Section 4: Daily Life in Athens

Section 4: Daily Life in Athens

I. The Athenian Economy Most Athenian citizens were farmers who grew olives, grapes, and figs on terraced hillsides

I. The Athenian Economy The Athenian assembly voted to send farmers to colonies throughout the Mediterranean Greece and Its Colonies, 550 B.C.

I. The Athenian Economy Colonies imported and exported goods, promoting trade and spreading Greek culture

II. Home and Family Life Athenians built magnificent temples and other public buildings

II. Home and Family Life Most Athenian homes were simple - made of sun-dried brick without plumbing

II. Home and Family Life A woman was regarded as the property of her father and then of her husband until she died. If a daughter did not get married, she remained the property of her father, and became a dishonor for the family and a financial burden. The new bride was subject to the control of her mother-in-law and she had to be obedient to her in-laws. Marriage and family life were very important and parents always arranged marriages

II. Home and Family Life The main purpose of marriage was children, but if parents could not afford to raise the baby, it was left to die

II. Home and Family Life Parents loved their children, as shown in an ode the female poet Sappho wrote to her daughter Poets Sappho and Alcaeus

II. Home and Family Life Girls were treated as daughters all of their lives while boys came of age at eighteen. Greek society was patriarchal -- it was controlled by men and did not allow women full political and social rights. Men tended to behave more like fathers toward women. Thus, if a woman got married she passed from the authority of one man (her father) into that of another (her husband). Legally and socially, Athenian women were considered inferior to men

II. Home and Family Life If there was no son inherit the family property, then a daughter would inherit the property. She was expected to marry a close relative chosen by her father so that he might inherit the land. Women could not own property and could not appear in public without their husbands’ permission

II. Home and Family Life A husband expected his wife to be already skilled in domestic tasks, such as weaving, spinning, cooking, cleaning, and managing slaves. Marrying a young girl was thought to be a very positive thing by the men in ancient Greece because she could be taught good habits A woman’s duties included managing the household and slaves and raising children

II. Home and Family Life The word "pedagogue" comes from Greek Antiquity, where it referred to the slave who led his master's children to school Boys over the age of seven were cared for by a pedagogue, a male slave who taught the boy manners

II. Home and Family Life In Athens, as in most Greek city-states except of Sparta, girls stayed at home until they were married. Like their mother, they could attend certain festivals, funerals, and visit neighbors for brief periods of time. Their job was to help their mother, and to help in the fields, if necessary Girls stayed at home and learned to run the household

III. Education and Military Service Wealthy men engaged in politics, intellectual conversations, and athletic activities Athens Agora

III. Education and Military Service Athenians valued education and boys studied reading, writing, grammar, poetry, music, and gymnastics

III. Education and Military Service Athenians stressed the ideal of a sound mind in a healthy body

III. Education and Military Service In the 400s B.C. schools for older boys were opened by men called Sophists Near the end of the 5th century BC, a growing demand for education spawned a class of teachers known as sophists. They traveled throughout Greece, giving lectures and teaching students.

III. Education and Military Service Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle all criticized the sophists, the traveling professional teachers who taught pupils a variety of subjects, especially rhetoric, the art of persuasive speaking. The sophists taught people how to “make the weaker argument appear the stronger.” They were more interested in winning an argument than in discovering truth. Sophists taught government, mathematics, ethics, and rhetoric

III. Education and Military Service At age 18, males received military training and then served a year either as hoplites, on the army’s flanks, or rowing warships The Greek Phalanx

Section 4: Daily Life in Athens