1. Life in Ancient Greece
Helen Fausett, ED 684
From: ancienthistory.mrdonn.org
2. Discover the lives of Ancient Greeks…
…from their myths and gods to how women
were treated. This tutorial will set the stage
for how life was in Ancient Greece around the
time that Sophocles’ Oedipus the King was first
written.
From DK Eyewitness Books: Ancient Greece
3. In this presentation, we will look at:
Religion and mythology
The role of women
Home life in Ancient Greece
Theater during ancient times
Sophocles, a playwright during the time
4. Greek life
centered on
religion. Religion
was used to
make both big
and small
decisions in the
ancient Greek
culture.
From DK Eyewitness Books: Ancient Greece
5. Greeks were dedicated to worshipping
the gods and they believed that the
gods controlled every part of their
lives.
From DK Eyewitness Books: Ancient Greece
6. The lives of women in
ancient Greece were
restricted. Women
were very much under
the control of their
husbands, fathers, or
brothers, and rarely
took part in politics or
any form of public life.
From DK Eyewitness Books: Ancient Greece
7. A girl would
marry very
young, at the
age of 13 or 14,
and her husband
was chosen for
her by her
father.
From DK Eyewitness Books: Ancient Greece
8. So far, in this presentation, we have
looked at:
Religion and mythology
The role of women
Home life in Ancient Greece
Theater during ancient times
Sophocles, a playwright
9. In ancient Greece, the future
of a baby rested entirely in
the hands of its father.
When a baby was born, the
mother handed the baby to
the father who would then
decide to let it live. If the
baby was a girl, or the family
could not afford it, the father
may decide to abandon it.
Some abandoned babies
were saved by other families
and brought up as slaves.
From DK Eyewitness Books: Ancient Greece
10. The Greeks liked
their homes to
be private.
There likely
would be a
statue of the
god Hermes on
the front porch
to prevent evil
spirits from
entering.
From DK Eyewitness Books: Ancient Greece
11. Greek plays were
performed in open-air
theaters built like semi-
circles. Seats were built
into the hillsides. From: theatresaurus.blogspot.com
12. In a large, open-air Greek theater, classical masks were able to
bring the characters face closer to the audience, especially
since they had exaggerated facial features and expressions.
They enabled an actor to appear and reappear in several
different roles, thus preventing the audience from identifying
the actor to one specific character.
Wikipedia.com Greek theater masks
13. Sophocles was one of 3 great Greek writers
of tragedy. He lived from 496-406 B.C. and
only 7 of his original 100 complete
tragedies survived.
14. Sophocles is known for writing about Oedipus,
the mythological figure who proved central to
Freud and the history of psychoanalysis.
From earthpages.wordpress.com on Freud’s Oedipus complex
15. In this presentation, we have looked
at:
The importance of religion and
mythology in Ancient Greece
The role of women in ancient times
Home life in Ancient Greece
Theater during ancient times
Sophocles, a Greek playwright and
author of “Oedipus the King”
