FREE ESSAY ON DAILY LIFE IN FIFTH CENTURY GREECE

DAILY LIFE IN FIFTH CENTURY GREECE

Daily Life in Fifth Century Greece
By Claire Bolto
The daily existence of ancient civilisations has been a source of fascination for both
historians and archaeologists over the centuries. An abundance of information relating to
eating and drinking, clothing, childhood, cosmetics and jewellery survives in the ancient
official documents, biographies and plays which have remained in tact. The majority of
these however, reflect only the luxurious lives of the rich and those with authority. In
the artefacts, paintings, epigraphs and other such structures which archaeologists have
uncovered in the last centuries, not only do we learn more about the lives of the
wealthy, but also of the lives of the growing population of poorer citizens. There was a
considerable difference present in the housing and living conditions of the rich and the
poor, for example, Athens roads were narrow, unpaved alleys between flat-topped houses,
little more than huts with no sanitation or rubbish disposal. 
Ancient Greek housing was most commonly built of relatively inexpensive materials such as
stone, wood or clay bricks, painted white to deflect the heat of the sun, and despite the
elite architectural standards demonstrated by the Greeks, due to the materials used there
were inevitably some flaws in their design. The walls of houses built with sun-dried
bricks had a tendency to wash away little by little in the rain which would eventually
lead to the complete collapse of the house, burying everything within it's walls. The
ground would then be levelled off and another house would be built on top. With time a
mound would grow where several houses had been levelled to the ground and it is due to
this method of building that much of the information regarding the living conditions and
standards of the ancient Greeks has been discovered by archaeologists. The rich lived in
what could have been described as a large town house, conveniently close to all town
facilities and consisting of a dozen or so rooms. The typical house stood beside a
narrow, crooked street, it's front exterior broken only by a door and possibly a few
small windows positioned high in the wall. Rooms were built around a small open-air
courtyard in which the family would spend much of their time relaxing and entertaining.
The furnishings of Greek homes were relatively simple and can be identified from
illustrations on vases and stone reliefs. They included such items as chairs, stools,
couches, tables and various chests, boxes and baskets, many of which were made of wood or
other organic materials and therefore had a poor survival rate, explaining why very few
have been uncovered in ancient remains. The main sources of lighting candles, resinous
torches and oil lamps, all of which were fairly costly, for example olive oil was most
commonly used in the oil lamps and was expensive enough on it's own. 
Although the remains of Ancient Greece appear grand in terms of scale and design, this
often presents a misguided view of society. Only a fortunate few were wealthy, living
such a desired and luxurious lifestyle. In truth the majority of the population was poor,
making a living as best they could. Houses were simple with one main room in which the
entire family lived and ate and a communal bedroom with few furnishings. The barren Greek
soils and dry climate often produced a poor harvest, resulting in an unpredictable
income. The majority of the poorer population lived in remote land villages, separated by
mountains. People farmed just enough to feed their family and for the fortunate
communities nearer the sea there was an abundance of fresh seafood. Peasants were
sometimes forced to leave poorer conditions to help populate new colonies within the
empire as part of the expansion scheme, rather than facing starvation.
Greek women had virtually no political rights and were controlled by men at nearly every
stage of their lives. The most important duties for a city woman were to bear children,
preferably male, and to run the household. Duties of a rural woman included some of the
agricultural work such as the harvesting of olives and fruit gathering of vegetables.
Since men spent most of their time away from their houses, Greek home life was dominated
by women. The wife was in charge of raising the children, spinning, weaving and sewing
the family's clothes. She supervised the daily running of the household. In a totally
slave-based economy, plentiful numbers of female slaves were available to cook, clean,
and carry water from the fountain. Only in the poorest homes was the wife expected to
carry out all these duties by herself. A male slave's responsibilities were usually
limited to being doorkeeper and tutor to the male children.Greek custom dictated that a
woman limit her time outside the house to visiting only with female neighbours. The only
exceptions to such social convention were weddings, funerals and state religious
festivals in which women were expected to play prominent public roles. Vase scenes
portraying women inside their houses are often lacking specific details. The common
presence of columns suggests that women spent much of their time in the courtyard of the
house, the one place where they could regularly enjoy fresh air. Greek cooking equipment
was small and light and could easily be set up there. In sunny weather, women probably
sat in the roofed-over areas of the courtyard. 
