New Scholar Quotes All

Question 1

Jones on Solon

Answer 1

Solon laid a firm foundation on which democracy was invented

Question 2

Holland on Solon helping the poor

Answer 2

To the poor, Solon granted freedom and legal recourse against the abuse of the powerful

Question 3

Cartledge on Solon

Answer 3

Some claim Solon as a democratic pioneer, others as a more moderate reformer

Question 4

Jones on Cleisthenes and political equality

Answer 4

Cleisthenes only opened up the political system equally, did not give total control

Question 5

Lewis on Cleisthenes being a schemer

Answer 5

Cleisthenes was nothing more than an Alcmaeonid schemer, manoeuvring to promote his own aristocratic family

Question 6

Barrow on Cleisthenes not creating democracy

Answer 6

Cleisthenes didn’t create democracy any more than Solon. Archons were still supreme magistrates, but the framework of the future democracy had been laid down

Question 7

Hooper on Cleisthenes and the council

Answer 7

General structure of the council was very much Cleisthenes’ work

Question 8

Kagan on Pericles

Answer 8

Pericles reforms were as thoroughly democratic as the world has ever seen

Question 9

McWhorter on Pericles

Answer 9

Age of Pericles is one of the most brillaint, enlightened periods of all time

Question 10

Kagan on Athenians

Answer 10

Athenians kept management of their public life in the hands of the ordinary citizen

Question 11

Wyles on Politicians Influencing assembly

Answer 11

If a politician is a good speaker they can influence the assembly - ability to speak can make or break a policy

Question 12

Hooper on Blame shift

Answer 12

Athenians would rarely blame the council for mistakes, rather they’d blame politicians for duping the members

Question 13

Harris on the Council

Answer 13

Council was effectively the government of Athens

Question 14

Osborne on the Assembly

Answer 14

Assembly is the heart of Athenian Democracy

Question 15

Raymond on Demagogues rhetoric

Answer 15

Demagogues used their rhetoric skills to promote policies which advanced their self interests

Question 16

Horn on the Old Oligarch being positive

Answer 16

Not primarily attacking democracy, but how the democracy of the Athenians is made to work successfully and warn opponents not to interfere

Question 17

Gomme on Old Oligarch exaggerating

Answer 17

Old Oligarch is full of exaggerations

Question 18

Jones on Old Oligarch being hostile

Answer 18

Old Oligarch is deeply hostile to democracy

Question 19

McAleer on Plato and Wisdom

Answer 19

Wisdom is knowledge of what is best for the city as a whole

Question 20

McAleer on Plato and Sophists

Answer 20

Sophists do not possess wisdom, but its unsurprising it passes for wisdom, as most of us are prey to flattery - they make people think they’re wise through use of rhetoric

Question 21

Decharme on Eumenides inspiring people

Answer 21

Aeschylus wanted to inspire people with confidence in its institution and themselves

Question 22

Hook on Eumenides and Glory

Answer 22

Areopagus is glorious and worthy of Eternal reverence

Question 23

Hook on Eumenides and Patrioticism

Answer 23

Eumenides is patriotic

Question 24

Hook on Suppliants praise

Answer 24

Sings praises of Athens

Question 25

Decharme on Suppliants having issues

Answer 25

Euripides didn’t ignore or overlook issues that can arise when the masses have control over public matters

Question 26

Seaford on Suppliants defence of democracy

Answer 26

Suppliants is the most persuasive defence of democracy that we’ve seen from the ancient world

Question 27

Pope on Thucydides and Democracy and Oligarchy

Answer 27

In the conflict between Democracy and Oligarchy, Thucydides disproves of both

Question 28

Pope on Thucydides and Balance

Answer 28

Thucydides unconsciously or consciously balances the account on both sides

Question 29

Macdowell on Acharnians and Dikaiopolis

Answer 29

Dikaiopolis acts without consent of the community because they’ve never been able to express their views

Question 30

Macdowell on Acharnians and Low Attendance

Answer 30

Low attendance allowed decisions to be made by self interested politicians

Question 31

Wyles on Acharnians and participation

Answer 31

Existence of Scythian Archers suggets participation was a real issue

Question 32

Macdowell on Assemblywomen

Answer 32

Audience would’ve found the passages boring rather than funny if there was no truth in them

Question 33

Macdowell on Knights support in ‘Knights’

Answer 33

Knights are so hostile to Cleon that they’d support anyone who has a chance of ousting him, even the sausage seller

Question 34

Macdowell on Cleons’ rhetoric in Knights

Answer 34

Just as sausage seller adds sweeteners to sausgages, Cleon does so in his policies, making them seem more acceptable to the assembly by using his oratory skills

Question 35

Macdowell on Sausage Seller in Knights

Answer 35

Sausage seller is a scoundrel from a family of scoundrels

Question 36

Cartledge on Wasps discredit

Answer 36

Aristophanes uses populist comedy to discredit the Political system

Question 37

Macdowell on Frogs foreshadowing failure

Answer 37

Outcome of the PW been due to failings in the democratic system of government

Question 38

Edith Hall on Aristophanes and Politics

Answer 38

Comedy was intimately tied to democracy