Some historians claim that the Greeks invented the West’s definition of “freedom.” According to the primary sources we’ve looked at this week, how did the ancient Greeks define “freedom?”

1.Some historians claim that the Greeks invented the West’s definition of “freedom.” According to the primary sources we’ve looked at this week, how did the ancient Greeks define “freedom?” Does this definition reflect our modern notions of what it means to be free? Why or why not?

The definition of “freedom” for the Greeks is closely intertwined with the identification of who can and cannot participate in government and politics. It is possible that “freedom” would not have needed to be defined if Greece had not evolved into their particular brand of democratic city-states. For Aristotle, the basic definition of freedom is simple: “… but as the man is free, we say, who exists for his own sake and not for another’s” (Aristotle, Metaphysics,

part 2). To Aristotle, the most basic maxim of freedom is that a man is not controlled or dependent on another for his living and sustenance. When a man is able to provide for himself (and his family, by extension), he is able to take a more intellectual stance: “… for it is when almost all the necessities of life and the things that make for comfort and recreation have been secured, that such knowledge began to be sought” (Aristotle, Metaphysics, part 2). So for the ancient Greeks, the concept of freedom primarily revolves around a man not being a slave. This distinction conveys certain political rights and obligations to the man as a citizen of his polis (Martin, 68). This is a concept that can resonate with the stress and importance that Americans put on freedom: the ability to participate in the government gives the citizen a swell of pride at the thought of their civic obligation. For the Greeks, this freedom was indeed a privilege, not a right. A failure to uphold the proper conduct expected of a Greek citizen could see him stripped of his rights. “If the tenants failed to pay their rent they were liable to be haled into slavery” (Aristotle, Athenian Constitution, part 2). This conditional allowance of participation in the Greek brand of democracy is also echoed in the higher offices of politics, “…if any member of the Council failed to attend when there was a sitting of the Council […], he paid a fine” (Aristotle, Athenian Constitution, part 2). This line reaffirms that the right to participate was a responsibility as well as a privilege. While the Greeks defined freedom in a way that modern people can recognize, despite the overwhelming majority of western civilization taking this particular brand of freedom as a guaranteed human right, it is important to note that this was only the most basic definition of freedom for the Greeks. The independence of each polis in their style of political practice meant that freedom in each city-state meant something different. Athens was the general exception to this basic right, and expanded it to allow much more personal liberty than could be found at other city-states (Constance, para. 10). This led me to an interesting thought about the difference between Greek freedom and modern ideas about freedom. Western culture draws from the Greek culture in defining freedom. If a person or society depends on a strong government to procure a living and social safety nets (such as a government with strong welfare programs), are they then in violation of Aristotle’s above qualifications for freedom, that a person independently finds a mode of sustaining themselves? Are the suspicions and paranoia about socialism and communism founded in this sense of independence, that a person is not free in the Western sense because one can argue that the government interferes in their life? Bibliography: Aristotle. “The Athenian Constitution.” Translated by Sir Frederic G. Kenyon. The Internet Classics Archive. 350 B.C.E. Accessed July 9, 2019. http://classics.mit.edu/Aristotle/athenian_const.1.1.html. Aristotle. “Metaphysics,” trans. W.D. Ross. Fordham University Ancient History Sourcebook. 350 B.C.E. Accessed July 9, 2019. https://sourcebooks.fordham.edu/ancient/aristotle-metaphysics.txt. Benjamin Constant. The Liberty of Ancients Compared with that of Moderns. (Unknown, 1819). https://oll.libertyfund.org/titles/2251#Constant_Liberty1521_11. Martin, Thomas R.. 2013. Ancient Greece : From Prehistoric to Hellenistic Times. New Haven: Yale University Press. Accessed July 2, 2019. ProQuest Ebook Central. 2.# 4: Some historians claim that the Greeks invented the West’s definition of “freedom.” According to the primary sources we’ve looked at this week, how did the ancient Greeks define “freedom?” Does this definition reflect our modern notions of what it means to be free? Why or why not? Freedom in a sense can be a universal term. Everyone desires, yet very few have the courage to actually fight for it. Many militaries over the years took training mottos and historical facts from armies like those of Sparta. The Spartans as we all knew prided themselves not only by being a powerful people, but also a free people. We in the West took the word freedom when we liberated ourselves from England. Unless I missed the mark this week, this is how I am interpreting this. The Greeks of course are a strong people. Some of the worlds most famous philosophers came from there, and spread their message of knowledge and wisdom. Even these people spoke of freedom, just some a different kind. Socrates in a sense spoke of and preached religious freedom. This was relevant when he was arrested and tried for corrupting the youth of Greece by telling them to question and challenge things. Though this was not his intention to come off as evil, it is how it was viewed. Not necessarily like the movie 300, that battle at Platea was to keep Persians from invading and burning Greece. Our nation has fought for our freedom as well as by instilling what freedom means in her soldiers, assisted in freeing countries from tyranny for hundreds of years. “In addition, the city-state of Athens is considered the birthplace of intellectual freedom and democracy – lasting legacies that helped to mold the ideas that have influenced the development of Western civilization”(Ebeling 2016). With Athens being the forward in spreading this types of theories, the idea of freedom has been an important thought in Greece for thousands of years, as well as spreading that philosophy