Name: Class:

Greek Society
By Mark Cartwright
From Www.Ancient.Eu  2013

Mark Cartwright is a scholar of Greek philosophy and a frequent contributor to the Ancient History
Encyclopedia. Ancient Greece (c. 8th to 5th centuries BC) was populated by a diverse number of social
groups divided by age, gender, wealth, citizenship, and legal establishment of freedom. The following text
explores these various social groups and paints a picture of what life was like in ancient Greek society. As
you read, take notes on the similarities and differences in lifestyle between the different social classes and
groups of people in ancient Greece.

[1] Although the male citizen, with his full legal

status, right to vote, hold public office, and own
property, may well have
1
dominated Greek Society, the social groups
which made up the population of a typical
Greek city-state or polis were remarkably diverse.
Women, children, immigrants (both Greek and
foreign), laborers, and slaves all had defined
2
roles, but there was interaction (often illicit )
between the classes and there was also some
movement between social groups, particularly for
3
second generation offspring and during times of
stress such as wars. ;

Classes
Although the male citizen had by far the best
position in Greek society, there were different
classes within this group. The top of the social
4
tree was the “best people,” the aristoi.
Possessing more money than everyone else, this
class could provide themselves with armor,
weapons, and a horse when on military "Greece-0120 - Caryatids" by Dennis Jarvis is licensed under CC BY-
5 6
campaign. The aristocrats were often split into SA 2.0.
powerful family factions or clans who controlled
all of the important political positions in the polis. Their wealth came from having property and even
7
more importantly, the best land, i.e.: the most fertile and the closest to the protection offered by
the city walls.

1. Dominate (verb): to have a commanding influence on; to exercise control over

2. Illicit (adjective): forbidden by law, rules, or custom
3. Offspring (noun): children
4. The aristoi were the noblemen of ancient Greece. Their name literally means “best,” not only in wealth and status but
they were also considered the morally best.
5. A military campaign refers to a military’s strategies and plans for battle.
6. Aristocrat (noun): nobleman

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 A poorer, second class of citizens existed too. These were men who had land but perhaps less
productive plots and situated further from the city, their property was less well-protected than the
prime land nearer the city proper. The land might be so far away that the owners had to live on it
8
rather than travel back and forth from the city. These citizens were called the perioikoi (dwellers-
round-about) or even worse “dusty-feet” and they collected together for protection in small village
9
communities, subordinate to the neighboring city. As city populations grew and inheritances became
ever more divided amongst siblings, this secondary class grew significantly. ;

A third group were the middle, business class. Engaged in manufacturing, trade, and commerce, these
10
were the nouveau riche. However, the aristoi jealously guarded their privileges and political
11
monopoly by ensuring only landowners could rise into positions of real power. However, there was
some movement between classes. Some could rise through accumulating wealth and influence; others
could go down a class by becoming bankrupt (which could lead to a loss of citizenship or even being
12
enslaved). Ill-health, losing out on an inheritance, political upheavals , or war could also result in the
“best” getting their feet a little dusty. ;

Women
[5] Female citizens had few rights in comparison to male citizens. Unable to vote, own land, or inherit, a
woman’s place was in the home and her purpose in life was the rearing of children. Contact with non-
family males was discouraged and women occupied their time with indoor activities such as wool-work
and weaving. Spartan women were treated somewhat differently than in other states, for example,
they had to do physical training (nude) like men, were permitted to own land, and could drink wine.

Women citizens had to marry as a virgin and marriage was usually organized by the father, who chose
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the husband and accepted from him a dowry. If a woman had no father, then her interests (marriage
prospects and property management) were looked after by a guardian (kurios), perhaps an uncle or
other male relative. Married at the typical age of thirteen or fourteen, love had little to do with the
matching of husband and wife. Of course, love may have developed between the couple but the best
14
that might be hoped for was philia—a general friendship/love sentiment; eros, the love of desire, was
to be found elsewhere, at least for the male. Marriages could be ended on three grounds. The first and
15 16
most common was repudiation by the husband (apopempsis or ekpempsis). No reason was
necessary, only the return of the dowry was expected. The second termination cause was the wife
17
leaving the family home (apoleipsis) and in this case the woman’s new guardian was required to act as
her legal representative. This was, however, a rare occurrence and the woman’s reputation in society
was damaged as a result. The third ground for termination was when the bride’s father asked for his
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daughter back (aphairesis), probably to offer her to another man with a more attractive dowry. This
last option was only possible, however, if the wife had not had children. If a woman was left a widow,
she was required to marry a close male relative in order to ensure property stayed within the family.

