Labor in Ancient Greece: Work, Trades, Jobs | Early European History And Religion

LABOR IN ANCIENT GREECE

satyrs doing various jobs on a vase

The domains on which the activity of the ancients was chiefly concentrated were agriculture and cattle rearing, trade, and handicraft. Intellectual or artistic labour, which at the present day plays a very important part as a means of earning a livelihood, was hardly considered at all in Ancient Greece, and the artist, if he worked for pay, was put on the same footing as the artisan; in fact there were very few intellectual professions connected with money. These circumstances changed somewhat in the Hellenistic period; but even there the intellectual labour of teachers, physicians, etc., would be placed in the same class with other occupations, though gradually, as the payment of this labour increased, so did also the estimation in which it was held. [Source “The Home Life of the Ancient Greeks” by Hugo Blümner, translated by Alice Zimmern, 1895]

We know very little about the organisation of labour. There were no castes compelled by law to undertake certain trades, though in some places special occupations were hereditary; thus, for instance, at Sparta, the cooks and flute players always belonged to particular families. Otherwise, when we find any occupation hereditary, this is not due to legal compulsion, but to natural causes; thus the sons of sculptors very often became sculptors, or the medical profession was handed down in certain families, and so on. Nor do we meet with the guilds so early developed in Italy; these are not heard of until the Roman period, when we find them in Asia Minor.

It is uncertain to what extent the State was concerned with trade and its productions. There do not seem to have been any limitations put upon it except certain police regulations, such as that at Athens, which compelled tanners and cheesemongers to have their workshops and booths outside the denser parts of the city on account of the smell. There do not seem to have been any taxes on trade; at Athens there was a toll on hetaerae; at Byzantium jugglers, soothsayers, etc., paid one; but there is no reason to suppose that handicrafts were taxed in the same way. [Source “The Home Life of the Ancient Greeks” by Hugo Blümner, translated by Alice Zimmern, 1895]

Views About Labor in Ancient Greece

The Greeks were not known for having a strong work ethic. Citizens abhorred physical labor and came to rely on slaves. Tradesmen and merchants were looked down upon and teachers and doctors had about the same status as a craftsman. The only respectable occupations were farming, politics and philosophizing. [Source: "Greek and Roman Life" by Ian Jenkins from the British Museum]

Cristian Violatti wrote in Listverse: “In Athens, making a living by working for others was perceived negatively. State employment was the only form of wage labor free from this prejudice. Since most free citizens avoided wage labor as much as they could, slaves were used to fill the workforce gaps. As a result, saves could perform a wide range of jobs in ancient Greece. [Source: Cristian Violatti, Listverse, September 29, 2016]

Changes in political conditions produced other changes as well. When the old Monarchy was succeeded by the rule of the Oligarchs, and the privileged class being in possession of landed property and numerous slaves, devoted its whole activity to military and political matters, the prejudice originated that only such occupations were worthy of a free and noble citizen, and that all work was low and servile; and it is natural that this opinion should have been obstinately maintained at Sparta, because the constitution there kept the character of the Oligarchy most rigidly. In other places a healthier conception of work gradually prevailed, and, in particular, the tyrants of the older period tried to combat the disinclination of the citizens for professional activity; in their case, however, it was not only reasons of political economy, but also political expediency that influenced them, since they did not wish to see their rule threatened by an unoccupied warlike population longing for a share in the government. But these efforts were only partially crowned with success, and though in the time of absolute democracy many citizens practised occupations connected with money, yet the old idea still prevailed that those really stood on a higher footing whose fortune permitted them to live without any definite occupation, and we constantly meet with traces of it even in a philosopher like Socrates, whose statement that idleness was the sister of freedom reflects the opinion of the majority with particular emphasis. [Source “The Home Life of the Ancient Greeks” by Hugo Blümner, translated by Alice Zimmern, 1895]

Trades Depicted in Ancient Greek Vase Paintings

It would be impossible to enter into the technical details of all the trades. A few pictures taken from the life of artisans must suffice instead. The terra-cotta figure, No. 198, represents an artisan in his usual costume, the exomis, which left the right side free, and the pilos, or felt cap; it is not clear from the picture what occupation he is carrying on, since the object in his left hand is not distinct. One image introduces us to a shoemaker at his work; he is seated on a low stool in front of his work-table, and with one hand holds a piece of leather, stretched over a board of hard wood; he is just about to cut it out with the curved shoemaker’s knife; a second knife is suspended above near some shoes, a hammer, and some strips of leather on the wall.

