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In the article Social organization in Ancient Greece written by Jeffrey Cranes talks about the social structure of Ancient Greece. Its states that whatever social group you are born in you stay in for life. There were many groups that changed over time. There were Greeks, Non-greeks , and then slaves. Also there was something called Xania where you would have to treat your guest with respect and protect them at all cost, even your life. There was this huge thing about equality in Greece too. In Ancient greece you were known by your name, your father's name, and Deme affiliation. Deme was one of the groups in the social ladder. Any offense made to the rights of equality were met with great consequences.
In the article Social Organization in Ancient Greece, it states that in Ancient Greece they way things were set in the social structure was what rank you were. It was all determined when you born. What ever rank you were born in was your rank for life. This was not the same for every city-state. Also over time the social structure change little by little (Carnes).
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In the social structure of Ancient Greece the one distinction was whether a person was free or a slave.
Most of the Ancient Greek populus were slaves because either they were non-greeks that were prisoners of war or they were slaves as punishment for a crime. Another reason is because the people were born slaves because their parents were slaves. Also the women of greece were treated badly (Carnes).
The Odyssey was written by Homer. In the Odyssey there is a lot of information on the social structure of Ancient Greece. In Social Organization in Ancient Greece it says that there was a sacred rituals of some sort call Xania. Xania is when you have to treat your guest with respect and protect them
(Carnes). In Social Organization in Ancient Greece it says that people in the Archaic period were interested in genealogy. People who were directed descendants of heroes or devine ones were high up in the social ladder. That is when the divide started. People split up because of ethnicity. That lead to changes on the government (Carnes). There were two groups of people called phyle and phratry. The groups were determined by the person’s ancestry. Each group had a different job. The way you were placed in society was “ by your name, your father’s name, and your deme affiliation” There were three different demes you could be part of; city demes,coastal demes, and hill demes (Carnes). In the article Social Organization in Ancient Greece it states that in Athens there was a “strong ideology of equality”. There was also the thought that the average Athenian was seen to be neither extremely rich or poor, he is in the middle. Also the status of a citizen was taken serous and if any offense was to come to them there would be intense consequences (Carnes). “ The ideology of equality among citizens was found in most other cities as well, though its practice varied greatly from one location to the next,” (Carnes) This source is a reliable source for many reasons. The information in the article proved to be true. Also because it was very thorough when explaining each topic.
The Ancient Greeks knew that to survive in their ever-evolving society, a person would needed to live more practically, putting more of an emphasis on learning and knowledge than of strength and power. If looked at in this light, The Odyssey can be viewed as an example of Ancient Greek society communicating to it's people the evolution of society itself.
Written in Archaic Greece – Homer’s the Odyssey demonstrates the advancement of Greek culture and history though its emphasis on cultural values and moral laws such as hospitality and loyalty.
In ancient Greece, one would fall into one of the two major classes: civilized and uncivilized. In order to fall into the class of civilized, one must abide by Ancient Greek expectations and societal norms; disregard of these rules would defines one as uncivilized. One’s class would then decide not only their way of living but also their perspective image and worth. In ancient Greece, civilization was important to the Greeks to prove their nation was gaining power and flourishing. Anyone whom displayed uncivilized behavior was labeled as barbaros; consequently diminishing their worth to the nation. In Homer’s The Odyssey, the epic exemplified the elements of civilized and uncivilized behavior though views of residency, societal customs, and traditions of hospitality.
In ancient Greece, there were clear differences regarding the manner in which men and women should behave. Males were expected to be the dominant sex, ruling over the land and people without any input from females. They were the sole breadwinners for the families and were to be given the utmost respect at all times. In contrast, women were to remain in the shadow of their husbands, not speak up or retaliate in any way, and complete household chores such as cleaning and caring for the children. In fact, they could not sleep in the same room as the men and were rarely allowed to leave the home. If they were to stray from these specific roles, they would face serious consequences and have even more of their little freedom taken away by the males.
When you think of ancient Greece, you probably think of togas, polytheism, epic heros, and olives. But do you how women were treated or veiwed? There is quite a lot of evidence displayed throughout manyplays, epics and other documents. Oedipus the King and The Odyssey are two ancient Greek works of literature that exemplify their society perfectly. Ancient Greece was a patriarchial society where women were treated as objects and sex symbols and misogyny was often present.
Honor is a primary theme throughout The Odyssey. This honor culture is about the value of your name or reputation, how that affects your family, and a relation between honor and manners. While the entire text is chalk rich with examples, the encounter with the Cyclops, the Paeacian games, and the slaughter of the suitors are the clearest examples. The honor culture seen in The Odyssey is one that continues today in various cultures throughout the world. While many of the examples shown are of a violent nature, honor does not always correlate to violence. In fact, a strong honor culture may inoculate against random violence due to the need to have a certain reputation.
