Greek society

No: Greek Society There was no or little application of word “ civil society” in ancient Greek. Society and state were merged into a new concept known as Polis. Polis was a society having no concept of individuality. The only freedom enjoyed by the people was political freedom instead of individual freedom. Few people believe that there was unity in Greek society which broke down slowly (Sotiropoulos & Karamagioli 39).
Ideology was the hallmark of Greek democracies. Democratic Athens allowed worthwhile freedom for private actions without any government interference. Ancient Greek economy was mostly based on “ underground economy” and was considered unsophisticated. Few philosophers show that historians have not understood the vital role played by women in Greek society. Women in Greek owed property and were respected in the society. By law, women were not prohibited to take part in activities of life (Burckhardt 67).
Presence of water channel allowed ancient Greek to focus on trade. Access to Africa, Europe and Asia through see route allowed Greek to become commercial society. Extensive trade gave a touch of westernization in the society. Middleman became prosperous and new trends in weapon and armory were introduced (Burckhardt 71-72).
Loans were given to ship owners as banking activity and financial transactions were part of ancient Greek life. Revolution in banking never stopped and different ways of commerce and trade were introduced (Sotiropoulos & Karamagioli 54).
Arts were part of old society and marks of Greek arts are still visible in ancient civilization. Gender distinction played minimal role in ancient Greek as women also enjoyed freedom of practicing all visions of life.
Works Cited
Burckhardt, J. The Greeks and Greek Civilization. HarperCollins UK, 1998.
Sotiropoulos, Dimitri A., & Karamagioli, E. ” Greek civil society: The Long road to maturity.” Civicus Civil Society Index Shortened Assessment Tool Report for the Case of Greece, Athens (2006).