Another image introduces us into a shoemaker’s workshop. Here a girl is being measured for a pair of shoes; for this purpose she has got on the table, so that the bearded workman, who is sitting in front of it, may mark the outline of her soles on the leather on which she is standing. In his right hand the shoemaker holds his crescent, a knife with a curved blade; the apprentice, seated on the other side, is holding a piece of leather bent together, probably destined to make the upper part of the shoes. A white-haired old man, perhaps the master of the workshop, or the father of the girl, stands by giving directions; tools, lasts, strips of leather, and such like, are hung round on the walls. One image represents a smithy. Near the hearth, of which only a portion can be seen, crouches a young workman, holding a piece of iron on the anvil with the forceps in his right hand, while another workman, also without any clothing, strikes the iron with a massive hammer, suspended above his head by both hands. Two men wearing the himation, perhaps visitors to the workshop, are seated on low stools. On the ground lie a hammer and forceps; on the walls hang tools, such as hammers, chisels, drills, and productions of the workshop, viz. a sword and a can.

Artisans in Ancient Greece

woman working on a vase

One image introduces us to the workshop of an artist and a metal founder. In the presence of two men dressed in the himation, leaning on their sticks, two workmen are occupied in chiselling or working over the colossal figure of a warrior, represented in a posture of attack, which is placed under a scaffolding. There is another colossal figure of a naked youth, who has fallen to the ground, and is stretching out his arms as though praying for help. Here the head has not yet been added, for as a rule the ancients composed their large bronze figures in several pieces; the head lies on the ground near the statue, at which a workman is doing something with his hammer, perhaps trying to smooth away roughness produced in the casting.

This second figure seems to be connected with the first, and the whole to represent a group of combatants. A little further is the furnace, behind which stands an assistant looking round; a workman crouching on a low stool wears the cap usually worn by labourers with fire, and consequently represented in pictures of Hephaestus; he is stoking the coals in the furnace to a fresh glow with a long pole curved at the end, and a second apprentice stands looking at him, leaning on his hammer. On the walls hang a variety of tools — hammers, files, a saw, etc.; also models of feet and heads, and little tablets representing sketches of whole men and animals.

No less interesting is the workshop of a vase painter. Here we see a youth seated in an armchair, with a large two-handled cup on his knee, which he is painting with the brush held in his right hand; near him stands a little low table, on which are several pots containing paints or varnish. Behind him a young apprentice, who also has pots on the ground near him, is painting a large amphora; on the right a second boy and a girl are working at a cup and another amphora, while a jar and a large drinking-cup stand on the ground, and other vessels hang on the wall. Athene, the patroness of the arts, and Nike are hasting to crown the skillful labourers as the reward of industry.

It is difficult to determine the kind of work which the magnificent old man, a terra-cotta figure from Tanagra, is doing; in front of him is a board with which he is occupied, and a little gridiron. Some have pronounced him a baker, others a maker of plaster of Paris tablets, others a tanner; perhaps he might be a cook, seated in the street, and frying some quickly-cooked dish over the gridiron, in order to sell it to the common people, who often procured their food in this way from travelling cooks.

Craftsmen in Ancient Greece

During the Homeric age, handicraftsmen seem to have been in a position which, corresponding to the ideas entertained in ancient times about physical labour, was by no means despised. This is easily comprehensible, since even the gods were represented as undertaking the labour of artisans; Hephaestus working at a forge, Athene weaving; and we find even the heroes, the princes, and nobles sometimes themselves working as carpenters and joiners, and with their own hands constructing some object for their home; nowhere in Homer do we find a trace of contempt for hand-work. [Source “The Home Life of the Ancient Greeks” by Hugo Blümner, translated by Alice Zimmern, 1895]

Of course, handicrafts were not much developed at that time, and there were only a small number of crafts which could be looked upon as actual trades, such as that of smiths, workers in gold, carpenters, stone masons, etc., while many occupations which afterwards formed a distinct trade were performed at home by the masters and slaves. In later times a very important change took place connected with the political and social revolutions already mentioned. Agriculture and cattle-rearing were still regarded as an occupation which a free citizen might carry on without degrading himself, since the more menial part of the work was performed by slaves or hired labourers, and the master only superintended; but the work of the handicraftsmen was designated by them with the word mechanical, a word indicating a contempt that cannot be expressed in the translation. This word expressed the full scorn felt by the free citizen living on his own fortune, and devoting all his intellectual and physical powers to the State — of the gentleman, in fact — for the man with the horny hand, who toiled in his workshop to earn his daily bread.

