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In Greece during its fifth century fifty percent
of the Greek population was under 15.
The quality of child’s life depended on the
family’s social class and the child’s gender.
No matter which social class they belonged to
boys and girls did play.
Some of the toys they played with are similar
to toys that exist today (Examples: dolls, yoyos, hoops, seesaws, swings, and dice).
Infanticide was practiced in ancient Greece in
the form of exposure. This culturally
acceptable abandonment usually resulted in
death of the child. This occurred more
commonly to female offspring.
Most of what we know about childhood in
ancient Greek culture comes from depictions
of children in paintings found on vases and
other artistic renderings.
All children lived and were educated by their
mothers in the women’s quarters of a house
until around the age of seven.
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Boys left their mother’s care at the age of 7or 8
to begin their education under the care of a
“Pedagogue”. This servant was a male slave or
servant who accompanied the boy to his many
lessons taught by tutors or teachers, until the
age 15.
Boys were instructed in reading and writing
using a soft wax tablet with a stylus that would
cut words into the wax on one end, while
mistakes were rubbed off by a softer end.
An abacus, a calculator of counting beads, was
used in the instruction of arithmetic.
Around the age of 13, boys also took music
lessons, learning to play instruments such as the
lyre.
Physical Education was also taught by a
separate teacher as they got older. This teacher
helped develop the boys’ bodies and health
through exercise.
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Girls were often looked upon as
a disappointing burden and
liability by their fathers.
Girls did not go to school.
Girls were educated by their
mothers for a future in
domesticity. This education was
limited to cooking, cleaning,
sewing/textile making, dancing,
and child rearing.
A girl’s life was one of
seclusion. They rarely left the
home and when they did it was
usually for religious rituals,
private rituals such as marriage
or funerals, and also ceremonies
celebrating their own rites of
passage.
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Women married around the age of
fifteen, in an arrangement made by their
father, to a man twice their age.
A bride did not meet her husband until
the day of her wedding. Love rarely
figured into marriage.
The main goal of every wife was to
provide a male heir for her husband.
A woman’s duty was to maintain the
household, care for the children and obey
her husband.
Women had few rights. They did not
vote and were considered inferior to men
physically, intellectually, and morally.
Their lives were very secluded and they
spend most of their lives at home.
The women’s quarters were usually in
the back of the house or on the second
story of the home where they could be
more easily managed by the man of the
house.
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Education for most boys ended around the
age of 15. Only the most wealthy boys
continued their education beyond this age.
A continued education would involve the
father sending his son to study under a
“sophist” who would tutor them in
philosophy and debate.
Boys became men at the in their mid-teens in
a ceremony where their hair, which had
been grown long, would be cut, and
dedicated to one of the gods.
At the age of 18 young men became citizens
of Athens and would leave for military duty,
during which time they would learn the art
of war (including archery, javelin throwing,
the use of heavy armor and weapons.)
After his military service, young men were
free to return to civic life where their life’s
direction depended on the wealth of their
family.
Men married around the age of thirty.
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The son’s of artisans and
shopkeeper in ancient
Grecian times would become
an apprentice to their fathers
when they reached a certain
age, and he taught his son
the skills of his trade.
The sons of farmers would
work in the fields and
learned these skills under the
tutelage of his father.
A slave child, would became
a slave, like his or her
parents and went to work as
servants with their father or
another family.
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Riechers, Maggie. "Growing Up in Ancient Greece." Humanities July-Aug 24 (2003): 30-33.
Adare, Sierra. "Everyday Life in Ancient Greece." Greece: The People 1999: 6-9.
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