Men's activities included politics, arts and crafts, construction, agriculture, sea
faring, manufacturing and trade. Agriculture was the most common male activity however it
is only rarely illustrated. Yet the large majority of citizens of all Greek states relied
upon the land for their basic income, even the rich who did no work in the fields
themselves, tended to oversee directly the farming of at least some of their property as
opposed to leasing it all out. For the common people, agricultural work was the
overwhelming reality of their lives. Education in schools in ancient Athens was at first
limited to aristocratic boys however, by the 4th century, all 18-year-old males spent two
years in a gymnasium, a state school devoted to the overall physical and intellectual
development of a young man. More advanced education in philosophy, mathematics, logic and
rhetoric was available to the aristocracy in highly select gymnasia like the Academy of
Plato and the Lycaeum of Aristotle. Although girls in ancient Greece received no formal
education in the literary arts, many of them were taught to read and write informally at
home.
The sunny climate of Athens made the living conditions out doors pleasant and for this
reason Athenian men often saw a dwelling as a house, not a home, leaving early in the
morning for work or relaxation. On an ordinary day, the average Athenian man rose early
in the morning and dressed in the commonly worn knee length woollen garment called a
chiton. After a small breakfast of coarse bread dipped in wine, the average citizen might
go to the market of Agora, the central meeting place of the city, before the beginning of
the work day. The market was a large bustling area, separated into sections of different
items. It was also the civic centre of the city where much of the official business took
place, for example meetings of the council and worship of the gods. At midday a light
lunch would be had at home and the afternoon was often spent at the gymnasium where men
wrestled, boxed and ran as well as found time for a serious discussion with other
citizens. Dinner was usually eaten as a family and would consist of foods such as olives,
vegetables, fish, cheese, bread, apples or figs, honey for sweetening and eaten with wine
and water. Meat was usually too expensive to be enjoyed by most people. If Athenian men
wished to entertain friends they were usually invited to dinner in the evening lead by
serious discussion. In such instances women were banned from attendance. 
The abundance of slaves in fifth Century Greece did much of the real work, leaving the
Athenian citizens free, and therefore leisure was seen as an essential part of life,
especially sporting activities which were regarded as necessary for good health. Sports
were also seen as a method of training for warfare as well as a means of honouring gods.
An excellent example of this is the Olympic games. Music and dance was popular with
Greeks from all classes, not only as a past time but also a religious festival. Musicians
often accompanied plays at the theatre or performed with dancers at private banquets.
Most Greek cities also had an amphitheatre at their centre in which plays or enactments
of stories of gods and legendary heroes were presented for entertainment. It was through
such means as sports, music and dance that ancient Greek citizens found entertainment at
their leisure.
The Ancient Greeks were extremely racist people and referred to all non-Greeks as
barbarians, meaning "not speaking", simply an adjective representing the sound of
incomprehensible speech. It was originally used in referral to the Persians, but because
their empire covered so many of the foreign people in question, for example the
Egyptians, Phoenicians, Phrygians and Thracians, it was soon extended to all non-Greeks.
This reflected and boosted the Greeks sense of their own superiority and it is obvious
through records that they were often portrayed as the opposite of the ideal Greek. There
are few references to the different physical appearance of barbarian characters except in
the case of blacks, their skin supposably darkened by the sun. It was argued that colour
determine not only physiology, but also temperament and political behaviour. In issues
such as these the Greeks were very set in their ways and anyone with a contradicting
opinion was often rejected from society and sometimes even ostracised.
Bibliography
Donn.D., (2000). Daily Life Site Index, [on-line]. Available WWW:
http://www.julen.net/ancient/Daily_Life/
Guy.J., (1998). Greek Life. Ticktock publishing LTD. UK
Halsall.P., (2000). Internet Ancient History Sourcebook, [on-line]. Available WWW:
http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/ancient/asbook07.html
Hayden.J., (2000). The Ancient World Web, [on-line]. Available WWW:
http://www.julen.net/ancient/Daily_Life/


  
    
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Narative On Fredrick Douglass
Slavery was perhaps one of the most appalling tragedies in the history of The United
States of America. To tell the people of the terrible facts, runaway slaves wrote their
accounts of slavery down on paper and published it for the nation to read. Frederick
Douglass and Harriet Jacobs were just two of the many slaves who did this. Each of the
slaves had different experiences with slavery, but they all had one thing in common: they
tell of the abominable institution of slavery and how greatly it affected their lives.
