We are transported back to the year 500 BCE to meet Aspasia of Miletus - one of the most important women in Athens - to find out about everyday life in Ancient Greece.
The video
ASPASIA:
Welcome to Ancient Greece!
Our civilisation is known for brilliant thinkers, fierce warriors, great poets, wonderful artists, amazing athletes, powerful gods, and stories about extraordinary monsters!
Our time is many years before your time, more than two thousand years ago. And our home is, what is in your time, the country of Greece and the hundreds of islands in the seas around it.
But Ancient Greece isn’t one big country. Our civilisation has grown from small, rival communities, often cut off from each other by mountains, rivers and the sea, to create the city-states - each like a mini country, with its own capital city.
The city-states all have their own governments, kings and queens and customs. We trade with each other and share ideas and stories. And sometimes we argue with each other and fight wars. But in doing so, we have created one of the most important civilisations of the Ancient World.
I am Aspasia, one of the most important women in the city of Athens. And this is my home, which has become a bit of an intellectual ‘place to be’ in the city. Famous writers and philosophers are always stopping by.
This is Athens in its Golden Age; the fifth century BCE - two thousand, five hundred years ago - a time when Athens is the most powerful of all the city-states.
Lots of the city-states have a particular god or goddess who is considered a special friend of the city. For Athens it’s Athena, the Goddess of warfare and wisdom.
Most Athenians - that’s the people of Athens - live here: below the Acropolis, a fortress built high up on the hill in the centre of the city.
Not many of the homes are like mine. Most are simply constructed from sun-dried mud bricks, usually built around a central courtyard. The size depends on how wealthy you are. But none of us have loos. We all have to go in pots. Yuck!
Nearby is the great port of Piraeus. Access to the sea is very important for trade and travel and so our main form of transport is by boat. The sea also gives us a plentiful supply of fish, octopus and squid. So fishing is big business, as long as you live near the water. But it’s hard to keep it fresh in a hot climate like ours. Transporting fish over long distances can get pretty smelly!
Farmers work the land around the city. It’s a hard life because the soil is dusty and the climate hot and dry. We grow grapes for wine - which we drink throughout the day - even at breakfast! And we grow olives for olive oil, which we use for cooking, lighting, and even washing!
The richer citizens might hunt deer and wild boar; but meat, for most people, is only for special occasions. Instead, we eat a lot of bread and porridge made from wheat, often with curdled milk or cheese, prepared and served by a slave. Most of us have them.
Many people make their living at the agora, the main marketplace in the city. Farmers bring their produce, such as grain, or oil, or olives; and craftspeople sell pots, clothing and leather items, like shoes and belts. And each city-state has its own money, the coins often made from electrum - a mix of silver and gold.
Most people wear simple tunics, made from wool or linen, under a cloak. In fact, men’s and women’s clothes are quite similar. But the kids wear shorter tunics so they can run around!
Not many women in Ancient Greece are as lucky as me. Women in general are considered less important than men. Girls aren’t allowed to go to school. Instead, they’re expected to marry young and learn how to look after a household.
Boys from wealthier families do get to go to school from the age of seven and they learn reading, writing, maths, music, poetry and the art of debating. We Ancient Greeks do love a good, heated discussion!
So, home again. And here comes Socrates - another famous philosopher. He doesn’t half go on!
1. Everyday life in the city-states
Synopsis
We are transported back to the year 500 BCE to meet Aspasia of Miletus - one of the most important women in Athens - who introduces us to the city-states of Ancient Greece and shares facts about the daily life of the citizens of Athens, the most powerful of all the city-states at that time.
The topics Aspasia covers includes work, home life, food, marriage and the lives of children. She explains the importance of the sea as a source of food and transportation; the domestic arrangements of a typical household - including slaves; and the fact that boys can go to school to learn skills such as debating, but girls must stay at home and learn housekeeping.
Teacher Notes
Taken from the complete Teacher Notes. See Resources.
Before watching the video
What do children already know about Ancient Greece? In small groups, invite children to share any prior knowledge about Ancient Greece. Give each group a sheet of A3 and some coloured pens. Assign a category to each group - eg 'Gods and goddesses', 'Myths and monsters', 'Heroes and heroines', 'Daily life' - and ask them to jot down any words or phrases they associate with it. These could be used to start a working wall. Children could add to the sheets throughout the topic, or they could be used at the end of the topic to compare what children knew at the beginning of the topic and what they know by the end.
After watching the video
- Putting it into context. The video covers life in Greece 2500 years ago. Ask children to find out what Britain was like at this time and compare the two using the worksheet provided (see Resources below). NB: This could be revisited at the end of the teaching sequence to allow children to add the knowledge they have gained through all five videos and activities.
- Let’s debate! The Ancient Greeks loved to debate. In the video we heard how women were considered less important than men and how girls were not allowed to go to school. Ask pupils to imagine they are living in Ancient Greece. Set up two (mixed!) debating teams and ask them to debate the motion ‘Girls should be allowed to attend school.’
- Letter to the council. Follow up your debate with a persuasive writing task in which children write to the council - one of the governing bodies of Athens - to state their point of view.
- It’s all about the marketing. The agorá (marketplace) was an important place in Athens. Ask pupils to work in pairs or small groups to produce a promotional video to encourage citizens to trade at the market.
- Problem-solving. How could children help the traders of Ancient Greece to get their fish to market? In groups, challenge children to come up with ideas for keeping fish fresh and transporting it as quickly as possible. Invite them to pitch their ideas in Dragons’ Den style!
- Research and writing task. Ask children to carry out independent or paired research to complete a non-chronological report about the goddess Athena. A template is provided for this.
Resources - Teacher Notes from Teachit
Once upon a time in Ancient Greece. document
Comprehensive Teacher Notes covering episodes 1 to 5, including worksheets and activities.
Comprehension questions. document
Click to display the worksheet full-size or print it (taken from the Teacher Notes).
Athena - non-chronological report. document
Click to display the worksheet full-size or print it (taken from the Teacher Notes).
The Teacher Notes for this series have been prepared in partnership with Teachit.
Other resources
Episode transcript
Timeline (from the video)
[Map showing the extent of Ancient Greek civilisation (from the video)] (http://teach.files.bbci.co.uk/teach/history/ancient_greece/ep1_map.pdf)
Map showing the location of city-states (from the video)
BBC Teach: Tales from Ancient Greece - audio versions of more popular Ancient Greek myths
