Polis in Homer and Socrates

The political structure of classical Greece is interwoven with Polis but its definition poses some difficulties. In investigating the Polis or the rise of it, we are dealing not with an event but with a process that has continued over several centuries. The present article compares notion of Polis in Homer and Socrates. In doing so, we will start by and concentrate on two Homeric epics and Apology and Crito of Plato. It will be shown that Homeric polis is an early forerunner of the classical Polis. This Polis comprises of both “territory “and “town” and there are no written laws but much attention is devoted to observing customary norms and procedures and to protect justice. Accordingly, in Homer we see a weak degree of communal solidarity and loyalty. But in Crito Socrates says that every citizen should do whatever the state command him/her to do, while in Apology he says he would do philosophy even if the state forbade him. This is the main idea of the present article that Greek epic serves for politics more than philosophy.