How did the Greek city-states differ from the city-states of the Ancient East?

City-states in the era of ancient Eastern civilizations were of a purely despotic nature. To provide irrigation, the ruler of the city had to usurp power, use force and often seize the neighboring territory.
In Greece, geography contributed to a different development: the policies were powerfully fortified within the civil community, but at the interstate level, Hellas was fragmented. Polis are not despotism, but civil democracy. The landscape conditions made it possible to weaken the slaveholding traditions.