Daily life in ancient Greece revolved around village life, with its farming and herding activities and its emphasis on the importance of family and tradition.
Date: 6500-31 b. c.e.
Category: Daily life
Development of Village Life As early as 55,000 b. c.e., nomadic humans roamed the Greek landscape hunting wild animals and gathering cereals, nuts, and berries, as they struggled against the harsh Ice Age conditions. By 6500 b. c.e., the climate of Greece had warmed sufficiently to permit the cultivation of some of the wild plants, which allowed the people to settle in one place, to begin domesticating animals, and to construct permanent shelters. Farmers and their families lived in close-knit villages surrounded by their fields and orchards. Populations were limited by the soil fertility of the countryside, and villages typically consisted of a small number of extended families (oikoi) cooperating and interacting with one another. By the end of the Archaic period (c. 500 b. c.e.), many oikoi had merged to form larger entities known as poleis (singular polis; roughly translated as “city-states”). Still, it was village life, based around farming and herding activities, that would be the norm for the majority of the Greek population until the modern era.
Food and Drink As elsewhere in the Mediterranean, the soil and climate of Greece supported crops of grains, olives, and grapes. Grains such as wheat, barley, and oats were ground and made into bread or into a paste or gruel. Olive trees provided fruit that could be eaten as well as pressed into oil for cooking and use in oil lamps. Before the introduction of soap, olive oil was also used as a body cleanser. Legumes, fruits, and nuts were common staples of the Greek diet. Meat and fish were eaten sparingly and typically only on special occasions such as religious festivals and family celebrations. For variety, some foods were sweetened using honey and flavored with spices. The Greeks did not use butter, nor did they drink milk. Wine mixed with water was the beverage of choice throughout ancient Greek history.
Division of Labor From the earliest times, gender and class determined roles within the oikoi and the community at large. Men were responsible for activities outside the home such as farming, herding, trade, and warfare. In addition, males participated in the community’s governing councils and leadership positions. Women’s roles were confined to activities within the home, including managing the household, raising children, preparing the family’s food, and weaving textiles. Slavery was common in the ancient world, and most households had slaves. The wealthier the family, the more likely it was that slaves would fetch water from the well and do the marketing, which meant that wealthy women appeared in public less often than their poorer counterparts. Greek houses reflected the distinct roles of males and females, and, in all but the poorest of households, men and women had separate living quarters.
Marriage, Children, and Education Greek girls were married at an early age, usually between twelve and fifteen, to men who were much older, often twice their age. Upon marriage, the bride became part of the husband’s family. The bride’s most important function was to produce male heirs to continue the husband’s family lineage.
Male offspring were typically nurtured and raised by their mothers with the help of wet nurses and slaves. An exception to this was in the Greek city-state of Sparta, where boys were taken from their families at age seven to be educated by the state in preparation for joining the army. The familial attachment to daughters was not as strong as to sons. In all poleis, female offspring were not considered permanent members of the birth family because daughters joined their husbands’ families after they married. Inaddition, daughters were often considered a liability because families had to provide substantial dowries to their husbands upon marriage. As a result, unwanted female infants would be left outside to die in a practice known as exposure. Oftentimes, prostitutes (hetairai) and slave traders rescued exposed infants in order to raise them in their own trades.
Children who were kept by the family appear to have had pleasant childhoods as archaeological finds of toys and small furniture attest. The family was responsible for educating children. Poor boys worked alongside their fathers learning to till the soil and herd animals. Wealthier boys might have a private tutor (pedagogue) to train them in such areas as philosophy, history, and the arts. A girl’s education was limited to learning the household arts that would serve her father’s household and her fUture husband’s household. Again, the Spartan system served as an exception. Spartan girls were given a state sponsored education so they would be prepared to shoulder much of the running of the polis while Spartan men were engaged in military activities.
Travel and Hospitality Travel outside of one’s own territory was difficult and often dangerous. Strangers were treated with suspicion and even outright hostility out of fear that a stranger, having no allegiance to the local residents, might try to steal possessions or women. When an individual did have to travel for trade, diplomacy, or a major event such as the Olympiad, a system of guest-friendship (xenia) developed within the Greek territories. Xenia involved a system of mutual reciprocity of meals, lodging, protection, and gift giving. It was understood that a stranger who accepted another’s hospitality must reciprocate in kind when called upon.
The World Beyond Following the campaigns of Alexander the Great, Greek customs intermingled with those of the conquered territories. By the late Hellenistic period (first century b. c.e.), many Greeks occupied large urban centers in the East and profited from newly established trade. New wealth and new freedoms available in the East extended even to women, who were permitted to run businesses and to access law courts. Still, for the vast majority of persons living within Greek territories, life in their small rural villages continued much as it had for millennia.
Further Reading
Adkins, Lesley, and Roy A. Adkins. Handbook to Life in Ancient Greece.
New York: Oxford University Press, 1997.
Pomeroy, Sarah B., Stanley M. Burstein, Walter Donlan, and Jennifer Tolbert Roberts. Ancient Greece: A Political, Social, and Cultural History. New York: Oxford University Press, 1999.
Powell, Anton, ed. The Greek World. New York: Routledge, 1995.
Sonia Sorrell
See also: Agriculture and Animal Husbandry; Death and Burial; Education and Training; Government and Law; Language and Dialects; Mythology; Performing Arts; Religion and Ritual; Settlements and Social Structure; Sports and Entertainment; Trade, Commerce, and Colonization; Women’s Life.
World History