Building a ship

This reproach of “mechanical” was never aimed at the rich owner of a number of slaves, who worked for his benefit; a factory owner need not take part in the work himself, but had his overseers to attend to that; it was the little man who had no other hands to work for him, and who wielded the hammer himself, or who worked the cloth in the fuller’s shop, whom they looked down on. In vain wise lawgivers tried to call the attention of the citizens to the blessing of handicraft, and the honorable nature of this occupation; in vain the democrats gave political equality to artisans by permitting them to vote and speak in the Assembly of the people along with the other citizens; while there was even a law forbidding anyone publicly to reproach a citizen with his occupation. There were some states in which an important part of the prosperity depended on handicrafts, and there a more moderate view gradually made way, but, generally speaking, the contempt for handicraft remained and continued, the rather as even philosophers regarded it as but a necessary evil. Doubtless they recognised the usefulness of handicrafts, but still they maintained that work of this kind in the workshop, near the hot furnace or in the gloomy room, was not suited to a free citizen, and that the effort of gaining money which was connected with it was injurious to the mind, and made it coarse and uncultivated, and it was thus that the word banausos came to be synonymous with common, low, and stupid. No wonder that even the artists, whose work depended on handicraft, and who, with few exceptions, worked for pay, were put in the same class with shoemakers, bakers, and smiths! It is strange indeed, that this depreciation of handicraft observed throughout

The handicrafts were partly in the hands of citizens, and partly in those of free settlers and slaves. The proportion in which they were divided among these three classes varied a good deal according to time and the nature of the occupation. At Athens the number of free citizens who carried on handicrafts was not small, in spite of the contempt in which they were held; in Peloponnesus, it was only Sparta where the free citizen kept aloof from all trades, while in the other states the conditions were much the same as at Athens and elsewhere. The resident foreigners formed a very important part of the workmen; at the time when industry flourished most in Attica, trade seems to have been almost entirely in their hands; and it is but natural that in those countries where the free citizens kept aloof from trade, the settlers who performed their labour with the help of slaves should have formed a great part of the working population. Every master workman whose position permitted kept working slaves; rich capitalists invested their money in large undertakings, in which the work was done by a great number of slaves, who either belonged to them or were hired for the purpose. We shall have occasion later on to discuss the conditions under which they worked.

Even worse than the position of the artisans was that of the hired workmen, that is, those labourers who, though free citizens, had not learnt any technical art with which they could earn their living, and who were therefore obliged to hire themselves out for hard bodily labour. Not only citizens, but even their wives, were often driven by need to perform such menial offices as day labourers in mills or in the fields; many such workmen carried weights in the harbour, or helped to load or unload the goods, to carry stones for building, etc. The pay was very small, if only on account of the competition of slave labour; sometimes a day’s wages was three or four obols, though higher amounts are mentioned. The fleets, and in particular the rowing boats, were manned out of this class, which was socially regarded as the lowest, and which bore the name of “thetes.”

Small-Time Traders and Peddlers in Ancient Greece

Very different was the position and occupation of the retail dealer or pedlar. He did not travel by sea, scarcely even by land, but usually carried on his business at one place; he either bought his goods direct from the producers or from the wholesale dealers, and offered them for sale in open shops or in booths on the market-place; in large towns there were special stands or markets for particular goods, but those who offered their wares at these places were usually the producers themselves, thus at the Pot Market at Athens, the wares were offered by real potters, who had doubtless made them themselves. We must therefore distinguish between shopkeepers who lived only by trade, and did not themselves produce, and producers, who brought their own goods to market; the latter were regarded as merchants by the ancients, and the hatred, where it existed, was chiefly directed at the small shopkeepers, who sold their wares for as high prices as possible. In small cities the circumstances may have been somewhat different, for it was only the most important trades connected with food and clothing that were carried on there, and many branches were not represented at all; consequently many kinds of goods had to be imported for sale by the small shopkeepers. No doubt the inhabitants of the small towns and even the country people often went to the capital to satisfy their wants, especially to the great markets held on fixed days of the month, usually on the first; the national festivals too provided opportunities for many kinds of purchases, since a sort of fair was usually connected with them. [Source “The Home Life of the Ancient Greeks” by Hugo Blümner, translated by Alice Zimmern, 1895]

