The daily life of an ancient Greek was very similar to our lives today. Greek society was similar to the society that most of us enjoy today because it was full of a rich culture. This means that ancient Greeks could enjoy exotic foods, good music, and read literature, just as we do today.

The Greek idea of democracy was different from present-day democracy because, in Athens, all adult citizens were required to take an active part in the government. Each year 500 names were chosen from all the citizens of ancient Athens. Those 500 citizens had to actively serve in the government for one year.

1 Athenian Democracy Was Exclusive The rights afforded to citizens and non-citizens differed greatly, whereas the current American system provides equal protection to all citizens.

In Ancient Greece, democracy helped to pick a leader among the citizens. For the reason that there was democracy, people couldn’t just be a leader, they had to be elected by the citizens first. People in Ancient Greece believed that citizens should choose rulers, and vote on matters themselves.

The word ‘democracy’ has its origins in the Greek language. It combines two shorter words: ‘demos’ meaning whole citizen living within a particular city-state and ‘kratos’ meaning power or rule. A belief in shared power: based on a suspicion of concentrated power (whether by individuals, groups or governments).

Athenian democracy developed around the 6th century BC in the Greek city-state (known as a polis) of Athens, comprising the city of Athens and the surrounding territory of Attica.

Oligarchy. For the Greeks (or more particularly the Athenians) any system which excluded power from the whole citizen-body and was not a tyranny or monarchy was described as an oligarchy. Oligarchies were perhaps the most common form of city-state government and they often occurred when democracy went wrong.

Athens is often regarded as the birthplace of democracy and remains an important reference point for democracy. Literature about the Athenian democracy spans over centuries with the earliest works being The Republic of Plato and Politics of Aristotle, continuing with Discourses of Niccolò Machiavelli.

Similarities between US and Athens are that US and Athens have a democracy. They both allow men to vote. One difference is that US has a representative democracy and Athens has a direct democracy. In Athens only men that owned property are allowed to vote.

Pericles, (born c. 495 bce, Athens—died 429, Athens), Athenian statesman largely responsible for the full development, in the later 5th century bce, of both the Athenian democracy and the Athenian empire, making Athens the political and cultural focus of Greece.