Ancient Greece: Everyday Life in the Birthplace of Western Civilization

by Robert Garland

 Ancient Greece comes alive in this vibrant portrait of the daily lives of ordinary people—men and women, children and the elderly, slaves and foreigners, rich and poor. Robert Garland presents a wealth of fascinating, sometimes surprising information about our spiritual, cultural, and intellectual ancestors during this influential period. Did Greeks share our notion of romantic love? How stable was the family? How did they relax? What did they eat? Why was it more desirable to be a slave than a day laborer? Were they really more cultivated than we are?  Unique and descriptive, the attractive volume include includes images throughout, as well as maps.

 

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Ancient History, Greece, Mythology, Greek Mythology, World History

384 pages, Hardcover

First published October 15, 2013

About the author

Dr. Robert S.J. Garland is the Roy D. and Margaret B. Wooster Professor of the Classics at Colgate University. He earned his B.A. in Classics from Manchester University, his M.A. in Classics from McMaster University, and his Ph.D. in Ancient History from University College London.

A former Fulbright Scholar and recipient of the George Grote Ancient History Prize, Professor Garland has educated students and audiences at a variety of levels. In addition to teaching classics at Colgate University, he has taught English and Drama to secondary school students and lectured at universities throughout Britain as well as the British School of Archaeology in Athens.

Professor Garland is the author of numerous articles in both academic and popular journals and books capturing details of all aspects of ancient Greek and Roman life, including The Greek Way of Life: From Conception to Old Age; Introducing New Gods: The Politics of Athenian Religion; and Daily Life of the Ancient Greeks. His expertise has been featured in The History Channel's "Last Stand of the 300," and he has repeatedly served as a consultant for educational film companies.

Reviews

[Linniegayl · Rating 3 out of 5]

Quite informative. Not a history of Ancient Greece, but information about various aspects of daily life, from food, to clothing, to occupations, to the practice of religion (both in the home and in the public sphere).

July 9, 2023: I did a reread of this in preparation for some tours I'm doing at a museum focused on artifacts from ancient Greece. It remains a useful summary of many aspects of daily life.

[Shawn Thrasher · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book see-saws between an academic style and a folksy style that is sometimes jarring. Garland can be writing along a bit dustily, and then refer to a woman as an "old hag" or a call someone "an ungrateful old sod." That lack of editorial control seemed to haunt this book. Robert Garland isn't the best writer in the world, but I still learned quite a bit and was fascinated by quite a bit more. NOTE: This appears to be a remastered version of a book published earlier, but from a different publisher. Daily Life of the Ancient Greeks is the same text, but the newer version is a slick publication with lots of great pictures and a fancy new cover.

[JR Snow · Rating 3 out of 5]

Writing an updated review upon a second reading 9 years later. The book is still good, but not that good! Garland is a typical modernist historian with an anti-western bias. He spends much of his time hedging his praise of Greek institutions and contributions with denunciations of their treatment of women, foreigners, slaves, etc. While his documentation is factual, it obscures the genuine accomplishments of the Greeks–they wrote and did things that other civilizations who suffered the same foibles–did not write and say. It baffles me that historians cannot recognize this.


This book is so good. I just, it's, I can't. I read it like a teen girl would read a John Green Novel. (2014)

[Leonid · Rating 2 out of 5]

The information provided in this book is unreliable. For example, in one chapter the author claims that in Spartan society "wives could be loaned to an interested third party with the agreement of the husband in cases where the husband was elderly or infertile". In another, he claims that "the Greeks had no concept of male infertility".

[Abby · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great if you want a quick, general history of ancient Greece. Book had lots of information that my ancient Greek history class covered in college. It is easy to read and therefore good for both novices and people who are familiar with some aspects of ancient Greek life. I would be interested in reading some of Garlands other books on cultures I am not as familiar with.

[Jim Mann · Rating 5 out of 5]

I've been watching several of the Great Courses taught by Robert Garland. He's an insightful and entertaining teacher, so I wanted to also begin reading his books. His look at Everyday Life works as a detailed expansion of what he covered in the lectures on Greece in his The Other Side of History course.

The book starts with a quick historical outline, followed by a section called "Space and Time," which looks at the geography of Greece and how time was viewed. There are then sections on language and literacy, on the people and private life, on the public sphere (including religion), and on leisure (including discussion of the arts). It concluded with a short section on Greece's impact on modern culture.

While I know a reasonable amount about the history of Ancient Greece, this book filled in a lot of gaps. I'd recommend it to anyone interested in ancient history.

[Ghost Ryter · Rating 5 out of 5]

I started reading this book for research--and found myself really enjoying it. (Perhaps not so unusual. I am a self-proclaimed history geek, after all.) This is arranged perfectly for perusing and quick look-ups. Those with only a casual interest shouldn't have a hard time reading and understanding this.

The only problem I noticed was that sometimes the author wasn't clear that such and such was a norm at one point in history, while at another point it wasn't. That was only a few times, however.

If you want to know more about the Greeks, I wholeheartedly recommend this.

[Victor Whitman · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was an excellent book on everyday life in the ancient Greek world. Garland covers pretty much everything that's only mentioned briefly in the histories. His writing is accessible and engaging. Recommended.

