Ancient Greek Social Classes

Discover Ancient Greek social classes, from citizens to slaves!

Use the document (paper copy) titled "Ancient Greek Women" to fill in the blanks. Women in ancient Greece were considered second-class citizens to men. Before getting married, girls were subject to their father and had to obey his commands. After getting married, wives were subject to their husbands. Women were looked down upon by men and were considered no smarter than children.Staying at HomeWomen were expected to stay at home and manage the household. In the city-state of Athens, men sometimes wouldn't allow their wives to leave the home. They were basically prisoners in their own homes. Women managed the household slaves and even lived in a separate part of the house.Wealthy WomenWomen married to wealthy men were often confined to their homes. Their jobs were to manage the household and to bear sons for the husband. They lived in a separate area of the home from the men and even ate their meals separate from the men. They had servants who helped with raising the children, doing household chores, and running errands. Most women, even wealthy women, helped to weave cloth for the family's clothing.Poor WomenPoor women often had more freedom than wealthy women because they couldn't afford as many slaves. Because they didn't have a lot of slaves, poor women needed to leave the house to run errands, fetch water, and shop. They sometime took jobs as servants for the wealthy or worked in the local shops.Did women have legal rights?In some Greek city-states, such as Athens, women had few legal rights. In Athens, women generally couldn't own property, couldn't vote, and weren't allowed to participate in the government. In other city-states, women had a few more rights, but still had less rights than men.MarriageWomen usually had no say in who they married. They were "given" in marriage by their father to another man. Sometimes very young girls were wed to older men.Slave WomenSlave women were the lowest class in Ancient Greece. They not only were slaves, but they were also women.Women in SpartaLife was different for the women of the city-state of Sparta. In Sparta, women were respected as the "mother's of warriors." Although they were not considered equal with men, they had more rights and freedom than the women of Athens. They were educated, played sports, allowed to walk around the city freely, and were also able to own property. Women in Ancient Greece Matching Questions Match the term to the appropriate definition. Second-Class Citizens This is the type of citizens that women were considered in ancient Greece. Children Women were considered to be no smarter than this group. Home This is where women were expected to stay. Poor Women This group of women left the house to run errands, fetch water, and shop. They did not own slaves. Wealthy Women This group of women had the jobs of managing the household and bearing sons. Property Spartan women had more freedom than other women. They were even able to own this! Ancient Greece Hierarchy in ATHENS Read the following text. This will tell you all about the social hierarchy of ATHENS.The Upper Class: The first and the topmost class in Ancient Greece Hierarchy was the Upper Class which was also symbolized as the Leisure Class. They possessed the maximum power and topmost position in the society. The Upper Class handled the government work, literature as well as the philosophy department and also the war. The Upper Class used to get slaves to perform their materialistic tasks so as to save their precious time which they can utilize for administrative purposes. Being the Superior Class they had to be totally free and away from inferior tasks such as economical trading. Being Superior from others, they were not allowed to do minor tasks. Being the Upper Class was a symbol of good artistic taste, being civilized and socialized.The Middle Class This was the next class in the Ancient Greece Social Hierarchy. These people were not the natives of Athens, but came to Athens to settle down. They came to Athens for earning their livelihood. Such people were apt for the Middle Class. They were free men, they were not slaves but they possessed very little rights as compared to the Upper Class. They were majorly involved in the trading and manufacturing related jobs.The Lower Class The next class in the Ancient Greece Hierarchy was the Lower Class. Lower Class included those people who were once slaves in their past and were somehow freed by his owner. They were also referred as Freedmen. They were not considered as citizens of Athens and were never allowed to gain a citizenship. The freedom could be gained by any reason like by paying off the ransom by a friend, known or relative or if the slave had got sufficient money, he could get his freedom or a slave could also get freedom by winning a fight or sometimes even the owners let them free.The Slaves: The lowermost class in Ancient Greece Hierarchy was of Slaves. Very little number of Greeks were Slaves and the majority of Slaves were Non-Greeks mostly people rescued from wars or even some criminals were made Slaves. Slaves had no right, not even to defend themselves when their owner would beat them. They had to pay a ransom amount to buy their freedom and to get free. Ancient Greece (ATHENS) Social Class Hierarchy Flowchart Fill in the flowchart using the text above.You must put the name of the class (i.e. Middle Class/ Metics, The Slaves. etc.)in one of the text boxes. Then in the other text box, write one identifying fact about that group of people. The box at the top of the flowchart represents the highest social class, the box at the bottom represents the lowest social class. Go to this website: choose to compare a Spartan woman to an Athenian woman.Then, choose to compare a Spartan male to an Athenian male.After reading all of this information, sort the information below so that the descriptions match the ancient Greek groups. Spartan Women Once born, the mother is pleased to see that the baby is healthy and sturdy. She knows that one day the child will bear strong sons. Athenian Women This child at birth is lucky that the parents wanted her. Some parents would have left the baby in a public place where anyone can adopt the baby as a slave. Spartan Males When born, this child's father took him right to the elders . They tested the baby's strength and health. Athenian Males To announce this baby's birth, the family pinned olive leaves to the door to represent success and victory. What was a METIC in Athenian society? an upper-class, wealthy citizen middle-class, non-natives of Athens slaves lower-class, but free This group of Athenians were either rescued from war or they were criminals; had no freedom; however they could sometimes buy their freedom. This was the lowermost class of Athenians. upper-class metics slaves lower-class; freedmen This group of Athenians handled the government work, literature as well as the philosophy department and also the war. They would get slaves to perform their materialistic tasks so as to save their precious time which they can utilize for administrative purposes. upper-class metics/ non- natives lower-class/ freedmen slaves Ancient Greek Daily Life: Food! Go to this website: 5 foods/ drinks that the ancient Greeks primarily ate.