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Ancient Athens
By: Asia Sims
Professor Oluwajuyemi
USA, Africa and World History
November 14, 2012
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Asia Sims
In 3000 B.C.E, the first settlement of Athenians was on the rock of Acropolis, which is
located near the sea in a region of Greece called Attica. The Athens got their name from an
ancient myth about competition between the goddess Athena and god Poseidon. According to
Elinor Stebbins,
“Athena, Greek goddess of wisdom, of household arts and crafts, of spinning and weaving,
of textiles. Inventor of the flute, the plough and the ox-yoke, the horse bridle and the
chariot. Athena, goddess of war, guardian of Athens, the city named for her; defender of
heroes, champion of justice and civil law.” 1
Ancient Athens is known to be one of the largest city-states in all of Greece. Athens was also
known as the intellectual center of Greece. This is one of the world’s first city-state and the
famous city-state in the world. Ancient Athens is the best civilization that ever lived because
they had a firm religious background, a wealthy and stabled economy, a well-established
government plan and amazing education systems along with great philosophers.
As a child living in Athens, they lived with their mothers until the age of 7. Children
would usually sleep in wooden cradles or a wicker basket. The games that the children normally
played with was; balls, miniature chariots, rattles, yo-yos, rocking horses, dolls and animals
made of clay. Many households had many animals and the most popular animal to have is a dog.
There were also many other animals, such as; goats, ducks, birds, mice, quails and several other
animals. Between the ages of 6 and 7, the father would decide whether if his son attended school
or not. If the father approved, a private teacher taught the boys, as stated on
library.thinkquest.org, “Students were taught by private schoolmasters. The boys from wealthy
1Elinor Stebbins. PALLAS ATHENA, GODDESS OF WISDOM . (1998.
http://www.arthistory.sbc.edu/imageswomen/papers/stebbinsathena/athena2.html)(accessed October 28, 2012).
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families were taken to school by a trusted slave.”2 Books during this period of time were very
expensive, so there were few books available. The boys also learned many mathematic skills,
like; adding, subtraction, multiplication, and division. In school, the boys also had gym, and
sports were taught there. Prosperous families could afford horseback riding lessons, while not so
affluent boys learned to wrestle, shoot bow and arrows, and swim. By the age of 14, many boys
would attend some sort of high school. And by the age of 18, the boys would be forced into the
military school for two years, and then by the age of 20, they would graduate. As a girl living in
Athens, they were taught to run the house, cook, clean, do laundry and raise children. Girls had a
little freedom with learning how to read, write and math; they were only taught the basics. Many
women could not go outside unless, it was a special occasion. Clothing Marriage was a very
significant event in Athens. According to library.thinkquest.org,
“The day before the wedding the girl took a bath from a sacred spring. The water was
poured from a vase called a loutrophorus. The girl then worshipped the goddess Artemis.
She offered the goddess symbols of her childhood such as toys and a lock of her hair.
Marriages usually took place in January. Wedding ceremonies started after dark. The bride
traveled from her home to the home of her groom in a chariot, or a wagon if she was poor.
Friends of the bride and groom lit the way with torches. They played music to scare away
the evil spirits. The bride would eat a piece of fruit at the ceremony to show that food and
other basic needs would come from the husband. Marriages were arranged by the father of
the bride. The bride did not even meet her future husband until the day of the wedding.
Girls married at about age 15 and her groom would be about twice her age. Grooms were
given a dowry. If the husband died, the dowry and girl would return to her father.”3
The clothing that both women and men wore was made from slaves or housewives. Their
clothing was made out of wool and linen, which was very light. The cloaks that men and women
2
Oracle Ed ucatio n Fo undatio n to Da ily Life on line fo rum , March 29, 2011,
http://librar y.thinkq uest.or g/CR021020 0/ancient_greece/facts.htm
3
Oracle Ed ucatio n Fo undatio n to Daily Life o nline forum, March 29 , 20 11,
http://librar y.thinkq uest.or g/CR021020 0/ancient_greece/facts.htm. )
