Daily life in Athens

HOUSING

Most of the evidence for Ancient Greek housing come from the excavations in Athens. The houses that have been excavated are fairly simple, as the Greeks spent the majority of their time outdoors whilst the wealthier people preferred to spend their money on religious festival or providing ships for the navy. The houses were made of sun-dried bricks, using wooden supports for the verandas, staircases and roofs. Rich and poor people lived in fairly similar houses, with the main differences being in the variation of the size. Wealthier citizen could have two storeys and a central courtyard, with rooms on each side. In wealthier houses there were women’s quarters. These were separated from the men’s area in the house, and no male visitor would enter into the women’s quarters.

FESTIVALS

In the Athenian calendar, festivals played a very important role in giving a pattern to the year. The year began in midsummer, corresponding to mid July, and every month that passes at least one festival or two were held. These festivals could last for several days. For each festival there were set procedures that were followed, and almost all possessed three elements:ProcessionsAnimal sacrifices followed by a banquet to eat the meatCompetitions involving plays or athletic events.

Some Ancient Greek festivals are:

Anthesteria –festival of Dionysus and the new wine

Apaturia –festival of the phratry brotherhood

Dionysus – dramatic festival of Dionysus

Eleusinia – festival of games held at Eleusis

Panathenaea Pyanepsia – a bean feast

Thargella – festival of Apollo and the new harvest

Thesmophoria – festival of Demeter celebrated by women.

FOOD

The main types of food eaten by the ancient Greeks were eggs, fish, vegetables, goat’s milk and fruit. Greece being located in a warm climate, fruit such as mulberries, apples, figs, dates, grapes, olives and lemons were in abundance. Salads were also made from a variety of vegetables such as onions, beans and cabbages. In both cooking and salads, olive oil was used for both. Meat did not feature in the typical Greek diet, however on special occasions such as religious festivals or at family events such as weddings, a sacrifice of an animals was made on an alter in the courtyard. Breakfast consisted of bread and wine and lunch would be bread, olives and cheese. Dinner was a hot meal, usually soup, fish, vegetables, cake and fruit. The wealthy men, rather than dining with their wives and families, opted to dine with other men. Cooking was sometimes done on a raised hearth (fireplace) in the courtyard. Water was heated and soup and vegetables were cooked in large wide-mouthed jugs. Roasting was done in small clay ovens.

Athenian Women

Even though Athene was the main deity worshipped in Athens, Athenian women had few rights and were not citizens and so were not eligible to take a direct and active role in political life. Under Athenian law, women were considered the property of their fathers and then later to their husbands. This was the same in many other Greek states. While the boys were taught how to read and write, the women were taught by the slaves how to complete domestic duties such as spinning and weaving. Most of the averages women’s life would have been restricted to the home. These were generally the case except for religious ceremonies and festivals in which both men and women attended and took part. Only the men were took part in the day-to-day government of the city, and the slaves did any shopping in the Agora for the household.

Marriage

A girl’s future was often decided between the father and the groom’s father. The father would say, “I give you this girl for the ploughing of legitimate children” and this would be a legal bond. This bond would occur while she was still young. The girl would remain through with her parents until the wedding (gamos) which would take place we she turned 15. The evening of her wedding, the bride would dedicate her toys to the goddess Artemis. Followed by the groom and bride being ritually bathed in water from a sacred spring. On the morning of the wedding both houses would be decorated in with olive branches and laurel. The bride’s family would hold a sacrifice followed by a banquet. At the banquet traditional food would be served, including sesame cakes, which were believed to stimulate fertility. In the evening of the wedding day, the bride will part from her parents’ house for the final time. A formal torch light procession to the groom’s house will be initiated guiding the bride to her new home. From now on she will be considered by the Greek policy and law to be the property of the groom and his family.