The status of women was generally quite poor in ancient Greek society (certainly relatively to modern times). However, Spartan society was a notable exception. In Spartan society women had much more power than their contemporaries in other Greek cities. Spartan women participated in politics and enjoyed legal privileges and protections.

During the Archaic Era, many Greek city-states were ruled by tyrants. These tyrants won their power on the back of popular support and generally overthrew aristocratic oligarchies which were often detested by the common people. Tyranny (in the modern sense of the word) might sometimes seem like an inappropriate word, after all many of the “tyrants” were beloved by the people and able to hold power for decades without fear of reprisals. But, these rulers were autocrats who essentially had absolute power in their lands. The Greeks believed that tyranny in and of itself was not wrong, it was the individual tyrants who could be judged as malevolent or benevolent. Eventually, the Greeks began to view tyranny as a dangerous form of government and, by the Classical Era, democracies and oligarchies had replaced most tyrannies.

Aristotle wrote extensively about slavery and generally seemed convinced by the argument that slavery was a natural institution. Aristotle wrote that slavery is natural because some people are simply inherently inferior (specifically, they are incapable of reason), and therefore should be enslaved by those who are better and more intelligent.

Cypselus was a member of the Corinthian aristocracy during the seventh century BCE. He was also immensely popular with the common people of Corinth and utilized this popularity to overthrow the oligarchy of Corinth and replace it with his own tyrannical government. Cypselus was, however, a benevolent tyrant and he ruled with the love of the people. His son, Periander, would also rule Corinth as a tyrant, but eventually he lost favor with the common people and the government was overthrown shortly after his death.

All of these statements about marriage in ancient Greece are accurate. Pre-arranged marriages were common, and many women were promised to a man when they were as young as five or six. Women, if their families could afford it, were generally given a dowry to provide them with some financial autonomy. Divorce was acceptable to the ancient Greeks under certain conditions, but it was much easier for a man to seek a divorce than a woman. In most Greek city-states, men could have affairs with little to no repercussions, so long as it was not with another man’s wife. Women, on the other hand, were punished very harshly for adultery. Sparta was the general exception to most of these rules. Women in Sparta had far more rights than their peers in other city-states and could seek divorce and even commit adultery, so long as their own husband was incapable of providing them with a child.

Slave uprisings were fairly uncommon in ancient Greek society. This is probably because in most Greek city-states, slaves never quite made up the majority of the population and were drawn from so many different backgrounds as to make communication and organization near impossible. The notable exception to this rule is Sparta. There were far more slaves in Spartan society when compared to other Greek city-states and slaves in Sparta were generally treated far more brutally. As a result, and not surprisingly, Sparta experienced several violent slave uprisings.

Many slaves were freed by their masters at some point during their lifetime. The reasons for this are extremely variable, and probably had to do with the personal relationship between master and slave. A freed slave in ancient Greece tended to become a "Metic" — a free, foreign-born resident of the city who had no citizenship rights.

Solon was a legal reformer who was given near-absolute power by the Athenians in the early sixth century BCE. He reorganized the Athenian political system to take power away from the aristocracy and redistribute some of it to the poorest members of society. Nonetheless, Solon continued to group individuals according to their income; with the poorest members of society ineligible for public office. Still, Solon’s system allowed for social mobility and many of the poorest people eventually earned enough to be welcomed into the political class.

Solon was granted absolute power by the Athenian people in 594 BCE. Athenian society, at the time, was on the brink of civil war. Tensions between the poor and the elite had reached a breaking point and the terrified Athenians turned to Solon to reform their laws before it was too late. Solon enacted a series of measures which overhauled Athenian society. Most notably he partially redistributed land, made the judicial system more inclusive and fair, and opened up political participation to most male members of society. These reforms prevented a civil war and laid the foundation for the emergence of Athenian democracy.

Periander ruled the city-state of Corinth as a tyrant in the seventh century BCE. He is generally recognized as a particularly capable ruler who presided over Corinth at the height of its economic and political power.