are mainly structuralistic approaches, which reduce sociology to geometry and geography.