From the Stoa to the Commune: Ancient Greek and Marxist Convergences in the Critique of Political Economy: A Heterodox Reading of Classical Thought

Despite the significant differences in historical, economic, and social context, the economic and social thought of Karl Marx exhibits fundamental points of convergence with ideas articulated by ancient Greek thinkers such as the Presocratics, Plato, Aristotle, the Sophists, and the Stoics. These affinities, though not always direct or systematic, reflect shared concerns regarding the nature of property, the structure of society, and the value of labor, as well as a critical stance toward forms of social stratification and economic power. The present study seeks to trace these convergences and to analyze the ways in which Marxist critique of political economy engages— explicitly or implicitly—with ancient philosophical approaches to labor, social organization, inequality, alienation, the historicity of institutions, and the ethical foundations of economic life.