In traditional shock cases, this is generally the relieving of pain from injuries or the stopping of blood loss. In an acute stress reaction, this may be pulling a rescuer away from the emergency to calm down, or blocking the sight of an injured friend from a patient.
With this system, Pericles succeeded in keeping the courts full of jurors (Ath. Pol. 27.3), and in giving the people experience in public life. As Athens' ruler, he made the city the first and most important polis of the Greek world, acquiring a resplendent culture and democratic institutions.
The Greeks came up with the form of government that we call direct democracy, which is a precursor to representative democracy. In a direct democracy, all eligible citizens vote on every issue. For example, if a direct democracy were considering a tax increase, all the eligible voters would vote that decision.