Athens is remembered as the first democratic society. Many
of the ancient city-state’s early philosophers also popularized groundbreaking
perspectives on human rights, although to modern society, their ideas still appear quite
primitive.
Draco was an Athenian politician whose early law
code was extremely harsh. Death was the most popular punishment he prescribed for even
seemingly insignificant crimes. However, we credit him as the creator of the first
written law code in Greece. This was significant for all Athenians, but especially for
the poor but a written law code could not be altered for the benefit of the rich. Unlike
other societies in the ancient world, Athens recognized the idea of freedom. In
contrast, the Greeks granted the right to vote to all its citizen men, of every social
class.
Aristotle taught his students that Greeks were not
to be enslaved by other Greeks because they were born to be free men, unlike the
barbarian who depended on the Greeks to enslave them because they were inferior to their
masters. Although we know better now, Aristotle and his contemporaries were exploring
the concept of human rights without the benefit of any other society who believed in the
humane treatment of all men and women.
Source: Charles
Freeman, Egypt, Greece, and Rome. 174.
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