7. Fertile (adjective): capable of producing crops

8. Also known as the perioeci, the perioikoi were freemen of Sparta, mainly farmers and merchants who often lacked
full citizenship.
9. Subordinate (adjective): lower in rank or position
10. The "new rich"
11. Monopoly (noun): the exclusive possession or control of a trade or business
12. Upheaval (noun): disorder; disturbance
13. Dowry (noun): property or money brought by a bride to her husband on their marriage; a “bride price” is paid by the
bridegroom to the bride’s family/male guardian
14. It is also translated as "brotherly love."
15. Repudiation (noun): rejection of a proposal or idea

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Women, of course, were also present in the various other non-citizen classes. The group for which we
have most information is that of sex-workers. Women were here divided into two categories. The first
and perhaps most common was the brothel prostitute (pornē). The second, was the higher-class
19
prostitute (hetaira). These latter women were educated in music and culture and often formed lasting
relationships with married men. It was also this class of women that entertained men (in every sense)
20
at the celebrated symposium.

Children & Adolescents

Children of citizens attended schools where the curriculum covered reading, writing, and mathematics.
21
After these basics were mastered, studies turned to literature (for example, Homer), poetry, and
22
music (especially the lyre ). Athletics was also an essential element in a young person’s education.
23
At Sparta, boys as young as seven were grouped together under the stewardship of an older youth to
be toughened up with hard physical training. In Athens, young adult citizens (aged 18-20) had to
24
perform civil and military service and their education continued with lessons in politics, rhetoric, and
culture. Girls too were educated in a similar manner to boys but with a greater emphasis on dancing,
gymnastics, and musical accomplishment, which could be shown off in musical competitions and at
religious festivals and ceremonies. The ultimate goal of a girl’s education was to prepare her for her
role in rearing a family.

Laborers
Greek society included a significantly larger proportion of laborers than slaves. These were semi-free
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workers, wholly dependent on their employer. The most famous example is the helot class of Sparta.
These dependents were not the property of a particular citizen—they could not be sold as a slave
could—and they often lived with their families. Generally, they formed arrangements with their
employer such as giving a quantity of their produce to the farm owner and keeping the rest for
26
themselves. Sometimes the quota required may have been high or low, and there may also have
27
been some extra benefits to the serfs such as protection and safety in numbers. However, the serf-
class or helots could never achieve any real security as they were given little or no legal status and
28
harshly treated, even killed in regular purges (especially in Sparta), in order to instill a fear which
29
would ensure continued subordination to the ruling class. In certain periods such as war, helots were
required to serve in the armed forces and, fighting well, they could even earn an escape from their lot
and join the intermediary social groups which existed below the level of full-citizen and included such
individuals as children with parents of mixed status (e.g.: father-citizen, mother-helot).

16. Both words essentially mean “divorce” initiated by the husband.

17. Meaning the wife initiates the divorce
18. Meaning "a taking away"
19. A "courtesan" or "mistress"
20. Symposium (noun): a conference or meeting place for gatherings and discussions of particular subjects
21. Homer was the author of The Illiad and The Odyssey and is considered one of the greatest epic poets of ancient
Greece.
22. The lyre is a stringed instrument shaped like a small harp used especially in ancient Greece.
23. Stewardship (noun): supervision or guardianship
24. Rhetoric (noun): the art of effective or persuasive speaking or writing
25. They were a class between slaves and citizens, often compared to serfs (people who worked land they did not own
for a living and for protection).
26. Quota (noun): a fixed amount or number of items
27. Serf (noun): an agricultural laborer (see footnote 25)
28. Purge (noun): a quick or violent removal of a group of people

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 Slaves
[10] In Greek society, slaves were seen as a necessary and perfectly normal part of city-life. Acquired
through war and conquest, kidnap and purchase, slaves were simply amongst life’s losers. There were
30 31
even intellectual arguments from philosophers like Aristotle, which propounded the belief that
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slaves were demonstrably inferior, a product of their environment and inherited characteristics.
Greeks persuaded themselves that it was they who had the best environment and characteristics and
the purest blood line and were, therefore, born to rule.

