The exercise will deal with the nature of the democratic system in ancient Athens as source for political freedom and personal civil liberties as well as individual “rights”. During the development of a democratic system from the early 6th century onwards collective and individual “freedom” was propagated as the most important character of Athens and its society. Individual freedom rights - like freedom of speech, thought, and religious belief, equality of rights and opportunities - were deduced in the various narratives of the 5th century from the political implementation of collective freedom in a democratic state. - Relevant textual and visual sources of different genres (historiography, tragedies, philosophical treatises, political pamphlets, laws, inscriptions, art and architecture) will be read, contemplated, analysed and discussed in order to understand how personal freedom was achieved and implemented in ancient Athen’s developing democratic society which promoted freedom (eleutheria) as its cardinal value and ultimate goal.