A day in the life of an ancient Athenian

Welcome to Athens, the marvel of Greece! The city which is the fountainhead of beauty, wisdom and knowledge. Even as your ship approaches the Athenian harbor Piraeus, you can see the marble monuments of the Acropolis and the shining golden edge of the spear, which belongs to the gigantic statue of the goddess Pallas Athene. This is one of the greatest works of the sculptor Phidias, and symbolizes both the power and justice of the "violet city" as it was called by his contemporaries. Athenian women had virtually no political rights of any kind and were controlled by men at nearly every stage of their lives. The most important duties for a city dwelling woman were to bear children preferably male and to run the household. Duties of a rural woman included some of the agricultural work: the harvesting of olives and fruit was their responsibility. Since men spent most of their time away from their houses, women dominated Athenian home life. 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 for the most part limited to being doorkeeper and tutor to the male children.

Athenian