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wore were called, himation. The first hat was invented also, in Greece. They wore shoes that
were strapped sandals. Women wore their hair long with braids and men wore their hair short,
with a beard. Athenians homes were made of stones, muds and wood. There were normally two
or three rooms inside the house. There was no kitchen because most citizens cooked outside their
homes. There were only a few people had chimneys because of all the cooking being done
outside. There was no difference between the wealthy and a not so wealthy home, except the
location of the homes. As said by library.thinkquest.org,
“Greeks grew olives, grapes, and figs. Other fruits that were eaten were apples, prunes,
apricots, cherries, and dates. These fruits were often baked into cakes and pies which were
sweeten with honey. In their gardens they raised peas, navy beans, and lentils. Green
vegetables were rare and very expensive… Greeks usually drank water. Some drank goats'
milk. Another drink was made with fermented honey. Homemade wine was very popular
with the rich. It was thick and heavy and had to be diluted with water. Meat was rarely
eaten. It was mostly used for religious sacrifices.”4
The meals that were prepared was put into clay, wooden or a metal plate and served to the
family. The people did not use napkins or folk, but they did use knives for their meat.
Athenians were polytheistic, which means they believed in more than one god. For a long
period of time there were no differences between the gods and heroes, until the Greeks wanted to
show their varieties of deities, so they put them into two different groups. Many people believe
that there was a difference between their gods and heroes, and that the heroes were called the
Children of the Gods. In the book, Ancient Greeks Religion, it states,
“The major distinction between the two groups is that gods were born immortal and, of
course, remained such. Heroes were real or putative lives, performed some extraordinarily
great or awful deed, died and were buried, and then, unlike the common dead received
4
Oracle Ed ucatio n Fo undatio n to Da ily Life on line fo rum , March 29, 2011,
http://librar y.thinkq uest.or g/CR021020 0/ancient_greece/facts.htm.
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public cult at their tombs because they were thought still able to affect the community for
good or ill.”5
Many Athenians prayed and made many offerings to a deity in the deity sanctuary. There were
hundreds of sanctuaries throughout Athens. The most famous deity sanctuary in Athens was the
Poseidon, which was located in the southerner part in Athens called, Sunium. This sanctuary was
facing the Aegean Sea; this location was significant because Poseidon was known to be the god
of the sea. He was most famous for battling Athena (god of wisdom and war), for the city of
Athens.
“According to myth, Athena had earned the title of patron goddess of Athens after a
competition against Poseidon, who also wanted the city. Poseidon gave the Athenians a
well, but it was useless since its water was from the sea. Athena then gave the people the
first olivetree, a much more useful gift. This made her the winner.”6
Most Athenians prayed to Poseidon to watch over the navy. The Greeks were so close to the sea
that they initially learned to trade with other civilizations that lived near the sea. The sea the
Athens resides by is called, the Mediterranean Sea. Living so close to sea caused Athens to
create a naval fleet that protects the Athenians form combat and battle. In addition with creating
a naval fleet, they also began to travel throughout the sea to various cities and states, which
guided them to pick up an abundance of cultural views to educate others about their beliefs. This
caused a social eruption because before Athens was in so much debt, but because of the revision,
they were able to pay off the debts. Ancient Athens became indebted; in order to escape this
debt, Athens had to find ways pay off debt. Most Athenians were enslaved to pay off debt.
Slaves would only become free from being slave if they had done their time and paid off all of
their debts and some people would even cancel debts people owed. “If a poor woman owed
5
Jo n D. Mikalso n, Ancient Greek Religion , (Malden, MA: B lackwell P ub lishing Ltd, 2005), 32 .
6
VICTORIA Sandels, Athens. http://www.in2greece.com/english/historymyth/mythology/names/athena.htm
(accessed October 28, 2012).
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money to a rich man, she would be sold into slavery to pay the debt. But if a rich man owed money to
a poor woman, he only had to pay a fine.”7 Another way Athens dodged debt was to start athletic