[Risa · Rating 5 out of 5]

A really engaging approach to Ancient Greece through everyday life - or, more precisely, forces and culture that would have made an impact on the daily life of everyone living in the Greek world. Well organized into sections like "The People", "Private Life" and "The Public Sphere".

[Josh Redlich · Rating 5 out of 5]

Informative and accessible. Great for middle school and high school students and teachers, and a great resource for college students as well.

[Prof Primate · Rating 4 out of 5]

First of all, I can’t rate this book properly, because... yes, it does an excellent job tackling most things about the daily life in Classical Athens (mostly). Such excusable focus isn’t a major problem for me, but what lingers on is the mystery of this civilization. In whatever media I seek to appease this curiosity, it seems like quenching one’s thirst with saltwater.

Well, it may be due to two reasons: our fragmentary sources and their acknowledged societal complexity, whereby no single “key” suffices.

After reading it, I know of such things like how their house was arranged, but not how it looked like, and what was it like to live therein. What were the preoccupations of these people and why have they done what they’ve done and achieved what they’ve achieved? Some “keys” would be: individualism, competition, cult of being the best (aretē) and of gathering its fame (kleos), by being worthy (timē), yet... really? What did the rent-paying thêtes think of such expenditure in the Propylaea? How hard was it to get a point across the ekklesia? What was Sokrates actually aiming at? Is he celebrated just because we have nothing from his opponents? What was it like to live in a polis other than Athens and Sparta?

With 100.000 books in Alexandria alone, which very few survived the religious mobs (~30.000 books in the whole of Europe before Gutenberg, including Bibles and the like of Malleus Maleficarum), some of these questions might be lost to time, and others just waiting to be unearthed.

It is quite off mainstream, since most history books tell us more about a general’s family problems than even the name of his soldiers. It focuses more on battles than on the structures of everyday life, even though “battle-time” would be just an hour. What were the effects of Chaironeia on the subsistence-farmer in the khôra of Pylos? None. He’d not even hear of it probably. For its insights and intriguing information, 4 stars. And, personally, the School of Greece is the school for life.

I know Ancient Greece is a lifelong interest. I am at the same time disappointed, because it wasn’t comprehensive exhaustive enough, and glad that it was so; the quest is always on. Time to dive into the references.

PS. It could use better editing. I noticed 5 passages with words omitted with spaces such as “ [space where a word should be], which (...)” (and not due to style or inferable).

[Michele Amitrani · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a very insightful book about ancient greek society, culture and religion. I bought it to deepen my understanding of the ancient greek world and it delivered everything I wanted it to deliver.

Robert Garland knows his stuff, and doesn't fail to provide a very detailed picture of the greek world throughout history.

Recommended if you're looking for a detailed reading on the everyday life in the birthplace of the western world.

[Kaitlyn Funk · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read this book in order to do some research for a fictional novel I’ll be writing in the near future. I found it incredibly informative. It contained information on nearly every element I needed to research. It included details on food, culture, working practices, views on women and men, marriage, and a plethora of other topics. Though it was densely packed with information, it was written in an engaging way that kept me invested.

[Muaz Jalil · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fascinating book. Worth the read. Unlike SPQR, which is about Roman History based on various scholarly source, this book heavily draws on mythos and literature to develop the everyday life. Hence it is more like Victorian City by Judith Flanders. Nonetheless it's a great book.

[Connor Folsom · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is another great and compelling recount of Ancient Greece and how the events that transpired shaped the democratic world and modern civilizations we know today. A very insightful and informative book great for high school to college level learners.

[Christy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really fascinating.

[Carolyn Deboer · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent. Just wish I could remember everything!

[Charle · Rating 4 out of 5]

book is accurate to title and gave a nice overview of everything about ancient greece. very straight up.

[Jonathan Quintero · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great read to learn more about ancient Greece

[Lee Harrington · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ever wonder what day to day life was like in Ancient Greece? This book does a pretty good job of enlightening us on that very question. The author goes to great pains to remind us, however, that it’s all speculation. There are, unfortunately, precious few period documents and those that exist refer to the leaders and philosophers, not the common people.
The author breaks Greek life down into several categories and then explains how the different classes of people experienced them.
If you are hoping for detail on the various wars of the city states you may be disappointed. There is a little of that but not in a chronological organization. In discussion of Athens and Sparta the subject of war comes up but it is not the primary focus.

[Katherine B. · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is my favorite Ancient Greece history book. It has so much good information, and went through it in such an interesting way!

[Allison · Rating 4 out of 5]

I skimmed this book, paying closer attention to some chapters than others, as I was primarily interested in the content on Greek religion, mythology, family life, and economical and cultural institutions (such as slavery, agriculture, diet, etc.). Overall, a great handbook for immersing yourself in the ancient Greek mind and daily life.

[Julie Akeman · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a great book to read after reading the Odyssey. A great history on the ancient Greek life and it makes a lot of references to the Odyssey. I highly reccomend it to history buffs and literary lovers who want to put in some more historical context to the Greek Classics they read.

[Mariana · Rating 5 out of 5]

one of those books that makes you want to know more about its subject..