When Douglass was seven years old, he was sent to a new master and mistress, Hugh and
Sophia Auld. Sophia was a very kind and affectionate woman, probably one of the nicest
people Douglass had encountered in his early childhood life. Here?s what Douglass had to
say about his new mistress:?Her face was made of heavenly smiles and her voice of
tranquil music (Douglas 41).? This caused Douglass to view the whites differently than
before. His previous owners were cruel and corrupt who often whipped and beat their
slaves in agony. But not Mrs. Auld; Douglass was astonished at her kind heart. She
treated Douglass and other black slaves like human beings. She even began to teach him
how to read and write. This led Douglass to believe that his own race could be treated
like humans instead of savages by the whites and that the white race could have the
capabilities of acting like human beings towards the blacks (Douglass 42). But when
Sophia?s husband discovered about the private lessons, he ordered her to stop. He told
her that teaching Douglass to read would ruin him forever as a slave. Hearing this
affected Douglass? values of having an education greatly; he became determined to read at
all costs. Reading became everything and was his journey to freedom. This was a very
important first step because he both learned of the world around him and the world
outside of slavery. It was then that he became aware of his current status: a lowly slave
that was considered to be a chattel. And it was then that he wanted his freedom.
Meanwhile, the venom slave owner began to poison Sophia?s kind nature. Sadly, Douglass
was once again a piece of meat and he no longer viewed the black race as one of the
whites. Also, his views for white slave owners changed similarly; his heart was filled
with abhorrence for them (Douglass 42). There were many times when Douglass thought about
running away to become a free man, but there were few times when he was really determined
to fulfill the risky and dangerous task. One of the few times came during the year when
he worked for Edward Covey. Douglass became a field hand for the first time in his life.
It was one of the few times he felt like a slave. He was not skilled in the backbreaking
work required of him. Covey was a harsh and brutal slaveholder. Mr. Covey made his slaves
work in all weathers. It was never too hot or too cold; it could never rain, blow, hail,
or snow, too hard in the field (Douglass 66). And if it wasn?t work, work, work, it was
beatings, beatings, and beatings. Douglass was often whipped and battered for not working
?hard enough.? Under Covey, Douglass and the other slaves were treated as the lowlifes of
society, as low as horses and pigs. After six months under Covey, Douglass lost interest
in reading and the spirited character he once had in him extinguished. He was so sick of
working for Covey and being a slave that he finally couldn?t take it anymore, and wanted
to be set loose from his shackles of doom (Douglass 63-72). Douglass wished he could swim
so he could swim to his freedom or fly like a bird toward a new and better life. He
desired for God?s help and asked him to set him free (Douglass 67). Douglass was so sick
of being a slave that he even preferred death over bondage (Douglass 82). Throughout
Douglass? life, he encountered many different people. But one proved to be a true friend,
Sandy Jenkins, a slave who was married to a free woman. Sandy taught him a value of life
that is probably one of the most important values - the value of friendship. One day,
when Mr. Covey was on another rampage of his, Douglass managed to escape but had no where
to go. But luckily, he met Sandy and told him how Mr. Covey was going to ?get hold of
him? and Sandy kindly welcomed him to his house. Sandy, as a loyal friend, give Douglass
guidance as to what procedure it was best for him to follow (Douglass 70). Also, he let
Douglass on a secret about a certain root which if he carried on his right side, it would
make it impossible for him to get a beating from any white man (Douglass 71).
Surprisingly, the root worked at first. But later, the luck of the root wore out and Mr.
Covey began to beat Douglass as usual. Covey nearly broke him, but then Douglass defeated
him while wearing the root, which strengthened Douglass? resolve to resist Covey?s
violence. Harriet Jacobs was one of many slaves. Like Douglass, her life and perception
of life were intensely affected by others. In Jacobs? narrative, she wrote about her
desire for freedom and her views on the different races. She also demonstrated many
points in her narrative that illustrated how her relationships with others influenced her
values. Jacobs? early childhood was probably one of the best times she had due to the
person that owned her which was the ideal mistress that every slave would have desired.
