Ancient Greece Hated Democracy, Freedom And Culture

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And so we continue our crusade through the recesses of the internet to find and review the worst articles about ancient history ever made. I hope you enjoy the content and stay noble!

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[MiguelFarah]

At 8:45, even if we accept Cracked's argument at face value ("Aristotle's shining defense for [democracy] is that it didn't suck at hard as the other [systems of] government")... isn't that the exact same point that CHURCHILL himself stated in the XX century? (“Democracy is the worst form of government, except for all the others.”)

[truemetalwarrior]

@Metatron just a minor correction, kratos in ancient greek means power, the translation you gave comes from modern greek. So democracy roughly translates as people holding/having the power.

[theSemiChrist]

For a website that started out as a magazine that featured a ripoff of Alfred E. Neuman, they sure do think they're morally superior to a lot of people.

[jasoncampbell]

I appreciate that you noted how each civilization that uses/used democracy did/does so in their own unique way. It makes me chuckle when I hear people talk about the difference between democracy and constitutional republic; not understanding that democracy and republic are synonyms from two different languages

[Born_Yashish]

"Reason, logic, and civility ruled...".
I'm curious to hear of any society or organization formed and ran in any other way.

[DNA]

8:45 If I remember correctly (it was a few years ago I read it) Aristotles argument basically was that all forms of government has two sides, a good, and a bad. And he recognised the pattern that the best for of government, kingdom(?), was the best, but the corrupt flipside, it always risk to turn into, was the worst form tyranny(?).
Democracy on the other hand was the least good, but because of that, the corrupt flipside was also the least bad. Might misremembering details, but I think it was something along these lines.

[lissadawes]

14:56 👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👍🏼👍🏼👍🏼

17:22 actually the consensus of Egyptologists is that they weren’t. The workers were free labor farmers.

[litigioussociety]

Women didn't have the right to vote in the current era, and still shouldn't in many countries, because full citizenship requires drafting for the military, fire brigade, and such. For example, in America it's not right that men have to sign up for selective service to vote, but women don't. I suspect this same thing has something to do with Switzerland taking so long; they either had to repeal some sort of legislation of misandry, or women can now be drafted. I'm not sure what the case was in Switzerland.

[jgarbo]

If you can't compare Greek "democracy" to current "democracy", then use another word, or we'll be confused. This is not "presentism", simply confusing semantics. Your "democracy" isn't mine. How about "oligarchy"?

[eulex]

Actually, debunking bad ideas is very refreshing.Its like healing a informational disease.

[johnvenator]

Oh by the way, our Republic is less than 2.5 centuries old and it's in rough shape

[maddogs]

People aslo forget Athens was a true Democracy, and unlike to the basterized modern understanding of what a Democracy is, Athens was a true Democracy.

[dumdebadaba]

Careful about the slave argument about the Egyptian pyramids. There are other opinions about that. The labor for sacred buildings has to be at least partially skilled, and they had to be built precisely, according to the specifications of architects and astronomers.

[LordBitememan]

Re: Ancient Greeks travelling beyond their own city-state.

It had to be common enough because they appear to have developed a pretty standardized set of customs among fellow Greeks about how guests were to be treated. And it's constantly referenced in all their literary works, particularly the practice of gift exchange.

[nelsonschneider]

The simple fact that ancient ruins are covered in graffiti lends support to the idea that literacy was more widely-spread in the Classical world than many moderns realize.

[MikJ]

Metatron, please stop looking at Cracked articles. We're all worried for your mental health.

[dauletilias]

Please do the video on democracy and republics throughout the history. Ancient Greek and roman republics, medival Italian and German free state republics and to compare them to some of the modern ones

[rotpar]

I regret not learning about the Greek concept of Xenia until college: the customs of hospitality. Enforced by the king of the gods himself, a traveler had the right to spend the night in someone's home without being pestered by questions until they were provided for. No kicking out the Spartan en route to the Olympics because of the last war--he's a fellow Greek owed a bath, meal, and a roof over his head. So the Greeks had rules which made difficult Bronze/Iron Age travel a little easier. Which makes the Odyssey make so much more sense in hindsight--it's no longer "they're violent, primitive people, so it was right for Odysseus to kill the suitors" but divine judgment on men wiping their asses with sacred custom to claim his throne. Penelope isn't just legendarily faithful to her husband, she is a pious woman who suffers the desecration of her home and estate, the potential threats to her family, and still does her duty as a Greek hostess.

[AngryCenturion]

The New Testament is written in Greek, Hellenistic cities like Alexandria exist to this day, Homer is read all over the world, we still use Greek words (as you pointed out) like democracy, tyrant, and phalanx, but yes, Ancient Greek culture had no impact. Good job, Cracked!

[stumccabe]

Very well expressed - thanks especially for introducing me to the word "presentism".