Ancient GreeceDomestic Life

By: Tara Bosch

Housing

• Typical Greek house consisted of two stories with rooms constructed around a courtyard

• Women in charge of running household,

• Household played a significant role in woman’s life as it was seen to be more honorable for woman to remain indoors rather than to be outside, and vice versa for men

The gynaikônitis (women's quarters) was often located on the

upper floor of a house

The andrôn (men's apartment or (banqueting hall) was reserved for men only and was often used for

entertaining guests

DID YOU KNOW? Homes often had windows that were high up to prevent thieves from breaking in

Everyday Life

DID YOU KNOW? If Children were sick at birth, they were often put on a hill to die

• Woman played a very domestic role in the Greek civilization, often confined to their households

• Certain occasions permitted women to leave the house such as a funeral, wedding, or certain religious events that woman were permitted to attend

• Children had a relatively easy going life until the age of 7 in which they occupied much of their time with toys and games

• After the age of 7 girls remained at home to learn domestic skills and boys were permitted to attend school

The Greek alphabet, it was the first alphabet created to include vowels

Marriage

DID YOU KNOW? A woman’s status increased when she gave birth to a boy

• Women were always under control of a man, and didn’t have the option to live alone -> Under the control of her father or brother until married in which the control carried over to her husband

• Purpose of marriage was primarily carried out to further the social status of a family, and to produce children ( males were favored)

• Divorce was permitted if a husband made an announcement of the divorce before witnesses OR if a woman requested a divorce through an archonStatue of Alcibiades,

the man whom insured that his wife remained

with him by force

Wedding ceremonies were accompanied by singing and the music of a lyre, where the bride was escorted by the groom to his home

Farming & Food

DID YOU KNOW? Meat was commonly used for religious sacrifices to Gods/Godesses instead of food

• Greeks picked grapes to make wine, they would add water and squeeze the juice from the grapes

• Soil along coastline wasn’t very fertile, Greeks used systems of irrigation and crop rotation through-out the year to grow crops, grew olives, grapes, figs

• In the plains were the soil was more fertile they grew wheat to make bread

• Kept goats for milk and cheese• Fishing was a popular way of obtaining food, ate fish such as

sturgeon, eel, octopus• Didn’t have salt, so used honey as a sweetener instead

The first cultivation of the olive tree world wide took place in Greece, the picture on the right depicts a tree being harvested

Entertainment

DID YOU KNOW? Boys in Ancient Greece often played games naked, so girls were forbidden to watch

• Men often went to the theatre for entertainment to view comedies & tragedies. Plays often involved current politics and gods in a form.

• Woman were often not aloud to watch or perform at the theatre, so it was common to see male actors playing woman roles

• Men & woman engaged in games such as marbles, dice and checkers

• Olympics in ancient Greece were held every four years. The events were taken very seriously and men trained often for various events such as long-jump, discus, javelin, boxing, wrestling, and chariot and horse races.

An ancient vase depicting two Greek men playing checkers. Their version of checkers was

similar to the modern game of backgammon

Bibliography• http://greece.mrdonn.org/dailylife.html• http://

www.woodlands-junior.kent.sch.uk/Homework/greece/dailylife.htm

• http://www.ancientgreece.com/s/Life/• http://

ablemedia.com/ctcweb/consortium/ancientweddings3.html• http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/primaryhistory/ancient_greek

s/home_life/

• http://www.womenintheancientworld.com/greece.htm• http://

www.womenintheancientworld.com/womenandmoneyinancientathens.htm

• http://www.ancient-greece.us/women.html• http://

webpage.pace.edu/nreagin/F2004WS267/AnnaCho/finalHISTORY.html

• http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/wmna/hd_wmna.htm