Women and Slaves
Women and slaves in Athens were not considered citizens. This meant that they had much fewer rights than the free men did. Athenian women could not inherit their own land, and they could not vote or attend the Assembly. Most women could not chose their own husbands. A few of the women had jobs. Some of them sold goods. A few of the lucky ones were priestesses. The majority of them spent most of their times in their homes. A wife in Athens had her own room and she never went out alone. She would spin, weave, and supervise the slaves. They educated their sons until they reached the age of 6 or 7, and they taught their daughters until they were 15 and could get married.
Slaves had a major role in households in Athens. Most of the people who were not poor owned at least one slave. Some of the slaves were born into slavery, and other became slaves when they were captured at war. The slaves had a wide variety of jobs. Some of them ran the households, and tutored children while others worked in farms, or factories, and worked as city clerks. The unluckiest slaves worked in the silver mines where they might spend 10 hours a day stuck inside tunnels 300 feet below the surface. There was little air to breathe and they were whipped if they stopped and rested.
Women and slaves in Athens were not considered citizens. This meant that they had much fewer rights than the free men did. Athenian women could not inherit their own land, and they could not vote or attend the Assembly. Most women could not chose their own husbands. A few of the women had jobs. Some of them sold goods. A few of the lucky ones were priestesses. The majority of them spent most of their times in their homes. A wife in Athens had her own room and she never went out alone. She would spin, weave, and supervise the slaves. They educated their sons until they reached the age of 6 or 7, and they taught their daughters until they were 15 and could get married.
Slaves had a major role in households in Athens. Most of the people who were not poor owned at least one slave. Some of the slaves were born into slavery, and other became slaves when they were captured at war. The slaves had a wide variety of jobs. Some of them ran the households, and tutored children while others worked in farms, or factories, and worked as city clerks. The unluckiest slaves worked in the silver mines where they might spend 10 hours a day stuck inside tunnels 300 feet below the surface. There was little air to breathe and they were whipped if they stopped and rested.