A Day in the Life ofAncient Greece

At school in Ancient Greece• Boys started school at 6 years old• 6-14 boys went to local primary

school• Learned words of Homer, a famous

Greek epic poet• how to

play the lyre, a musical instrument • Teacher (man) might teach drama,

public speaking, government, art, reading, writing, math, the flute

• After school, spent afternoon exercising & practicing wrestling, throwing discus

• Older athletes might train for Olympic Games held in honor of Zeus.

Arriving at School

• Attended 4 more years (high school)

• 18 entered military, 2 years, graduated at 20

• Girls did not attend school

• Might learned to read and write at home

Marketplace•Agora: center of public life

•Public market and meeting places

•Athens was the busiest & most interesting of all!

•In AM, men wondered about, talking politics & philosophy.

•Streets lined with shops

•Mild weather allowed for “outside” business

•Farmers & artisans sold goods

•Almost everything needed could be found in Agora (sheep’s wool, pottery, cloth, books)

•Temples and government buildings lined Agora

Ruins of Ancient Agora, Thessaloniki, Greece

Refer to page 166 in text book.

Life at Home

• Home’s were simple/plain• Made of mud bricks• Rooms surrounding open courtyard, hidden from street• Might have kitchen, storerooms, dining room, bedrooms• Some had bathrooms, but water carried from public

fountain• Food simple• Breakfast: bread• Midday: cheese, olives, bread• Dinner: fish, vegetables, cheese, fruit, cakes. • Most had little meat (only wealthy for religious festivals)

Life at Home (cont.)

http://www.ancientgreece.co.uk/dailylife/challenge/cha_set.html

Slavery in Ancient Greece• Greek women had to spin thread and weave it

into cloth• Wealthy women owned slaves to do this; cooked

food; tended children• Historians believed almost 100,000 slaves lived

in Athens (1/3 of population)– Enslaved when captured by armies

• Not comfortable enslaving other Greeks– Children of slaves– Many foreignersJobs: labor on farms; dug silver/metals out of mines;

assist artisans making pottery; construct buildings; forging weapons;

Slavery (continued)

A slave nanny taking the baby(see the loom behind her?)

Greek red-figure vase from Athens

A slave girl waits upon her seated mistress in the grave stele of a woman named Hegeso.

Women in Athens

• Women spent most of their time at home.

• Had little freedom of males.

• Could not:– Take part in politics– Vote– Own property

Could be priestess in religious groups

Women in Athens (continued)

• Responsibilities– Running home– Organized spinning and weaving– Looked after supplies of food & wine– Cared for young children– Kept track of family finances– Trained slaves (if owned), cared for them if sickDid important work, but “invisible”Pericles said: “The greatest glory will belong to the woman who is

least talked about by men, whether they praise her or find fault with her.”

Women (continued)

Greek women spent a lot of their time going to the public fountain to get

water.

Questions• Who attended school? boys only, girls

only, boys and girls

• Who did girls spend their day with? the boys, their mothers, their fathers

• What place was the center of activity for men during the Golden Age?

YesWell

done!

Back to question page.

No

Back to question page.

Oh dear!

Try again

Images

http://www.angliacampus.com/public/pri/history/greeks/page22.htm