Project: Daily life of a Athenian
Posted: Fri Jun 20, 2003 2:37 pm
Khairete
Well i have finished 5 of the 6 topics of this project. I will post them one at a time. I shall begin with the daily life of a ordinary Greek with the exception of Spartans. As you noticed it i started a new thread where we can post what we found.
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General View of the daily life of a Greek
The daily life of a Athenian during the 5th and 4th century bc. is different from our daily life. These 2 centuries are known as the centuries where important wars were fought. In the 5th century there were the Graeco- Persian wars as the Peloponnesian Wars. In the 4th century you had Alexander the Great defeating a empire and creating one in the process that only lasted until his death. It weren't easy times for the Hellenes back than. Constant threats of war looming over your head like the sword of Damokles.
Life of a Athenian was made up of trading goods, buying- selling food and other products etc.. People who lived outside the city lived of fishing and hunting. They also worked on the fields. For an ordinary Athenian, the day was made up of waking up, possible some breakfast, hunting/ fishing or farming, eating at noon and continuing their work until late in the afternoon. Male cloths differ from female clothes. Men wore tunics, women too but the design was different. Tunic for women was worn up to their knees. Some men wore sandals but most walked around barefooted. Their cloths were made out of leather. Although the sight of sheep walking around in Athens was not so strange, it was however a familiar sight in small villages where the sheep were escorted by a shepherd or a group of children. Sheep gave wool, which was used to make clothing. Sheep were also the source of eating and drinking. Hellenes drank the milk of sheep and ate the cheese of sheep. Favorite targets for hunters were wild sheep and bor. They didn't just fished with boats but also with nets. A net was thrown out in the water made out of the same material to make clothes.
The life of a Athenian was basically the same as for any Hellene of any social status. Until the age of 6-7 they helped out at home, but when they reached this age, they were sent to school. They played with toys just like today's children do (only the toys are different). Hellenes considered their children youths until they were 30. When a child was born to ancient Greek family, a naked father carried his child, in a ritual dance, around the household. Friends and relatives sent gifts. The family decorated the doorway of their home with a wreath of olives (for a boy) or a wreath of wool (for a girl). A girl had the same rights as any other women but they had to stay at home until they married. Most Greek households had slaves.
A Athenian day started when the female servants began to sing a small hymn during sunrise. Than they ate, went to work, etc… Basically the day wasn't that different from a person who lived in the dark ages or during the Imperial times. Pets are also to be found among Hellenes and the favorite ones were dogs, birds, tortoises, goats and mice. Cats however are not on the list. Hellenic houses, in the 6th and 5th century B.C., were made up of two or three rooms, built around an open air courtyard, built of stone, wood, or clay bricks. Larger homes might also have a kitchen, a room for bathing, a man's dining room, and perhaps a woman's sitting area. Most meals were enjoyed in the courtyard. Greek cooking equipment was small and light and could easily be set up there. On bright, sunny days, the women probably sheltered under a covered area of their courtyard, as the Hellenes believed a pale complexion was a sign of beauty. Food in Hellas consisted of grains, wheat, barley, fruit, vegetables, breads, and cake. People in Hellas also ate grapes, seafood of all kinds, and drank wine. The people in Hellas ate the same food as the Asian people. For example, the Hellenes would eat domesticated animals. Hellenic children played with many toys, including rattles, little clay animals, horses on 4 wheels that could be pulled on a string, yo-yo's, and terra-cotta dolls.
Slaves were treated different from the Spartan slaves. A slave could be set free, but it didn't mean he was a citizen. Education is something not everybody could afford. There were schools where classes were thought, but most children stayed at home working with their relatives. They were needed there. Some children stayed at home and were probably tutored by a slave. There were no public schools like we know them today. Greek schools were small. They had only one teacher and about ten or twenty boys. Boys began going to school when they were about 7 years old, and went until they were about 13. In school, boys learned to read and write, and also memorized large amounts of Homer's Illiad and Odyssey. They learned to play the lyre (the kithara) and the pipes (the aulos), and to sing. Still, people who could spare the money did try to send their boys to school, because without learning to read and write and generally becoming educated, boys could not hope to participate in politics when they grew up. Even clothing was a problem for most people. Most people had to make their own clothes in order to be dressed, because the prices for clothing’s were to high for ordinary people to buy them.