woman working an oven

In the market-places of large towns there were usually covered arcades in which the merchants and dealers set up their wares; in some places there were market-halls of this kind for special goods, such as corn, oil, ointments, etc. Besides these permanent places of sale, there were light booths of a temporary nature, constructed in tent fashion of woven reeds and linen. The life in the market-place probably resembled that of the present day in the south; the custom of calling out and extolling goods existed in ancient Greece as well, and so did the excessive demands of the seller and the depreciation on the part of the purchaser, and even the notorious rudeness of the fish-wives seems to have been known to the Greeks. We find mention also of peddling, and carrying wares from house to house, and this was chiefly the case with provisions.

Greek art supplies very few pictures from the trader’s life. One image taken from a vase-painting, though a caricature, has an especial interest on account of its subject: a certain king Arcesilas of Cyrene (probably mythical), is represented as a dealer in silphium; it is well known that the silphium plant, so much valued by ancient epicures, came from Cyrene, and was an important article of trade. Under a canopy, the curtains of which are suspended by rings, stands a large pair of scales, at which five men are weighing goods, some of which are heaped up on the scales and others lying about on the ground.

Most of the goods are as yet unpacked; these workmen, however, have already filled large woollen sacks with them, and one of them is in the act of tying his up, while another is carrying his away. The weighing and packing are conducted under the superintendence of king Arcesilas, who is seated close by, holding in his left hand his sceptre, and with his right apparently giving directions to a workman standing before him. His costume is very extraordinary. The panther under the prince’s seat, a lizard, a stork (or crane), a monkey, and several pigeons, give life to the picture, and partly indicate the place where the scene is laid. Below the main picture, where we must suppose the cellar for the stores to be, workmen are piling up finished packets, under the direction of a man in a cloak.

Ancient Greek Soldiers

Young men were assigned to a military duty of two years when they turned 18. Often they were sent to the frontiers of Attica. At the age of 17 sons from prosperous families were recruited as soldiers and trained in athletics, hunting and mock warfare. Those that didn't make the grade had their rights reduced and those that graduated, at the age of 19, starting living with other men and participating in battles when the need arose. The families of married soldiers lived apart.

The typical Greek soldier was a hoplite with a spear. In the navy there were oarsmen and marines. The hoplites were the world's first known citizen soldiers. They owned land, bought their own armor, and voted, giving them a voice in the states that they protected.

Soldiers occupied the upper level of society. "My wealth is spear and sword," went one Cretan drinking song," and the stout shield which protects my flesh; with this I plow...with this I am an entitled master of the serfs.” The 7th century solider-poet Archilochos wrote: "I am two things: a fighter who follows the Master Battles, and one who understands the gift of the Muses' love."

Ancient Greek Ship Rowers

Lenormant Relief, from the Athenian Acropolis, depicting the rowers of an Athenian trireme, c 410 BC

Contrary to the popular myth Greek fighting ships were not manned by slaves, who were thought to be untrustworthy and expensive (they had be fed year-round even though a ship only operated about half the year). Instead they were manned by free citizens who sat on three levels.

Arturo Sánchez Sanz wrote in National Geographic: Paying the crew was a considerable expense. Wages were about one talent per month, an expense paid by the captain (trierarchos) from his own pocket. Keeping the crew well fed was crucial to their performance. A typical diet included salted fish, oatcakes, wine, cheese, vegetables, and about seven quarts of water per day.

The three levels were aligned on both sides, with the different levels to one side of each other to improve stability. The thalamites sat on the base of the hull and endured the worst conditions; the zygites were in the middle level; and at the top, the thranites had to make the greatest effort because of their higher position.