games in Athens. The games were very popular in Athens. They would often use Greek Gods
and heroes as a corporation of the Olympic.
”As the Greek city-state with the greatest wealth of historical sources, and as a city whose
genealogical history has received study, Athens is very suitable for aprosopographical case
study of athletes. ”8
Majority of the athletes that were in the Olympics came from Athens, this caused Athens to get
out of debt. Most athletics had majority of the power because some politicians overlook some of
the bad things that they did.
Around 900 B.C.E, the first set of laws was made up in Athens by a group of rich men. The
economy favored the affluent people during this period of time. By 621, Draco, a rich and
wealthy man, let his slaves write some rules. He did not want just the rich people make the rules,
he believed in equality. According to historyforkids.org,
“These laws said that poor people could be killed for even small crimes like stealing a
cabbage. The laws also had different punishments for poor people and for rich people. If a
poor woman owed money to a rich man, she would be sold into slavery to pay the debt. But
if a rich man owed money to a poor woman, he only had to pay a fine.”9
One of the greatest philosopher was Homer; he was a famous poet. Homer praised Greek culture
in his writing and he considered them the to be the best and the strongest civilization. He is
known for writing two major epic poems, the Odyssey and the Iliad. The Iliad is a poem about
7
Karen Carr, Portland State University, "Athens." Last modified Friday, Sep 7, 2012. Accessed September 10,
2012. http://www.historyforkids.org/learn/greeks/government/athens.htm.
8
Donald Kyle, Athletics in Ancient Athens, (Salem, MA 01970, USA: E.J Brill, 1987.) 102
9
Karen Carr, Portland State University, "Athens." Last modified Friday, Sep 7, 2012. Accessed September 10,
2012. http://www.historyforkids.org/learn/greeks/government/athens.htm.
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the Trojan War and the Odyssey is a poem about the of city Odysseus. Homer was a teacher to
many people. One of the people Homer taught was Herodotus. Herodotus was known as the
“father of history”, and he was also known for his writings. He was born into a wealthy family,
and he also had plenty of money. He believed that Athens needed equality and freedom. As
stated in Xavier Journal,
“For Herodotus, equality was the most important characteristic of democracy and the
foundation for good government. In a democracy, all men are (theoretically) equal and
there is no single ruler who is above the population. In a tyranny, on the other hand, one
person is placed unequally above others and is not held accountable for his actions. In
5.92 of Histories, Herodotus has his character Socles state that abolishing a democracy in
order to establish a tyranny is like turning the earth upside down (Saxenhouse 1996, 34).
For Herodotus, instituting an unequal government by ruining an equal one is contrary to
the natural order.”10
In conclusion, Ancient Athens has an abundant amount of accomplishments. Not only did
they start the first type of laws, they also made hats and other amazing things. They have good
philosophers such as, Homer, which created great epic stories. The government system was made
in Athens, along with the Olympics. For a city-state to go into debt and come out of debt strong
shows that this city-state was very strong.
10
Brad Martin, "Her odo tus, Politics and Athenian Demo cracy," 2, no. 1 (2011 ): 47,
http://www.xavier .ed u/xjop /do cuments/MartinXJOP2011 .pd f (accessed No vemb er 19, 2012).
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Reference Page

Carr, Karen. Portland State University, "Athens." Last modified Friday, Sep 7, 2012.
Accessed September 10, 2012.
http://www.historyforkids.org/learn/greeks/government/athens.htm.

Foundation, Oracle Education. Daily Life. March 29, 2011.
http://library.thinkquest.org/CR0210200/ancient_greece/facts.htm (accessed November
19, 2012).

Kyle, Donald. Athletics in Ancient Athens. Salem, MA 01970, USA: E.J Brill, 1987. 102

Martin, Brad . "Herodotus, Politics and Athenian Democracy." 2. no. 1 (2011): 47.
http://www.xavier.edu/xjop/documents/MartinXJOP2011.pdf (accessed November 19,
2012).

Mikalson, Jon D. Ancient Greek Religion. Malden, MA: Blackwell Publishing Ltd, 2005.

Sandels, Victoria. Athens.
http://www.in2greece.com/english/historymyth/mythology/names/athena.htm (accessed
October 28, 2012).

Stebbins ,Elinor. PALLAS ATHENA, GODDESS OF WISDOM . (1998.
http://www.arthistory.sbc.edu/imageswomen/papers/stebbinsathena/athena2.html)(a
ccessed October 28, 2012).
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