Political Upheaval · 508 BCE · Turning point
Athenian Democracy Founded
2534
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Works dated
608 BCE–408 BCE
Cleisthenes' reforms created a civic culture that demanded art be legible to a citizenry rather than a king's court. The polis became the patron (commissioning temples, festivals, and theater), establishing the connection between democratic politics and public art that still shapes how we fund and imagine culture.