Jacobs was cared for by Mistress after her mother died. Unlike most other slaveholders
who were harsh on slave children, Mistress was like a second mother to Jacobs.?My
mistress was so kind to me that I was always glad to do her bidding, and proud to labor
for her as much as my young years would permit? Those were happy days (Jacobs 119).?Under
the ownership of this kind-hearted mistress, Jacobs was as free as an eagle. She could
wander about to play and gather berries or flowers to decorate Mistress? room. She
decorated Mistress? room because she truly loved her. Jacobs was a very lucky girl to
have such a wonderful childhood with a pleasant white owner. In fact, Jacobs was so happy
with Mistress that she didn?t even know she was a slave until she was six years old. She
truly believed that whites were nice. But that would all change when Jacobs was twelve
years old (Jacobs 199). Mistress became ill and died. During her sickness, Jacobs prayed
that Mistress would get better and live. Unfortunately, her prayers were not answered.
Jacobs loved Mistress very much and that love caused her to mourn Mistress? death.
Jacobs? first mistress was so nice that even the nearby children thought that upon her
death, she would let Jacobs be free. But that was not the case; in the will of Mistress,
it was ordered that her sister?s daughter would acquire Jacobs (Jacobs 199-120). A
person?s childhood is the time when they learn the most. And in the case of Jacobs, she
learned the goodness of whites at an early age. As any other child who was treated
kindly, Jacobs expected to be treated with kindness in her new ?home?. Since her new
owner, Emily Flint, was still too young to make decisions, her father, Dr. Flint, took
control of Jacobs. Dr. Flint harassed and forbid Harriet to love anyone other than him.
He told Jacobs that she must be subject to his will in all things (Jacobs 131-132). Dr.
Flint constantly made many efforts to force Jacobs to submit sexually to him. Her days
with Dr. Flint were filled with misery.?I had always been kindly treated, and tenderly
cared for, until I came into the hands of Dr. Flint. I had never wished for freedom till
then (Jacobs 221).?Jacobs had another fear besides being sexually harassed and that fear
was being separated from her children. To Jacobs, freedom meant that she could free her
own children and be united as a family with her as a loving mother (Appiah 15-16). But
Jacobs knew that Dr. Flint would never let that happen so the only option for Jacobs was
to run away. Her opportunity came when Jacobs rejected Dr. Flint?s offer to become his
?concubine? for the last time. As a punishment, he sent her out to do fieldwork on the
plantation, leaving her children in the care of her grandmother (Jacobs 184). Also, Dr.
Flint planned to send the kids to work on the plantation as well and upon learning this,
she decided to run away (Jacobs 195-197). Jacobs assumed, correctly, as it turned out,
that Dr. Flint would sell her children if she fled (Jacobs 193). Jacobs's white lover,
Mr. Sands, sent a speculator to Dr. Flint to purchase her children, and Dr. Flint sold
them without knowing for whom the speculator was working (Jacobs 209-211). Secure in the
belief that her children were safe, Jacobs spent the next seven years of her life hidden
in a tiny room over a storeroom in her grandmother's house (Jacobs 249). Jacobs had
finally escaped from bondage so her children could escape from bondage. In later years
after going through some other obstacles, Jacobs and her two children finally united and
formed a family she had always yearned for.During the several years Jacobs stayed with
the Flint family, she was very much isolated. Throughout the book, Dr. Flint wanted
Jacobs all to himself. One time when Jacobs went to a small party, Dr. Flint found out
and became enraged. He told Jacobs that she didn?t belong at the party. What he meant by
that was Jacobs belonged at his home to serve him. Then he asked Jacobs if she was
allowed to visit such people. And by this, Dr. Flint implied that Jacobs could not go out
to see other people or make any friends (Jacobs 183-184). Also, when Jacobs was hiding
from Dr. Flint in the tiny room for seven years, there was no way possible for her to
make any companions (Jacobs 249). Thus, Jacobs didn?t have many friends.After years of
seclusion in the secret room, the time came for Jacobs to escape to the north. On the
escape vessel, Jacobs met her old friend Fanny. Jacobs had been isolated from the outside
world for seven years and now was the perfect time for her to form a special bond with
another person of the same race who experienced similar sufferings. In the vessel, Fanny
renewed Jacobs? value of friendship. There, they escaped from slavery and comforted each
other and became even greater friends (Jacobs 259-261). These narratives are just two of
many stories told by the slaves of America. Douglass and Jacobs were both writing as an
unselfish act. They both wrote for the slaves whose voices were silenced and could not
write or speak out on their own (Appiah 9). They wished to free their fellow slaves down
in the south who were less fortunate and unable to escape.