greece women slideshow ks2

8/8/2019 Greece Women Slideshow KS2

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Ancient GreeceWhat was life like for women?



M aking cloth was one of the mostimportant jobs for women in ancientGreece.

This woman is spinning wool intoa thread.

These women have abasket full of wool

a spindle towrap thethread round

a basket for wool

weights to

help thespindle spin



??

?

?

Women used a loom to weave the thread into cloth.

Explore this painting of an ancient Greek loom.



finished cloth rolledaround a bar at thetop

vertical threadshanging down

loom weights tokeep the threadsstraight

bars to make iteasier to weavethe horizontalthread over andunder thevertical ones

This loom weight has Athena¶s

owl on it. Athena inventedweaving.

Women used a loom to weave the thread into cloth.

Explore this painting of an ancient Greek loom.

How do you think an ancient Greekwoman might feel when she hadfinished a new piece of cloth?



Who do you think these women are and why?



a nanny ± usuallya slave

an old nanny ± she may have been inthe household for many years

the mother ± girlsoften got married asyoung as 13 or 14,but were usually older when they hadchildren



S ome girls went to school or weretaught at home. The woman inthis painting is reading from a

scroll.

Girls were also taught music anddance. The M uses were femalegoddesses of music, dance and

literature.



The women on these Athenian pots are entertaining men at a drinking party.

The woman on the left is a dancer. The woman on the right is playing the pipes.

Athenian free-born women were not allowed go to drinking parties, so these women

must either be slaves or foreigners living in Athens.

Why do you think free-born Athenian

women were not allowed to go todrinking parties with the men?



When somebody died in the family, the women prepared the person¶s body for the funeral. They cut their hair short, wailed and sang laments, scratched attheir bodies and beat their heads.

It was usually womenwho visited the graveof the dead person tomake offerings of oil,water and special

cakes.



These two young women are playing agame of knucklebones.

It was like our game µjacks¶.

This young woman is running in ashort tunic.

S he is probably from S parta, wherewomen did exercise to keep fit sothey would have healthy children.



What do you think these women are doing?Clue: the two strange objects are metal tripods, which were often given asgifts to the gods

The two bulls are going to be sacrificed to a god. The women have

the important job of decorating them to show they are special.

an ox

an ox

The women are wearing finelong dresses, a headband

and a crown.

a garlandof flowers

a garlandof flowers



Here is another sacrifice. Can you find:the ox and the altar where it is going to be sacrificed?

the priestess carrying on her head a basket with the sacrificial knife in it?

the statue of the goddess Athena?



Here is another religious festival. Can you spot:some women dancing?

the priestess at the altar?

the high priestess or goddess on her throne?

This is probably a festival to help make the grain seeds grow and produce food.

Why do you think ancient Greek women had such important jobs to do in connection with worshipping the gods?



These Athenian women are fetching water from the public fountain. Womenspent most of the day in the house with the other women in their own householdand with the children and the slaves. Carrying water was a heavy and tiring job.

Look at the picture. Can you think of reasons why Athenian women mighthave enjoyed going to fetch water?



F ind out more about ancient Greece

Visit the main M useum websitewww.britishmuseum.org

Use Explore to look at some of our objectswww.britishmuseum.org/explore/introduction.aspx

Learn more about the lives of Greek women and menwww.ancientgreece.co.uk

greece women slideshow ks2

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