The Role Of Men In Ancient Greece

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ifies why certain values were praised and other admonished. Athens was the first polis to emerge in history: a city-state where equality and democracy hold the greatest value and control is not in the hands of one person but in the hands of the citizens. “The centre of the circle is where the power resides. A man can step into the middle for a time but his place in society should be no closer to the centre than his peers” (Rich et al.). All major government decisions and legislation were made by the ekklesia . The Greek democracies were not entirely representative governments though; they were governments run by the free, male citizens of the city-state. In reality the city-states were not entirely “democratic” though, for everyone was not considered equal: slaves, foreigners, and women were all excluded from the democracy.

Traditional Greek societal values were a reflection of the polis. These were primarily respect for the law, respect for knowledge and skill, and the belief in freedom—of speech, liberty and ideas. What was considered to be one of the greatest merits as a Greek was to be skilful in the art of speech and debate. The ideal Greek citizen actively participated in the life of their community, made libations and sacrifices to the gods and provided economic and military support to the polis.

Young Greek males until age 6 or 7, were taught at home by their mother, or by a male slave. From age 7-14, they attended a local day school where Homeric poetry was taught along with drama, public speaking, reading, writing and math. Four more years of education was devoted to learning math, science and government. At 18 there was military school for two additional years. These 14...