Ancient and Medieval politics: An Article

The Greeks can be considered as the pioneers in the field of politics. They
are the ones who first catered and formally formulated many ideas and
theories about politics. Even the word Politics was coined and was first used
by them. Many of these great thinkers were great observers of their
environment and society, their ideas and principles rested on the situations
they faced and they were able to give translations to the events they
observed in their environment. Most of these great philosophers lived in the
time of chaos, poverty and war. They saw the harsh reality of the world and
used it to present some understanding of what was happening during their
time. The Greeks were logical thinkers, they were able to produce many
advancements in their time, they were able to voice out their ideas and
principles through varied ways such as poetry, dramas, systems and other
literature.
We know that there were many Greek political philosophers but let us start
by knowing some of the well known thinkers. Sophocles is one of them. He is
known for his work called the "antigone", an immortal drama that embodied
a lot of ideas. The antigone portrayed many differences and struggles and it
is best known for its discussions on the need for obedience and
disobedience. His work also showed some of his ideas about politics and
governance as showed in the lines of Creon; "You cannot learn of any man
the soul, the mind and the intent until he shows his practise of the
government and law. For I believe that who controls the State and does not
hold to the best plans of all, but locks his tongue up through some kind of
fear, that he is worst of all who are or were." That phrase by Creon in the
antigone portrayed his idea of what a ruler should be, that a ruler should be
someone who thinks for the good of all and that the attitude of a man is
showed on how he governs.
There is also the group called the "Sophist", a group of political thinkers
who travelled everywhere in order to teach and provided lectures while
spreading their ideas and thoughts. They thought about wisdom, knowledge
and skills. One of them is Socrates, teacher of Plato. Socrates wrote nothing
himself, he was more on discussions through question and answer, he aimed
men to think and be active. He was a spokesman. We now know Socrates as
one of the great philosophers but he was just a soldier and sculptor in his
time.
I agree and quote what Michael Curtis wrote in his book," The greatness of a
teacher is best shown by the caliber of his students". Plato is a well known

philosopher, he was the most brilliant student of Socrates. He is the founder

of the first college called the Academy and a great political theorist. Plato's
works include The Republic and Laws. His works showed a lot of his ideas
and principles. He saw politics and the practice of political power as a greater
entity and that it requires dedication and skills. He was a great contributor to
his time and his works contributed to the advancement of the society. Plato
gave a lot of ideas, theories, principles and his view on politics, how to
govern and how to be governed; one of his views is shown in his phrase "the
good state, like a good man, possessed the characteristics of temperance,
courage, wisdom and justice". His work "the Republic" showed his idea of an
ideal society and government, it portrayed the order and structure that was
needed to be a great society. Plato's ideal state was an ordered state in
which all fulfilled their functions and worked for the good of the whole and in
which education prepared the individual for his function and for citizenship.
Aristotle, the student of Plato and the one who tutored Alexander the Great is
also a well known Greek philosopher. He established his own school called
the Lyceum. Aristotle was also well versed in other fields. He authored the
book, "Politics". He created political science as Michael Curtis said in his line,
"Aristotle's was the first exhaustive analysis of existing constitutions and
thus he created political science". Aristotle produced many views and
theories on politics. He saw man as someone who is bounded by politics and
that it is natural for man to be involved and take part in political matters and
the concerns of the society, this can be seen in his lines;"Men and state were
linked together. Man was by nature a political animal who reached perfection
and became civilized as a citizen".
Many of the advancement we see now in the realm of politics are a by
product of the works of these great political thinkers. The theories ,systems
and ideas they created helps and guides us in our own understanding of
many of the events and phenomenon that we experience today. Without the
contributions of the Greeks, explaining the events and relations of men and
his society and its relation to politics will be impossible.

Source: Taken from the book "The Great Political Thinkers Volume
1", a book by Michael Curtis.