The book Leon and Melite: Daily life in ancient Athens is associated with the permanent exhibition Daily life in Antiquity , presented on the 4th floor of the Museum of Cycladic Art. The design of the exhibition and the production of the audiovisual material were carried out by the Spanish company GPD Exposiciones y Museos. The academic documentation and the curating of the exhibition were by the Director of the museum, Professor Nikos Stampolidis, and the museum curator Yorgos Tasoulas to whom we would like to express our warm thanks for his invaluable help and support in the creation of the educational programme.

Leon and Melite, brother and sister, grow up in a wealthy Athenian family in the 5th century BC. Young Leon gives us a guided tour of his city. He tells us about his parents’ wedding, as they had described it to him. Then he talks about the daily work of women, tells us about his friends and his sister’s friends and their favourite games, about school, athletics and military training. He describes dinner parties, the symposia , and how men take part in public affairs and, finally, says a few things about burial practices, concentrating on how people honoured their loved ones who had departed this life.

The illustrations include reconstruction drawings and objects on display on the 4th floor of the Museum, most of which date from the Classical and Hellenistic periods (5th-1st century BC). Leon & Melite

Daily life in ancient Athens Leon & Melite’s house

My name is Leon. I was born and brought up in Athens, the most famous city in ancient Greece. Our house is a large one: it has two storeys and a big courtyard in the middle, around which all the rooms are arranged. In addition to my parents and my little sister Melite, slaves live with us too and help carry out the daily tasks. Klearchos, my tutor, the paidagogos , holds a special place amongst them.

The Athens I live in is nothing like the Athens you know today. Its population, that is the Athenian cit - izens and their families, is about 200,000. There are also foreign residents (called metics) and slaves. The neighbourhoods of Athens extend at random, depending on the space available and the needs, around the Acropolis, which is the religious heart of the city. The streets are narrow and irregular, and have no paving or lighting. There are only three main public roads linking Athens with the port of Piraeus. Most of the houses have wells and cisterns to collect rainwater. There are fountains at various points of the city. The water for them is brought from the source of the river Ilissos by an aque - duct built by Peisistratos about 100 years ago.

3 When my parents got married, my mother was fourteen years old and my father thirty. Their wedding was arranged by their parents, because Marriage the views of the couple themselves don’t carry much weight. The bride’s father decides which of the young men he knows would be a suitable & husband for his daughter. He has to be hard-working and have enough money to support his household and family. The groom’s father is in - the family terested mainly in how hard-working the bride is, and what dowry her father will give her. If the couple divorce, which is very rare, the dowry is given back to the bride’s father. Weddings are usually held in the month of January, the Gamelion , which means ‘Marriage Month’. The ceremonies last three days, and one of the most important of the preparations for them is the bathing of the bride. On the day before the wedding, the bride usually dedicates her toys to one of the patron goddesses of marriage (Artemis or Hera) and carries out sacrifices. The marriage service takes place in the bride’s house, and ends with a procession of relatives and friends who escort the newlyweds to the groom’s house. Necklace with glass beads, 1st-3rd c. AD

Attic red-figure white-ground tripod pyxis (jewellery box). Scene of gifts being presented to the bride on the day after the wedding, which was called epaulia , 460-450 BC

Cypriot bronze mirror, late 4th c. BC

Fill the gaps with the following words : mirror perfume containers jewellery boxes earrings finger-rings bracelets

For the bride’s toilet, they used perfumes that were kept in and various items of make-up . The bride wore jewellery, such as , Attic white-ground lekythos (detail). and Seated woman holding a mirror Glass alabastron and a wreath, about 460 BC (perfume container), and when she was ready she admired herself in a 4th c. BC . On the day after the wedding , friends and relatives visited the newlyweds and brought gifts , such as and presented their best wishes . 5 On the day I was born, my parents hung an olive branch on the front door of the house, to show that they had a son. Seven days later, I became a member of the family at a ceremony called the amphidromia , in which I was carried around the hearth, and I was named after my grandfather, Leon. When my sister Melite was born, they hung sheep’s wool at the en - trance to the house, which is a symbol representing how hard women work.

