In following the daily life of an Athenian in 500 B.C., it is possible to see how the new political structure of the city worked, what the Athenians ate and wore, how they worked and relaxed, and what attitudes they had toward political and philosophical questions. In order to touch on these areas it is necessary that the subject be a free male citizen, since slaves were occupied only in the basic jobs of the household and businesses and women were largely cut off from any participation in public life. The year 500 B.C. falls early in the period after the democracy was first established (in 507) but precedes the great period of Athenian civilization known to us from its surviving art and the writings of the dramatists, philosophers, and historians.
The subject is Lysis, the 18 year-old son of a wealthy Athenian of the upper class.1 Lysis lives with his family in a neighborhood in the center of Athens in a house that is large by the standards of most of the people. The family's house contains about twenty rooms arranged in a figure 8 around two courts. The house is divided into two sections, one for men and one for women. The women, slaves and family members, all live and do most of their work in the back part of the house surrounding their court which is known as the gynaeconitis. The men's portion of the house consists of the rooms surrounding the front court, called the andronitis, and it includes the andron, the dining hall that separates the women's and men's sections of the house. The andron has a wooden door blocking the way to the women's section and no men except members of the immediate family and very close relatives are allowed to enter there.2
Lysis's room is very small and opens directly onto the andronitis through a line of pillars that surround the court. It is a hot day and though it is early, the slaves have already put up an awning that will protect people from the sun. Some other slaves have alre...