Under sail, the oarsmen followed the orders of the keleustés, issued by shouting or striking a piece of timber with a mace. When the roar of waves or battle prevented the rowing master from being heard, an aulos, a wind instrument like a double flute, marked the rowing beat. The oarsmen joined in with traditional chants to keep in time.

Teachers in Ancient Greece

Teachers, in most cases, were either educated slaves or tutors hired out for a fee. Most children began their studies at age seven. but there were no strict rules governing when a child's schooling began or how long it should last.

The salary which the teacher or tutor received for his instruction probably depended on his knowledge and ability; doubtless popular teachers were well paid. But it was not a paying profession, for it is not likely that the school fees, usually paid monthly, were high; also negligent fathers often put off paying them for a long time; while stingy parents kept their children at home during a month in which there were many holidays, in order to save the school fees. We must not assume high culture in these elementary teachers, and we find that the pupils feared their masters more than they loved them, which is natural, seeing that they seem to have made a freer use of canes and sticks than our present pedagogic principles would permit. Still we do not find any Greek pendant to Horace’s Plagosus Orbilius. [Source “The Home Life of the Ancient Greeks” by Hugo Blümner, translated by Alice Zimmern, 1895]

Masters and pupils are dressed alike, wearing only the himation. It is important, however, to remember that this dress on the monuments by no means corresponds to reality, and, as a rule, the chiton cannot have been wanting under the himation. The masters, some of whom are young and beardless, others more advanced in age, sit on simple stools; with the exception of one pupil, who is learning the lyre, the boys stand upright before them, both arms wrapped in their cloaks, as was considered fitting for well-bred youths. Of course, the boy with the lyre must have the upper part of his body free, and his himation is folded over his knee. There is a difference of opinion as to the two bearded men leaning on their sticks, who are present at these scenes, and attentively looking on; it has been suggested that they are paidagogoi, who have accompanied the boys to school, and are superintending them during the instruction; or else, on account of the manner in which they are sitting, it has been assumed that they are fathers or inspectors.

Health Care Practitioners in Antiquity

Greek physician and patient

According to the Metropolitan Museum of Art: “Drug sellers, root cutters, midwives, gymnastic trainers, and surgeons all offered medical treatment and advice. In the absence of formal qualifications, any individual could offer medical services, and literary evidence for early medical practice shows doctors working hard to distinguish their own ideas and treatments from those of their competitors. The roots of Greek medicine were many and included ideas assimilated from Egypt and the Near East, particularly Babylonia.” [Source: Colette Hemingway, Independent Scholar,Metropolitan Museum of Art, October 2004, metmuseum.org \^/]

“Medical practitioners frequently traveled from town to town, but there is little evidence to suggest that they were hired to provide free care for the general population. In Rome, for instance, where traditional Italian medicine competed with foreign imports, many doctors were Greek. Anyone could practice medicine, although most were free citizens. Medical training in ancient Greece and Rome might take the form of an apprenticeship to another doctor, attendance at medical lectures, or even at public anatomical demonstrations. \^/

“Two of the most famous healing sanctuaries sacred to the god were at Epidauros and on the island of Kos. The success of the cult of Asklepios in antiquity was due to his accessibility—although the son of Apollo, he was still human enough to attempt to cancel death. Those who sought a cure in the temples erected to him were subjected to ritual purifications, fasts, prayers, and sacrifices. A central feature of the cult and the process of healing was known as incubation, during which the god appeared to the afflicted one in a dream and prescribed a treatment. \^/

Image Sources: Wikimedia Commons, The Louvre, The British Museum

Text Sources: Internet Ancient History Sourcebook: Greece sourcebooks.fordham.edu ; Internet Ancient History Sourcebook: Hellenistic World sourcebooks.fordham.edu ; BBC Ancient Greeks bbc.co.uk/history/; Canadian Museum of History, Perseus Project - Tufts University; perseus.tufts.edu ; MIT Classics Online classics.mit.edu ; Gutenberg.org, Metropolitan Museum of Art, National Geographic, Smithsonian magazine, New York Times, Washington Post, Live Science, Discover magazine, Archaeology magazine, The New Yorker, Encyclopædia Britannica, Wikipedia, Reuters, Associated Press, The Guardian, AFP and various books and other publications.

Last updated September 2024