Daily Life in Ancient Greece

• What can these artifacts tell us?

How do archeologists learn about daily life of the ancients?

• Writing

• Ruins

• Artifacts

Artifacts

• A lot of our information on daily life comes from pottery, and in particular from the scenes painted on pots to decorate them

What can this

modern descripti

on of Greek

Architecture tell

us about the

ancient’s way of life?

Daily LifeLife in ancient Greece was quite different for men and women. Men were expected to take an active part in the public life of their city, women were expected to lead a private life as wives and mothers. Their lives were centered around the home.

Slavery

Slavery was a central feature of life in Greece. Families of reasonable wealth would have slaves to carry out the household chores, to go shopping at the market and even to help bring up children.

However, daily life in Sparta was rather different from most other city-states.

Here women led more active lives, as this would improve their physical strength and their ability to have healthy babies. Sparta also had slaves but these belonged to the city as a whole, rather than to individual families.

Works Cited:

The British Museum. Ancient Greek Collection. 2015

Challenge to discover…• With a partner or group of 3• Log onto a Chromebook and

head to weebly for the Greek Challenge Link

• Once on, try to be the first team to complete the challenge.

The Ancient Greek Military

• The Greeks were considered the premier fighting force of the ancient world.

• Hoplites- The Greek warriors were called hoplites, named after their shield, the hoplon

• Phalanx- A phalanx would consist of rows of spear-armed hoplites, all protecting each other and presenting a wall of shields and spear points towards their enemies

Fighting the Persian Wars

The Spartans and Athenians

Marathon

• King Darius sent messengers to ask for presents of Greek earth and water as a sign of submission to Persian rule.

• Athenian general Miltiades persuaded forces to unite and defend Greece against the Persian forces

• Brilliant military strategy led to a Greek victory over a confused and divided Persian force

Thermopylae

•Persian King Xerxes, (son of the deceased King Darius), invades Greece

• Spartan and Athenian forces unite to stop Xerxes by land and sea

• King Leonidas divides his forces and uses Greece’s geography to an advantage, delaying the Persians for days with only 300 soldiers

The Battle of Salamis

• After the defeat at Thermopylae, Athens was evacuated to keep its citizens safe

• Athenian naval leader Themistocles used similar strategies seen in Thermopylae, only against Persian ships

• Xerxes gave chase into the narrow straits of Salamis where his ships were destroyed by more maneuverable Athenian fleets

• The Greeks used wooden rams mounted to the front of the ships to sink Persian ships who were unable to move quickly enough in the narrow waterways

Faces were painted on the front of the ships in order to scare the enemy. Thick underwater wooden rams would pierce hulls and sink the enemy.

Plataea

• The united forces of Athens and Sparta held

and together they destroyed the remaining

Persian army

• Xerxes fled Greece and the threat of Persia

conquering all of Europe was over

United Greeks

In a brief moment of unity, the combined power of the Greek city-states destroyed much of the largest army in the known world.