My My sister and I were brought up together in the women’s quarters of the house, the gynaikonites , first toy until I was seven years old. After that I began to spend my day with the men of the house, in the men’s quarters, the andronites . My upbringing and my daily routine are now completely different from Melite’s.

My first toy was a clay rattle, a platage , which had little stones inside it that made a noise when I shook it; this used to attract my attention so that I stopped Attic clay black-glaze bell, 4th c. BC crying. My nurse believed that evil spirits lurked around babies’ cradles and that shaking the rattle fooled them. Attic clay black-glaze thelastron (feeding bottle), 430-425 BC

What do you think the clay rattle you see in the showcase represents?

At the left side of the case, the photograph shows a mother and her two children. She holds a clay in her hand and is about to feed the baby .

Rattle with the figure of a baby lying on a bed, 3rd c. BC

7 y little sister Melite is brought up in the women’s quarters, the Mgynaikonites , with her nursemaid, the trophos , and our mother. Women’s Whereas my friends and I go to school, train in the palaestra and are being prepared to become Athenian citizens, my sister, like all girls, daily is learning about her own role in life, which is to marry, have chil - dren and run her house. That is why my mother takes pains to teach activities her all the household chores, to spin and weave, to cook and to manage the household finances. The ideal upbringing for a girl is “to see as little as possible, to hear as little as possible and to ask as few questions as possible”.

Women’s daily chores include spinning and weaving on the loom. Ever since she was a little girl, Melite has been learning to help my mother and the other women of the household to make cloth for the home. The bedspreads, the rugs for the floor, the curtains and all the family clothing are woven and sewn at home. We even use wool from our own sheep, though other families buy their wool in the Marketplace, the Agora . Reconstruction drawing of a loom, based on a vase-painting dating from the middle of the 6th c. BC

the women are What do you think doing on the vase you can see in the showcase?

Attic black-glaze lekythos . Two women filling their hydrias (water jars) at the fountain, 520-510 BC

9 The days pass quickly for Melite and me, because we have such a lot to do. Even so, we find time for a game with our friends. These games are just like the ones you play today, only the names have changed. We play with dolls, tops, yoyos, balls and knucklebones. We also play group games: blind- man’s buff, hopscotch, hide and seek, and statues are just some of the games we enjoy with our friends.

Playing One of Melite’s favourite pastimes is playing with her dolls. When she plays she likes to imitate the women of the house with our and so, without realizing it, she learns how to look after her family when the time comes. Her dolls are made of clay and friends the arms and legs are attached to the body with wire, so that they are moveable and appear lifelike. My sister and her friends spend hours and hours playing with them. They dress them in little clothes, put shoes on their feet, and pretend to make them walk, dance and fall asleep. They lay out a whole meal for their dolls, with tiny clay vases just like Clay doll (marionette) with moving arms and legs, those we use at home every day. They even have toy chairs, about 490 BC tables and beds.

Tiny Attic clay bowl, 550-525 BC Attic clay figurine of a dog, 5th c. BC

Tiny Attic clay exaleiptron (vase for aromatic oils and make-up), 550-525 BC

Attic clay figurine of a pig, 5th c. BC

Tiny Attic clay basket, 550-525 BC

as many of the following toys as you can find Underline in the showcase: Ball top knucklebones yoyo rattle

bell doll

What were the tiny vases you see in the showcase used for?

Toy dove on wheels, 5th c. BC

11 Every morning after breakfast, the akratisma , I set off for school with Klearchos, my tutor, who makes sure I’m on time and don’t dawdle in the streets to play with my friends. At At school the other boys and I learn to read, write and count, and also how to school play at least one musical instrument, such as the lyre or the flute, the aulos .

Our favourite stories that we read are Reconstruction drawing about the Trojan War and the adven - of a writing tablet and pens. tures of Odysseus. We practise writing on a wooden tablet with a surface coated with wax. We scratch the letters in the wax with a pointed pen, the stylus , made of bronze or wood. The teacher often rewards our efforts by allowing us to play different games with knucklebones.

