Ancient life of Greece

Ancient Greece:

Family Life:
Men ran the government, and spent a great deal of their time away from home. With the exception of ancient Sparta, Greek women had very limited freedom outside the home. The ancient Greeks considered their children to be 'youths' until they reached the age of 30! When a child was born to ancient Greek family, a naked father carried his child, in a ritual dance, around the household.

Clothing:
My mother always said
that in her youth she was
exceedingly in fashion
wearing a purple ribbon
looped in her hair.
But the girl whose hair is yellower
than torchlight need wear no
colorful ribbons from Sardis--
but a garland of fresh flowers.
Sappho

Food:
The Greek diet consisted of foods that were easily raised in the rocky terrain of Greece’s landscape. Breakfast was eaten just after sunrise and consisted of bread dipped in wine. Lunch was again bread dipped in wine along with some olives, figs, cheese or dried fish.

Entertainment:

Sports played a large role in ancient Greek entertainment. To this end, the modern Olympics were founded during the time. Any real comparison, however, ends there. Unlike modern times, the ancient Olympics were mostly about showing up and/or killing rivals as political statements.

Military:

One of the greatest military geniuses in history, Alexander the Great was born in 356 B.C. in Pella, Macedonia. The son of Philip of Macedon, who was an excellent Army General and organizer. His mother was Olympias, princess of Epirus.

Government:

Aristotle divided Greek governments into monarchies, oligarchies, tyrannies and democracies, and most historians still use these same divisions. For the most part, Greece began by having monarchies, then oligarchies, then tyrannies and then democracies, but at each period there were plenty of city-states using a different system, and there were many which never did become democracies or tyrannies at all.

Social Life:

Greece in the Archaic Period was made up from independent states, called Polis, or city state. The polis of Athens included about 2,500 sq kilometres of territory, but other Polis with smaller areas of 250 sq kilometres.

Education:

Children in most of ancient Greece started their education at age seven. In Sparta, boys were given military training from ages seven to twenty to prepare them for service in the army. Girls also were required to train physically. They believed strong women produced strong babies.