DAILY LIFE IN ANCIENT GREECE
To understand what daily life was like for the people of Ancient Greece it's first important to understand the different roles of people in Ancient Greek society. For example, daily life in Ancient Greece was very different for people based on a few key factors.
First, men and women had very different experiences in terms of daily life in Ancient Greece. The adult men of Ancient Greece were expected to play a role in the governance of their society. This is because only adult male citizens of Greek city-states, such as Athens, were allowed to participate in the democracy. This means that the women of Greece generally did not have a say in the government at the time. Instead the women of Ancient Greece were expected to take care of the home and their main role centered around being wives and mothers. On the other hand, the men of Ancient Greece worked outside of the home as warriors, artists, craftsmen, etc.
For their part, the children of Ancient Greece, focused on their schooling, which also included military training. Children were also responsible for helping with chores in the house. With that said, the children of Ancient Greece also played games.
Regardless of their roles in society, the men, women and children of Ancient Greece all honored the many gods and goddesses. For instance, the most important buildings on the Acropolis of Ancient Athens were the temples dedicated to the gods and goddesses of the time. This included the Parthenon, which was a temple dedicated to the Greek goddess Athena. As such, religion was an important part of the daily life of Ancient Greece.
Another important factor of daily life in Ancient Greece was slavery. Wealthy households in Ancient Greece often had slaves to help do chores, raise children and other household tasks. Slaves also did manual labor on different worksites such as mines, farms and shops. Slaves in Ancient Greece came from different sources, including foreigners and others who were so poor that they were sold into slavery.
Daily life in Ancient Greece was also different for people based on the city-state they lived in. Ancient Greece was made up of hundreds of different city-states and not all were the same. For example, Athens and Sparta were among the most famous city-states in Ancient Greece. Ancient Athens was located in southeastern Greece, along the shores of the Mediterranean Sea. Whereas Sparta was located inland in southeastern Greece and further south than Athens. One of the most important differences was that in Sparta, women led very different lives. For instance, Sparta was a militaristic society and Spartan women were expected to also be physically fit and strong. Also, women in Sparta were expected to be warriors when needed.
Our understanding of daily life in Ancient Greece comes from the art and pottery that historians and archaeologists have studied. These items have images that show what life was like in Ancient Greece and allow us to have a window into what it would have been like back then.
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