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Romulus
Well i have finished 5 of the 6 topics of this project. I will post them one at a time. I shall begin with the daily life of a ordinary Greek with the exception of Spartans. As you noticed it i started a new thread where we can post what we found.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
General View of the daily life of a Greek
The daily life of a Athenian during the 5th and 4th century bc. is different from our daily life. These 2 centuries are known as the centuries where important wars were fought. In the 5th century there were the Graeco- Persian wars as the Peloponnesian Wars. In the 4th century you had Alexander the Great defeating a empire and creating one in the process that only lasted until his death. It weren't easy times for the Hellenes back than. Constant threats of war looming over your head like the sword of Damokles.
Life of a Athenian was made up of trading goods, buying- selling food and other products etc.. People who lived outside the city lived of fishing and hunting. They also worked on the fields. For an ordinary Athenian, the day was made up of waking up, possible some breakfast, hunting/ fishing or farming, eating at noon and continuing their work until late in the afternoon. Male cloths differ from female clothes. Men wore tunics, women too but the design was different. Tunic for women was worn up to their knees. Some men wore sandals but most walked around barefooted. Their cloths were made out of leather. Although the sight of sheep walking around in Athens was not so strange, it was however a familiar sight in small villages where the sheep were escorted by a shepherd or a group of children. Sheep gave wool, which was used to make clothing. Sheep were also the source of eating and drinking. Hellenes drank the milk of sheep and ate the cheese of sheep. Favorite targets for hunters were wild sheep and bor. They didn't just fished with boats but also with nets. A net was thrown out in the water made out of the same material to make clothes.
The life of a Athenian was basically the same as for any Hellene of any social status. Until the age of 6-7 they helped out at home, but when they reached this age, they were sent to school. They played with toys just like today's children do (only the toys are different). Hellenes considered their children youths until they were 30. When a child was born to ancient Greek family, a naked father carried his child, in a ritual dance, around the household. Friends and relatives sent gifts. The family decorated the doorway of their home with a wreath of olives (for a boy) or a wreath of wool (for a girl). A girl had the same rights as any other women but they had to stay at home until they married. Most Greek households had slaves.
A Athenian day started when the female servants began to sing a small hymn during sunrise. Than they ate, went to work, etc… Basically the day wasn't that different from a person who lived in the dark ages or during the Imperial times. Pets are also to be found among Hellenes and the favorite ones were dogs, birds, tortoises, goats and mice. Cats however are not on the list. Hellenic houses, in the 6th and 5th century B.C., were made up of two or three rooms, built around an open air courtyard, built of stone, wood, or clay bricks. Larger homes might also have a kitchen, a room for bathing, a man's dining room, and perhaps a woman's sitting area. Most meals were enjoyed in the courtyard. Greek cooking equipment was small and light and could easily be set up there. On bright, sunny days, the women probably sheltered under a covered area of their courtyard, as the Hellenes believed a pale complexion was a sign of beauty. Food in Hellas consisted of grains, wheat, barley, fruit, vegetables, breads, and cake. People in Hellas also ate grapes, seafood of all kinds, and drank wine. The people in Hellas ate the same food as the Asian people. For example, the Hellenes would eat domesticated animals. Hellenic children played with many toys, including rattles, little clay animals, horses on 4 wheels that could be pulled on a string, yo-yo's, and terra-cotta dolls.
Slaves were treated different from the Spartan slaves. A slave could be set free, but it didn't mean he was a citizen. Education is something not everybody could afford. There were schools where classes were thought, but most children stayed at home working with their relatives. They were needed there. Some children stayed at home and were probably tutored by a slave. There were no public schools like we know them today. Greek schools were small. They had only one teacher and about ten or twenty boys. Boys began going to school when they were about 7 years old, and went until they were about 13. In school, boys learned to read and write, and also memorized large amounts of Homer's Illiad and Odyssey. They learned to play the lyre (the kithara) and the pipes (the aulos), and to sing. Still, people who could spare the money did try to send their boys to school, because without learning to read and write and generally becoming educated, boys could not hope to participate in politics when they grew up. Even clothing was a problem for most people. Most people had to make their own clothes in order to be dressed, because the prices for clothing’s were to high for ordinary people to buy them.
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Romulus