nst Persian dominance in their region. Herodotus records that this was the start of the Persian Wars which ended with the Greeks defeating the Persians, then the Mediterranean's greatest military power. After the Persian Wars over 150 Greek city-states organized the Delian League, a confederation designed for self-protection. Athenian imperialism reigned allowing the Athenians to dominate and manipulate the Delian League for their own maximum benefits (Perry 58). A second consequence of the Greeks' victory in the Persian Wars was the flowering of Athenian democracy and culture. After 462 B.C. the Greek citizens themselves rather than the Council of the Areopagus passed laws, declared war, signed treaties and spent public funds (Perry 59). Since governmental duties were carried out by ordinary citizens, fifth-century Athenians equated good citizenship with excellence. Yet resident aliens, slaves and women were barred from the rights and obligations incurred by citizenship (Perry 60). One of the greatest legacies of the Athenian Golden Age is the political construct of the legal state whereby governmental power was maintained by citizen participation rather than brutal force. One of the Greek contributions to civilization was the demythification of nature allowing myth to be removed from the sphere of politics and to suggest that the gods were not the only legitimate source of command (Perry 61).
Sophocles brilliantly depicts Athenian meditations on notions of the law, kinship and ethics in The Oedipus Cycle.
As a triadic drama cycle, these Sophoclean plays examine what it means to be a king, citizen or member of a family. In Oedipus Rex, Oedipus at Colonus and Antigone Sophocles is invoking a tragic conception of life. Sophocles is less interested in the concept of a secure and desirable past than he is interested in ascertaining how an optimal community functions. He is able to explore this idea in depth by presenti...