It is impossible to say with accuracy how many slaves (douloi) there were in Greek society and what
proportion of the population they made up. It is unlikely, due to the costs, that every single citizen had
their own slave but some citizens undoubtedly owned many slaves. Accordingly, estimates of the slave
population in the Greek world range from between 15 and 40% of the total population. However, a
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defense speech made in a court case in Athens by Lysias, and hints from others such as
34
Demosthenes, strongly suggest that if every citizen did not have slaves then they certainly desired
them, and to be a slave owner was considered a measure of social status. Slaves were not only owned
35
by private individuals but also by the state, which used them in municipal projects such as mining or,
as in the case of Athens, the police force. ;

The interactions between slaves and owners was similar to the slave-owner relationships at other
36
points in history; there was a mix of contempt, distrust, and abuse from the owners and contempt,
theft, and sabotage from the enslaved. Source material is always from the viewpoint of the slave owner
but there are references in literature, particularly in Greek comedy, of friendship and loyalty in at least
37
some owner-slave relationships. Whilst the flogging of slaves is commonly referred to in Greek plays,
38 39
there were also treatises written extolling the benefits of kindness and incentives in slave
management.

Slaves worked in all spheres and over 200 hundred occupations have been identified. These include
working in the home, in agriculture, industry workshops (e.g.: making shields, food, clothes and
perfumes), mines, transport, retail, banking, entertainment, in the armed forces as attendants to their
owner or as baggage carriers, as rowers in naval vessels or even as fighters. Farms were generally
small affairs with even the richest citizens tending to own several small farms rather than one large
estate, therefore, slaves were not concentrated into large groups as in later ancient societies.

29. Subordination (noun): the act of existing at a lower rank; servitude

30. Aristotle (384 BC – 322 BC) was a Greek philosopher, a student of Plato, and a tutor of Alexander the Great.
31. Propound (verb): to put forward (an idea, theory, or point of view) for consideration by others
32. Demonstrably (adverb): in a way that is clearly apparent or capable of being logically proved
33. Lysias (459 BC – 380 BC) was a speech writer and giver in ancient Greece, one of the ten great orators of the classical
era.
34. Demosthenes (384 BC – 322 BC) was a statesman and orator (speech giver) of ancient Athens.
35. Municipal (adjective): of or relating to a city or town or its governing body
36. Contempt (noun): hatred; feeling that a person or thing is beneath consideration or deserving of scorn
37. Flog (verb): to beat someone with a whip or stick
38. Treatise (noun): a written work dealing formally and systematically with a subject
39. Extol (verb): to praise enthusiastically

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 For slaves there was—at least for some—a glimmer of hope to one day achieve their freedom. There
are instances when slaves, particularly those involved in manufacturing and industry, living separately
from their owners and given a certain financial independence, could pay for their freedom with money
they had saved. Also, slaves in the army were sometimes given their freedom by the state following
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their victorious exploits.

Foreigners
41
[15] Aside from slaves, most Greek poleis would have had a number of free foreigners (xenoi) who had
chosen to re-locate from other areas of Greece, the Mediterranean, and the Near East, bringing with
them skills such as pottery and metalworking. These foreigners usually had to register their residence
42
and so became a recognized class (lower in status than the full-citizens) called the metics (metoikoi).
In return for the benefits of “guest” citizenship they had to provide a local sponsor, pay local taxes,
sometimes pay additional taxes, contribute to the costs of minor festivals, and even participate in
military campaigns when necessary. Despite the suspicions and prejudices against foreign “barbarians”
which often crop up in literary sources, there were cases when metoikoi did manage to become full
citizens after a suitable display of loyalty and contribution to the good of the host state. They then
received equal tax status and the right to own property and land. Their children too could also become
citizens. However, some states, notably Sparta, at times actively discouraged immigration or
periodically expelled xenoi. The relationship between foreigners and local citizens seems to have been
a strained one, particularly in times of wars and economic hardship.

"Greek Society" from www.ancient.eu , © 2013, CC BY-NC-SA 3.0. Reprinted with permission, all rights reserved.

40. Exploit (noun): accomplishment

41. Meaning “foreign” or “stranger” from the Greek “xenos”
42. The term “metics” refers to a foreign resident of Athens, one who did not have full citizen rights.