The Greeks and Democracy

Below is a short commentary from the teacher's manual to A Reading Course in Homeric Greek, by Raymond Schoder and Vincent Horrigan (Lesson 119). This course is terrific, not only for its teaching of Homeric Greek, but for its insightful and informative commentary on Greek culture. This is a good example.

The second paragraph is especially apropos given the current state of our republic.

It is important here neither to exaggerate nor underestimate the historical importance and later influence of the Greek experiment in democracy. Be sure, then, that this essay is read carefully, then re-read to get things in balanced perspective. The Greeks certainly had for a considerable period an exalted and authentic ideal of democracy; but they also lacked all too commonly the moral fiber and selfless generosity to make the ideal work out effectively in practice. Some of their exaggerated steps in pursuit of the ideal in abstraction from other