Leather purse and knucklebones. Modern copies. Clay figurine of Pan playing a reed instrument called a syrinx (‘Pan-pipes’), 4th c. BC

Cypriot limestone statuette of Apollo (?) playing the lyre, Reconstruction drawing of a lyre. 600-550 BC

in the showcase at the statuette of a Look carefully young man. What musical instrument do you think he’s holding in his left hand? Reconstruction drawing of the ‘Pan-pipes’. Underline the correct word

Guitar Lyre Flute

13 At the palaestra

From the time of Solon, gymnastics have been compulsory for boys, and we exercise every day in the palaestra. The palaestra is named after the most important sport for developing the body, wrestling, pale . Palaestras, like the schools where music is taught, are private. The gymnastics teacher, the paidotribes , is responsible for our training and is very strict about making us observe the rules of the various sports.

In the palaestra, we train for the long jump, discus and javelin to the music of the double flute. This sets the rhythm for our movements and helps us to concentrate. The discus, long-jump and javelin, together with wrestling and running, make up the pentathlon, which is held in the stadium. Wrestling and running are also held as separate events. Another event held in the palaestra is boxing. For this, the competitors wind strips of leather, a kind of boxing glove, around their hands. Attic red-figure kylix with a scene with the correct words of two boxers fighting under the eye of the trainer, about 480 BC Fill the gaps Athletes used to cover their body with oil, which they carried in or .

aryballos hydria alabastron kantharos

After training, they cleaned the dust from their body with a . Bronze strigil , a kind of scraper used by athletes to sponge strigil clean the dust of the palaestra from their bodies, 5th c. BC

Corinthian clay aryballos , On the vase with the young boxers the man with the staff about 550 BC find and write down who he is

15 I’ve heard a lot about the Olympic Games from my father and grandfather. One of the oldest events is the stadion race, a sprint over about 190 metres, the length of the stadium. Another sprint race is the diaulos , in which the athletes cover a distance of about 380 metres – twice as long as the stadion. In this race, the runners set off from the starting point, double round the turning post at the end of the track and finish back at the starting point. The dolichos is also held in the stadium. This is a long distance race, in which the athletes usually cover a distance of 3700-3850 metres. The distance could vary from 7 to 24 stades, with the most common being 20 stades.

Reconstruction drawing of the stadium at Olympia, as it was in the Classical period.

at the position of the runners’ arms and Look carefully underline the correct answer below.

In the vase with the runners, the athletes are taking part in a

sprint long-distance event

Attic clay black-figure lekythos (detail). Three athletes competing in a race, 540-530 BC The equestrian events, that is, the horse races and chariot races, are some of the most spectacular in the Olympic Games. The people who take part in them are wealthy, because they are the only ones able to raise horses. The owners hire riders or charioteers to compete for them. But it is the own - ers of the horses that are counted as the winners. The place where the events are held is called the hippodrome, an area very like a stadium, but larger. The track is divided lengthways by a barrier called an embolon, and at the ends of it are turning posts, which are small columns around which the horses and chariots have to turn. Chariot races are divided

into races for tethrippa , four-horse chariots, and Attic clay black-figure lekythos those for synorides , two-horse chariots, depending (detail), with a four-horse chariot race, about 475 BC on the number of horses.

Reconstruction drawing of the hippodrome at Olympia, as it was in the Classical period.

Underline the correct answer The winner in a horse race was:

the owner of the horse

the rider

the horse

17 When my father and his friends want to meet to talk and to enjoy themselves, they organize a dinner party, a symposium , in the house of one of them. The host is responsible for sending the invitations with a slave, as well as for finding a cook to pre - The pare the food. My mother doesn’t attend these gatherings, since the only women symposium allowed there are slaves, musicians and dancers. The symposium begins with an apéritif, a glass of sweet aromatic wine. Then the dinner is served, which includes appetizers such as olives or onions, fish or meat cooked in various ways, and sweet - meats. The wine served to the guests is diluted with water and is mixed in a special Attic clay red-figure krater with a scene of revelers vase called the krater . In addition to going home after a dinner party, 440-430 BC discussions, the entertainment for guests at symposia includes music and songs, games and riddles. Various artists, musi - cians, dancers and acrobats also appear at these parties. South Italian clay red-figure fish-plate, 350-340 BC

In this showcase, you can see bronze and clay vessels that were needed for cooking, and also for serving at the table. Which of the following Attic clay red-figure column krater with a scene of revelers going home items of tableware can you see in the showcase? (Underline the correct words.) after a dinner party, 470-460 BC Serving spoon Fish-plate

Wine glass Wine jug

Knife

What is the scene painted on the vase you can see at the right of the showcase?

