Slavery In Classical Greece And The Olympic Games

In Classical Greece slaves were of two main varieties. One who served their Spartan masters, and those who became slaves due to owed debts. As far as numbers go, Kagan says that the comparison of slaves to freemen, and slaveholders to those who didn 't own slaves is similar to that of the American south during the Civil War. In contrast to American slavery though, a slave in Greece could earn or buy his freedom. Slavery was not seen as a lifelong sentence for many in Hellenistic Greece. In fact in times of war slave owners would sometimes free all their slaves, and grant them citizenship so they could row the war ships.

The slavery in the ancient world appears to have had its limitations; freedom could be bought or earned. Slavery was even

The games according to Baker the Olympics games became a major part on how the Greeks honored their gods. Competitors participated in games that were extremely violent, from chariot races that usually one person finished in tacked to extreme versions of wrestling that cause 's great bodily harm. Kagen says that team sports were not a part of the ancient games. The Olympics even allowed for participants to be deified. Athlete became heroes and celebrities even when the games were not in session. The first professional athletes came from the ancient Greek Olympics. According to Kagan these athlete earned much high wages than an average worker. Baker says that for the ancient Greeks sports and physical activity is strongly connected to the mental and physical well being of all humans. Plato thought that the ideal body a harmonized mind and body. The Classical Greeks are credited for creating another form of popular entertainment. According to Kagan the theater was popular part of Greek culture. From tragedies to comedies, plays were a large part of Greek life. Most of the tragedies were performed in a venue that could hold 30,000