How did having the polis as the central political institution of classical Greece shape history of Greece during this period?

The notion of the polis shaped and changed the history of
Greece because it firmly established the idea that the political life was the only one
worth living.  The Greeks were very much animated by the spirit of the polis and the
idea of a political state of being as controlling and dominating all aspects of
existence.  The presence of the polis ensured that the political form of expressing
one's freedom had to remain as the central notion in Greek identity.  We can see this in
treatment of political exclusion.  Women and slaves were denied representation and
access to the polis.  This meant that the Greeks believed that when one lacks political
autonomy or a civic expression of freedom, they were less of a human being, less in
control of their own world.  It was through the polis that the Greeks believed this
control to be present, reason being why the Greeks saw it as formative in Greek society
and history.