Daily Life of the Ancient Greeks

• Boys went to school

• Girls stayed home with their mothers to weave and complete chores in the house

• After school, boys went to the training ground to practice wrestling and throwing the discus, a flat plate

• Athletes were training for the Olympic Games in honor of Zeus.

I. In the Marketplace

• The Acropolis was the center of religious life

• The Agora was the center of everyday life where meetings were held and people shopped

II. Life at Home

• Homes were made of mud bricks• Rooms were surrounded by a courtyard

hidden from the street• Houses had kitchens, a dining room and

bathrooms although water was carried from a public fountain

• Meals consisted of fish, bread, olives and fruit. Meat was not usually eaten, mostly fish

III Slavery in Ancient Greece

• Slaves did a great deal of work throughout the city-states of Greece.

• As much as 100,000 slaves may have lived in Athens

• Many free people were enslaved when they were captured by armies or pirates while traveling on ships

• Many slaves were foreigners

Slavery continued

• Slaves worked in the house, in the fields, as helpers for artisans or in the mines for silver and gold

IV. Women in Athens

• Home was where most Athenian women spend their day

• Women could not vote or take part in politics• Women could not own property• Women ran the house and all of the chores

including the slaves• Even though women played an important role,

they were meant to be invisible in society