Answer:
After the Dark Age, the city-state of Athens abandoned its monarchy. In the place of its kings, it established a council of archons. (An archon was a leader elected from the aristocracy.) The council consisted of three archons: archon eponymous, polemarch and archon basileus. The archon eponymous acted as the chief judge or magistrate. The polemarch was head of the armed forces, and the archon basileus acted as a head priest, managing the religious activities of Athens.
As an oligarchy, Athens experienced many social problems. The lower classes rebelled against the unfair treatment that they received from the aristocracy. In order to deal with the rising crime, a strict set of laws were issued by the archon eponymous Draco in 621 BC. (The term draconian, meaning harsh or oppressive, comes from Draco's name.) The laws demanded strict punishment for offenses. Minor violent offenses were punished with death. Men that could not pay off their debts were forced into slavery. However, Draco's "Bloody Laws" only made the social problems of Athens worse.
In 594 BC, an aristocrat named Solon was elected archon eponymous. He did much to help ease the tension between the upper and lower classes. One of the most important changes that Solon made to the government of Athens was that he allowed all male citizens over 18 years of age to participate in the Assembly. This granted political power to all classes of people for the first time in Greek history!
So to sum it all up, overtime the Athenians developed a democratic government! :)
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