What lessons do the Ancient Greeks teach us about the importance of personal character in the maintenance of a well functioning society and the...

The
Ancient Greek civilization spanned over 1700 years in areas that now comprise over a dozen
countries. Within its vast body history and literature, there are multiple different concepts of
character and leadership.

In the Homeric poems, a leader is first and
foremost a military one, someone capable of leading a city in both war and peace and of ensuring
safety and stability. Such leaders were powerful and, to a degree, autocratic. They were
expected to be strong, of noble birth, handsome, and able to speak well in assemblies and to
their subjects.

Hesiod, in Works and Days, criticizes
the new type of urban aristocratic leadership and praises the modest farmer who minds his own
business and tends his land well as a model of household leadership. His ideal farmer is
pragmatic (marrying a woman who is good at farming rather than one who is beautiful), thrifty,
and hard-working.

In Aeschylus, readers find a model of leadership that
emphasizes wisdom, justice, and piety. Socrates and Plato move toward a technocratic model of
leadership, in which the best leaders display both knowledge and virtue.