Daily Life in Athens

1
Daily Life in Athens
2
Daily Life in Athens

• Democracy- Government where citizens govern
  themselves
• The first democracy developed in Athens
• Solon was given power by the aristocrats
• He created an constitution a set of rules for
  government
• As leader, he created laws giving more rights to
  citizens and less to aristocrats.
• He also changed how people were taxed making it
  more fair
• Citizens could have a say in creating laws
• However, only males born in Athens who were not
  slaves were citizens.

3
Daily Life in Athens
4
Daily Life in Athens

• I. Men
• Met in the agora, the public marketplace
• Discussed politics, religion, philosophy,
  community events
• Vendors- sold wares like, wool, pottery, tools,
  cloth, books, food
• Went to government buildings and temple in the
  agora
• Ate simple meals of bread, cheese, fruit,
  vegetables
• Lived in simple mud brick homes

5
Daily Life in Athens
6
Daily Life in Athens

• II. Women
• Led secluded lives
• Men thought women had to be protected from the
  world
• Had little freedom
• In charge of the homes and families
• Rich women spun and wove cloth, looked after
  supplies of food and wine, cared for children and
  kept track of family finances
• Poor women did the same and worked outside the
  homelike making pottery, spinning and weaviong
  cloth, or tending sheep

7
Daily Life in Athens
8
Daily Life in Athens

• III. Children
• Rich boys went to school
• After lessons, they had athletic training
• Poor boys and all girls did not go to school
• All children learned to do the same job as their
  parent

9
Daily Life in Athens

• IV. Slaves
• Slavery- the condition of being owned and forced
  to work by another person
• One third of the people in Athens were slaves
• Slaves were often Greeks from other city-states
• Had no rights or freedoms
• Slaves could become free if their master freed
  them or they bought their freedom
• Worked on farms, worked in mines, in
  construction, making tools, cooking, cleaning,
  caring for children and many other jobs

10
Golden Age of Athens

• 479BC-431BC
• Rich from silver mining and trade
• Tributes paid to Athens by other city-states for
  protection
• Made contributions in art, philosophy,
  government, and literature
• Pericles, an Athenian leader, strengthened
  democracy by paying officials
• Built the Parthenon