Many diverse cultures are found in every corner of the world. Every culture is defined by its traditions and values. The film “The Odyssey,” depicts the culture of the ancient Greeks, where it illustrates the life of a man, Odysseus, who has gone on a journey just to get back to his kingdom. Many values and traditions can be identified through the path of the journey. Some elements that are found important to the Greeks are the music, the religion, and the duty to the kingdom.
And that is the brilliance of Homer. He takes The Odyssey told in his day as an oral tradition and turns it into a masterful book that has meaning even into today. Homer believes that we should all be kind to our fellow man. In ancient Greece, that means being hospitable to whoever steps into your domain. Anyone who will show hospitality: Telemachus, Nestor, Menelaus, and Alcinous, is revered as a good man worthy of respect and honor, but those that cannot or will not respect xenos are subject to the vengeance that they receive: Aegisthus, Polyphemus, the Laestrygonians, and Circes. Homer wants us all to be hospitable in our lives and he uses Telemachus’ and Odysseus’ journeys in The Odyssey to show us this.
When we think of Greece today, we think of one united nation. However, Greece was not always this way. In ancient times, Greece was divided into over a thousand city-states with Sparta and Athens being two of the most prominent ones. Due to the division of Greece back then, each city-state had their own laws, their own government, their own military and their own way of life. As a result of these differences between Athens and Sparta, daily life was very different between the two city-states and because of their laws, governments and military, your quality of life in each state was very much dependant on which gender you were. For men, Athens was most likely the city-state that you’d want to be living in during this time and on the other hand,
Through characters and situations, The Odyssey promotes and emphasizes many important ancient Greek values such as hospitality, pride, and fate. Stressed greatly in ancient Greek culture, hospitality is evident throughout Homer’s writing, which reflects and expresses many different value systems within it. For example, when in the cave of the Cyclops, Polyphemus, Odysseus confronts him by saying, “we therefore humbly pray to show us some hospitality and otherwise make us such presents as visitors may reasonably expect” (92). To the Greeks, hospitality was very important, to the point that it was an expectation and not just a quality, as it is in today’s culture. If you feared Zeus and the gods, you were to show hospitality.
The social, physical, and mental expectations of women were very high and very strict. Women were to be married young and as virgins to their much older husbands (pg. 28). They were also expected to produce children, specifically sons, and were not allowed access to the legal system in most areas of Greece (Ian and Powell, 28-34). They could not be and were not seen as individuals outside of their homes, and ancient Greek texts held a mostly misogynous view of women during that time (Ian and Powell, 28-32). Hesiod, a famous Greek poet, even goes on to say that women were sent by Zeus as punishment to mortal men and that they are the epitome of deceit and lust (Ian and Powell 29-32). Also, women were confined to sex within their marriage, while men had the choice of seeking extramarital affairs with prostitutes or slaves that they acquired (Ian and Powell, 35). Overall the lives of the women of ancient Greece were far from glamorous, and there was not much of a difference in the treatment of women concerning their social class. The well off house wife was maybe a step or two above the “lowly” prostitute, and that was most likely due to the fact that a well off woman might have been able to receive an education because of her family’s status. Whatever the circumstances were however, it appears that women had no place or value in ancient Greece other than to have children and
on in the Greek society, poor and rich students all went to school and all men
The Daily Life of Ancient Greeks Life in Greece in ancient times will remind you of your own life in many ways. There were school, family, athletic competitions, and social gatherings. Knowing that participants in their sporting events competed nude or that you rarely knew your husband/wife until the wedding day does however, make you grateful for the society that you live in today. Babies Life for the Greeks in Athens began in their home. Babies were delivered by the women of the family, and only in cases of serious complications was a mid-wife called.
Ancient Greece was made up of individual city states, known as a Polis, which relied heavily on citizen participation in politics. The idea of self-rule was an entirely new way of governing. Citizenship was unheard of at the time. Although still considered citizens not everybody was allowed to participate. In Athens only adult males who had military training were allowed to vote. The majority of the population, namely slaves, children, metics (free noncitizens) and women were excluded from participation in politics. “[Metics] and women were not citizens and did not enjoy any of the privileges of citizenship.”(Sayre, 137) Athenian citizens had to be descended from citizens, excluding the children of Athenian men and foreign women. Individuals could be granted citizenship in to Athens by the assembly this was usually as a reward for some service to the state. Ancient Greece paved the way for the representative democratic style of government that is practiced by many countries today. Much like how voting rights started out in America, originally only the wealthy land owners were allowed to vote and call themselves citizens, but soon all men were allowed to have a vote and a voice in their states politics. Essentially the Greeks were the first to introduce citizen rights and freedom similar to what’s seen today.
...re. Although slave revolts were uncommon in Greece, there were several in Rome. The most historical revolt was led by Spartacus and lasted about two years. This came about because Spartacus and several other gladiators broke out and started fighting the armies that came after them. This led to a more kind way to treat the slaves with the hope that they would not rise up again. In some places a slave could earn their freedom by either purchasing it with the small amount of money that their owners let them make or they could be set free in a masters last will and testament.