19 The Agora is where all the buying and In the selling goes on, and at the same time the political and administrative centre Agora of the city. In the Agora, you’ll find the merchants’ benches with various prod - ucts, fountains where the women go to draw water, shoemakers, barbers and various other professions. All the pub - lic services are concentrated here, as well as the lawcourts, and porticoes in Attic bronze weight (446 gr.) which the philosophers talk about their with a dolphin carved in relief views. Finally, it is also the place where and two incised letters: H E, 6th-5th c. BC various religious ceremonies, plays and athletic contests are held. used to gather once a year in the The Athenians Agora to decide whether any citizen was a risk to the democracy, and ought to be sent into exile. They scratched his name on a broken piece of pottery, called an ostrakon and put it into a bronze urn. After this they counted them, and who - ever received the most of the 6,000 votes was exiled for ten years.

Bronze hydria from a workshop What was this measure called? in the north-west Peloponnese. Vases like these were often used as voting urns, about 450 BC

Fragments of pottery ( ostraka ) with the name of Megakles son of Hippokrates Fragment of pottery ( ostrakon ) with the name of Kimon scratched on them. Megakles was sent into exile (‘ostracized’) in 486 BC son of Miltiades scratched on it. Kimon was sent into exile (Permanent loan from the Archaeological Museum of Kerameikos) (‘ostracized’) in 461 BC (Permanent loan from the Archaeological Museum of Kerameikos)

21 At the age of eighteen, my friends and I will have to serve in the army for two years. We will learn about warfare, and if there is a war, we will defend our native land. The richest Athenian citizens serve Military as hoplites , those who carry a hoplon , that is the obligations shield, and in the cavalry.

Before leaving for battle, according to what my father has told me, the family says goodbye to the warrior in a ceremony in which the mother usually pours a libation and the father gives the youth his weapons.

Attic black-figure lekythos . Three warriors saying farewell, 500-490 BC Cypriot lead slingshot with the inscription ΦΙΛΕ - ΤΑΙΡ, 4 th-3rd c. BC

Cypriot lead slingshot with a depiction Sling of a cuttlefish, 7th c. BC

Warriors wore armour and carried weapons in battle. In the list below,

all the items that you can see underline Bronze Corinthian helmet with a row in the showcase. of holes to attach an inner leather lining, late 7th-early 6th c. BC Armour Weapons

Cypriot bronze arrowhead, Shield Spear 1200-1050 BC

Breastplate Sword Iron double-edged sword from the cemetery of Orthi Petra at Eleutherna, Helmet Arrowhead Rethymnon (Crete), 750-700 BC Greaves Slingshot (modern replica) 23 My mother and the other women of the house often visit tombs to pay honour to the members of our family who have died. Tomorrow, I shall help them carry baskets of offerings, myrtle wreaths, pomegranates, celery and perfume containers, which are essential for funerary worship. On the graves, marble slabs, stelae , stand on a stepped pedestal. The women will decorate these slabs with red ribbons and place white vases called lekythoi on the steps.

