Roles Of People In Ancient Greece

Citizens:

Ancient Greek societies gave the citizens of Ancient Greece rights and responsibilities. These rights were not given to slaves or other subordinate people. The Greeks limited citizenship to children who were born to parents who were citizens as well. Only on rare occasions would polis let foreigners have citizenship, usually the people who were rich or they had valuable skills.

Women:

Women did not have as many rights as men in ancient Greece and could not vote. They were considered second-class citizens and were subject to their fathers before getting married. After they got married, they were subject to their husband and had to do everything he said. Sometimes in Athens, women weren’t even allowed to leave their homes!

Children:

Babies in Ancient Greece usually only lasted a couple of days and weren’t named until at least their tenth day of life. If a baby was born deformed, they would be left on a mountain to die and sometimes the babies were rescued by other families to become slaves. Girl babies were left out to die more often than boys. In certain Greek cities, babies were wrapped in cloth for the first two years of their life to ensure strong bones.

Slaves:

Slaves could be found anywhere in Ancient Greece. They weren’t just household servants, they were factory workers, shopkeepers, mineworkers, farmworkers, and as ship’s crewmembers. There were just as many slaves as free people in ancient Greece, and most wealthy families had at least 10-20 slaves a household.

Ancient Greek Government

In ancient Greece, the four most common types of government were democracy, monarchy, Oligarchy, and Tyranny. For Athens, it is possible to piece together a more complete history. But for other cities, we have an incomplete picture of the systems, and many details of how the political apparatus actually functioned are missing. Democracy was born in ancient Greece in 460 BCE and is derived from the Greek word dēmos which referred to the entire citizen body.

Gods & Goddesses

The gods and goddesses (or deities) of ancient Greece had a huge role in the citizens day to day life. They thought huge deities had control over their lives and they prayed every day for their help and protection. If the gods were not happy with someone, they would be smitten or sentenced to death. They built temples and shrines for the gods, which is where they would prey or leave presents for them. The Greeks had a god for almost everything, from wine, to childbirth, to war, they really did have everything. Some of the most important gods include Zeus, Hera, Hades, Poseidon, Aphrodite and Ares.