The Greeks weren't too keen on dictators, although they had their share (they called them tyrants, a term which for them was not necessarily perjorative). In Athens at least, during the Golden Age and the Peleponnesian Wars and after, it seemed to alternate between an almost pure democracy (of freeborn male citizens) and committees of tyrants put in place by the the leading landowners and merchants. The rabble vs the oligarchy. Same as it ever was.

Everything is relative, of course. The oligarchy had great influence during democratic periods, and even the tyrants could not rule indefinitely without some support from the street. But essentially, it was Cons vs Libs back then, in fact, that's as far back as I can trace that organizing principle. Prior to that you had kings, and in the Roman era, you had the Republic (which was essentially, government by the big businessmen, but with some concessions to both the mob and the aristocratic nobility). After that came the Empire, and they went back to Kings. After that, feudalism, until the ascendancy of the oligarchies again after the Renaissance.

One interesting aside, it appears that oligarchic rule in Athens was dependent on those citizens who could afford the very expensive hopla, or arms (bronze armor, steel sword and spear) to fight in the heavy infantry. The aristocracy rode bareback because their knights could afford horses, but they had little military significance, hence, limited political influence. Real power rested with the hoplites, or heavy frontline infantry because they could not only afford the weaponry but also the time to train and drill the complex formations and maneuvers of phalanx-type warfare. These were generally the more well-to-do, non-aristocratic classes. The common folk fought with slings and arrows, from behind the lines of massed pikemen, or as lightly-armed skirmishers on the flanks.

After Athens developed a Navy and a maritime empire, ultimate political power shifted to the more common folk: the poor men who manned the oars of the triremes. They ran the democracy, men of influence were those who could sway them. Sparta, of course, was a pure fascist military dictatorship based on slavery and militarism. The only difference was that the ruling warrior class were a barracks culture and lived ascetic lives devoted to military training and male companionship. They were always looked up to and fawned over by the Athenian oligarchy, read Plato's "Republic".

It is risky to make modern comparisons to ancient societies, but Athens and Sparta were roughly comparable to the USA and the USSR in the 50s and 60s. Except their cold war turned hot, and eventually wrecked both cities.