Claim: Socrates was a classical Athenian philosopher.

The city of Athens during the classical period of Ancient Greece -LRB- 508 -- 322 BC -RRB- was the major urban center of the notable polis -LRB- city-state -RRB- of the same name , located in Attica , Greece , leading the Delian League in the Peloponnesian War against Sparta and the Peloponnesian League . Athenian democracy was established in 508 BC under Cleisthenes following the tyranny of Isagoras . This system remained remarkably stable , and with a few brief interruptions remained in place for 180 years , until 322 BC -LRB- aftermath of Lamian War -RRB- . The peak of Athenian hegemony was achieved in the 440s to 430s BC , known as the Age of Pericles .   In the classical period , Athens was a center for the arts , learning and philosophy , home of Plato 's Akademia and Aristotle 's Lyceum , Athens was also the birthplace of Socrates , Pericles , Sophocles , and many other prominent philosophers , writers and politicians of the ancient world . It is widely referred to as the cradle of Western Civilization , and the birthplace of democracy , largely due to the impact of its cultural and political achievements during the 5th and 4th centuries BC on the rest of the then-known European continent .