“Living as one wishes” in Athens: the (anti-)democratic polemics

In the long-running debate about Greek political ideals and the extent of individual liberty in the Athenian democracy, scholars have taken numerous positions, not infrequently founded upon Aristotle’s systematization of constitutions. This classification rested upon the philosopher’s view of democracy—or its “extreme” form, also found in Athens—as a disorderly, unlawful polity based on unrestrained freedom. This paper aims to question this influential testimony by highlighting the language of democratic discourse, based primarily on the surviving Athenian speeches as the source closest to the political beliefs of the majority of Athenian citizens. It will thus deal with the question whether the Athenians as individuals and as a collective believed that they should be able to “do whatever they wished” and “live however they wanted” and if they shaped their political system upon this premise. In doing so, this essay aims at a more complete understanding of what has been studied under the label of “Athenian freedom”.