a day in the life of ancient greece. at school in ancient greece boys started school at 6 years old...
TRANSCRIPT
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)
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.”
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?