A visit to the tomb Attic white-ground lekythos . A male figure visits a tomb marked with a grave stele, 460-450 BC Suggested reading

Connolly Peter , Dodge Hazel , The Ancient City. Life in Classical Athens and Rome , Oxford University Press , 1998

Jenkins Ian, Greek and Roman Life , publ. by British Museum Press, 1993

Joint Association of Classical Teachers , The World of Athens. An introduction to classical Athenian culture ,

Cambridge University Press , 1984

25 Akratisma Exaleiptron Breakfast. The other two meals were called Small open vase without a lid, for aromatic ariston and deipnon . Breakfast included a lit - oils and cosmetics. It is shown in scenes de - tle barley or wheat bread dipped in wine that picting the women’s quarters, marriage cer - was not diluted with water, akratos oinos . emonies and funeral rituals. It is also called

Alabastron a plemochoe , when it has a lid . Small, long vase with a narrow mouth, for Gamelion aromatic oils, used mainly by women . One of the ancient months of the year (Jan -

Amphidromia uary), which was dedicated to the goddess Purification ritual carried out after the birth Hera. The main month for weddings, gamoi . of a child . Graphis Andron Writing implement, pen. Also called stylus in or andronites ancient times . The part of the house in which the men lived . Greaves Aryballos Protective guards for the shins . Small spherical vase with a narrow mouth, Gynaikon Glossary used by athletes to keep the oil with which or gynaikonites they anointed their body . The part of the house in which the women

Breastplate lived . Armour worn by soldiers to protect their Hydria upper body. Vase for carrying water with three handles,

Diaulos two horizontal and one vertical. Often used Sprint race in which the competitors covered as a cinerary urn . a distance of about 380 metres – twice the Kantharos length of the stadium . Drinking cup with two high vertical handles.

Dolichos Dionysos and Herakles are usually shown Long-distance race, in which the athletes holding one in vase-paintings . covered usually a distance of about 3700- Kylix 3850 metres. The distance could vary be - Drinking cup with a high stem, wide mouth tween 7 to 24 stades, with the most common and two handles. The most common wine being 20 stades . cup .

Embolon Lekythos Barrier dividing the horse-race track down The most common type of vase for aromatic the middle . oils. White-ground lekythoi were used only

Epaulia as funerary vases . The offering of presents to the bride on the Libation second day of the wedding ceremony . Liquid offering to the gods . Ostrakon Strigil Piece of broken pot . Kind of bronze scraper with a handle, used by ath -

Paidagogos letes to clean the dust of the palaestra from their The most trusted slave in the household, who was bodies . the boy’s tutor responsible for his welfare. The paid - Stylus agogos accompanied the boy wherever he went and Writing implement. See Graphis .

was responsible for his behaviour . Symposium Dinner party or banquet for men only, held in a pri - Paidotribes The man responsible for seeing that boys observed vate house, accompanied by entertainment and con - the rules of the sports when training in the palaes - versation .

tra. He was often also the owner of the palaestra . Thelastron Feeding bottle . Palaestra The palaestra was sometimes part of the gymna - Turning post Small post at the end of the stadium, marking the sium , the place where young men trained in athlet - point where the runners turned, or the finishing ics, and sometimes a separate place where boys point . between the ages of seven and eighteen exercised Trophos and trained. Originally the palaestra was not a build - Trusted woman slave who looked after the children ing but an open area with a pit of soft earth, suitable of the family while they were still young, and often for practising wrestling, pale . breastfed them .

Platage Writing tablet Rattle . Wooden tablet covered with wax, on which children

Portico learned to write in ancient Greece . Long narrow building in which one of the long sides, the facade, was open and had a row of columns in - stead of a wall. Porticoes were built in public gath - ering places, such as squares, market places, sanctuaries, theatres and so on, and offered protec - tion from the rain or sunshine .

Pyxis Jewellery box .

Spear Weapon consisting of a long wooden shaft with a metal head .

Stade Measurement of length equal to about 190 metres .

27 Texts - Editing : Marina Plati, Eleni Markou

GPD Exposiciones y Museos Exhibition design and audiovisual production : David Hardy English translation:

The drawings of the house, palaestra, loom, writing tablet and stylus, sling, musical instruments, Michalis G. Kallimopoulos stadium, hippodrome and grave stele are by AltSys Design, layout, artistic supervision : E. Kokkini, N. Lagos Processing of photographs - imposition: A. Tsakos - El. Benou - St. Kamaradou Printing : Costas Melengoglou Our thanks to for his proof reading and useful remarks on the text

ISBN: 978-960-7064-82-0

© N. P. Goulandris Foundation – Museum of Cycladic Art , Educational Programmes , 2009