John Medina Ms. Tinker Honors English II Period 6 10 September 2014 Wiki Page: Middle Class Men in Ancient Greece Intro: As being part of the ancient Greek society, middle class men were called the “Metics”, meaning that they were the people that were not originally from Athens, but moved there from another location. They also could have been freed saves. They then became citizens, but were not allowed to do certain things the upper class were allowed to do; they were not even allowed to own land or property. On the other hand,all men were, in a way, treated equally. All men were higher in command than women were and had more freedom. Most Metics were found everywhere except for Sparta, but commonly found in Athens. From occupation, to …show more content…
According to Crystalinks, “For fun, in addition to drinking parties, the men enjoyed wrestling, horseback riding, and the f amous Olympic Games” (www.crystalinks.com). The Olympic Games were a gigantic entertainment hotspot that everyone attended. While the men wrestled and played games together, the women were not allowed to watch; since the men were …show more content…
In relationships between men, the older male was the “pronounced [masculine] of the elder [and] is indicated by his greater size, his beard, and a large cane; the boy, by contrast is depicted beardless and considerably smaller than his older partner” (www.reading.ac.uk) Some people believed that “male love was held to be an apprenticeship for manhood” (3) and not in a matter of naturality, said Andrew Calimach in the book, Lovers’ Legends The Gay Greek Myths. He also says that is was a “a way to learn about warriorship, culture, and proper behavior” (3), which molded the two partners into better, well trained people. The men that weren’t homosexual mostly tended to marry young teenagers (around the age of 15) after around the beginning of their menstrual cycle. In addition, men weren’t allowed to choose their wives, neither were the girls. It was the parents’ decision on who their daughter got to marry, and it was about at age 5 was where the girls were engaged and a man was already chosen for her. In his successful work, A Day in Old Athens, William Stearns Davis says that “the bride married at about the age of 15 and gave away her toys to Artemis before the ceremony” (1910) to reveal her
The Athenian assembly was open to all free male of adult age which showed that both had citizens involved in the government. They both had different social classes that were viewed and respected in different ways. In Athens it says “Certainly the good man… ought not to learn
Gail Bederman, author of “Manliness and Civilization” published in 1995, explains how manliness is associated with race and civilization. She states that historians explain manhood as a normal aspect of human nature and although it may be expressed differently at different times, the meaning of it always remains the same. Bederman indicates her thesis, “ This book will investigate this turn-of-the-century connection between manhood and race. It will argue that, between 1890 and 1917, as white middle-class men actively worked to reinforce male power, their race became a factor which was crucial to their gender. ”(p.
This could be interpreted as a reflection of the social class system of Greece, of which, Batista (2017) argues that, “Athenian society was ultimately divided into four main social classes: the upper class; the metics, or middle class; the
Where as in Athens women weren't even allowed to leave there houses in there own accord. Furthermore on average women were married of at the age 12 or
(Doc B) Due to the fact that Athens taught women basic domestic skills this allowed men to focus on the advancement of the economic climate, such as trade on the Aegean Sea because they didn’t need to worry about their homes. “Finally, the citizen boys entered a military training camp for two years, until the age of twenty. Foreign metics and slaves were not expected to attain anything but a basic education in Greece, but were not excluded from it either.” (Doc H)
For many Greek immigrants, living and working conditions were difficult in the United States as well. Many boys and young men shined shoes for a living. The pay for this position was miniscule and the young males often only had access to a bed for one eight-hour shift
In order to be accepted in the current social society, you must follow a certain set of norms throughout life. Social norms are the unwritten rules on behavior that are expected and established opinions on what is appropriate and what is not. People who do not follow these instilled norms may be casted aside, judged, or suffer a consequence. Society’s expectations have dictated what normal human behavior is that people conform to as a way of life. These norms, however, are not set in stone, so they may be challenged.
Women were thought of as dependents of the father or husband. Women lived in gynaeceum: women’s quarters where they could oversee the running of the home and have very little contact with the male world (O’Pry, 2012). Spartan women, on the other hand, seem to have a bit more freedom and were able to own property. Sparta allowed for women to get educated in the same manner as the males. Sparta had a laid back culture and men were to serve in their military.
This group of people only included white male citizens, meaning that slaves, foreign born residents, women and some men who hadn’t obtained citizenship couldn’t vote (Doc D). This completely contradicts the all-inclusive concept of direct democracy that the Athenian government preached so frequently. To have a powerful and lasting empire with great prosperity you must have a series of strong leaders. The period of prosperity in Athens was so short lived because they only had one strong leader, Pericles. After Pericles died Athens could not defeat Sparta in the Peloponnesian War and also couldn’t hold the truce that was signed in 421 BC which allowed Sparta to gain overall victory in the
In ancient times, there is a general sense that women were simply items and slaves to their husbands. Ancient Greece specifically has a renowned reputation of favoring men. Men possessed the dominant role in public affairs and events while most women were pressured to stay at home. Very few records extensively discuss women; the records focus mostly on men. Despite the lacking records, it is certain how ancient Greeks viewed their women and their relationships with their male counterparts.
Greek mythology can be viewed as a mirror to the ancient Greek civilization. Ancient Greek myths and legends often reflected how the Greeks saw themselves. Myths were used by Greeks to make justifications of every existing aspect of earth as well as their own society. In myths, Greek gods & heroes often represented key aspects of the human civilization. From Greek mythology, we can learn about the favorable characteristics of humans, such as their behavior and valuable skills that were approved of by the ancient Greek society.
They viewed sex in terms of phalluses, of active and passive: something that was done to somebody, rather than with them [Source 2][Source 6][Source 9]. While an adult male was expected to sexually pursue both women and boys [Source 4][Source 9], a grown man who preferred a passive role would have been stereotyped as effeminate and ridiculed [Source 2][Source 4]. Marriages were usually for political or monetary reasons rather than love, so most romantic bonds were between two men [Source 9]. Another thing that separates the Ancient Greeks from the norms, values and definitions of today is that they attached no shame to sex
The Spartan women were able to own plots of land and run their own households, they even got an education. At Athens, got a little amount of formal education and had less
Comparatively, Athenian women had less right and freedom. Women were citizens who could participate in most religious cults and festivals but were otherwise excluded from public life. They could not own property beyond personal items and always had a male guardian: If unmarried, a father or male relative; if married, a husband; if widowed, a son or male
In the Greece civilization, ladies were not given a position, they were thought to be not as much as slaves. Rome’s general public was separated into