Reaction Paper--Daily Life In Athens
In reading of the life of ordinary Athenians, I can't help but realize how, generally, simple, their lives were. This is not to say that their lives were boring, far from it, in fact, I am very surprised to find out just how eventful life in the ancient world could be. By simple I am referring to the lifestyle that the average Athenian expected, to the "standard of living". I think it is very important to recognize that the Athenians of the classical age--at least the early classical age--lived, for the most part, without luxuries, and, although there certainly were a good deal of festivals and holidays in early Athens, the average person was not really concerned with luxury. In my opinion, this is something that is of key importance in a society, and, although I'm not sure of this, I'm willing to bet that the Greeks began to be eclipsed by their simple and straightforward western neighbors, the Romans at the same time as they began to embrace luxury, and to seek a lifestyle more expensive than that of their fathers.
Parthenon from west
Greek Blogger Camp Day 1
Map of the top 50 countries with the largest Greek...The section of the chapter that caught my attention more than any other was the section(pg. 177-179)that described the "daily life" of Athenian citizens. The description of Athenian clothing as essentially square sheets of cloth held together at the corners, worn, in some cases, for an entire lifetime, of an Athenian meal not as an elaborate ritual or even as what we think of as a polite time to socialize, but as simply a chance to eat food, and nothing else, and of Athenian beds as simply mattress and blanket portray, in my eyes, a society in which function is, in general, more important than appearance. Certainly, the Athenians had their share...