Ancient Greece: Society, Classes, and Mythology
Ancient Greece: Society and Mythology
Athenian Social Classes
Athenian society was structured into several distinct classes:
- Politai: Divided into ten tribes across territorial districts (plain, mountain, and coast). They possessed full civil rights, acquired by birth. Their responsibilities included serving in the heavy infantry or cavalry, participating in magistracies, serving in courts, and paying special taxes.
- Metics: Foreigners residing in Athens. Despite being free, they lacked citizenship rights. They served as hoplites or rowers and paid taxes.
- Cleruchs: Members of a *cleruchy* (colony), sent by Athens as punishment against rebels. They received a plot of land.
- Slaves: Classified as either public or private. Public slaves belonged to the state and performed various functions. They lived in their own homes and could be recruited for the fleet or army during wartime. Slaves had no civil rights but participated in public worship. They could purchase their freedom or receive it from their master.
Social Groups of Sparta
- Spartans: Free citizens with full civil rights. Their primary roles were warfare and participation in public affairs, directing policy.
- Perioeci: Foreigners living on the periphery of Sparta. They were free men but lacked rights in the main *polis*.
- Helots: Descendants of conquered peoples. Bound to the lands of their masters, they farmed for them. Helot revolts were frequent due to the harsh conditions of exploitation they endured.
Freeman vs. Slave Society
In Classical society, the primary distinction between individuals was freedom. Slaves lacked rights, while free men possessed civic rights. Slavery, an invention of the Greeks and Romans, may have always existed and still persists in many covert forms, even in the West.
Zeus: King of the Gods
The universal order was presided over by Zeus (Roman Jupiter), surpassed only by destiny. He was the son of Cronus and Rhea, and brother to Poseidon, Hades, Demeter, and Hera (who was also his wife). With Hera, he had Ares and Hephaestus. Many other gods and heroes were born from his illicit relationships, including the Muses, Hermes, Persephone (with Demeter), Dionysus, Apollo, Artemis, and the Greek hero Heracles. Zeus is the god of the heavens and associated phenomena (rain, lightning, thunder). He ensures fairness and order, protects oaths and guests, and upholds the state. His attributes are the thunderbolt and the eagle. Many myths and legends relate to his affairs, in which he often changed shape: he seduced Europa as a white bull, Leda as a swan, and Danae as a shower of gold.
Linguistic Terms
- Patrimonial Words: Words of Latin origin that entered the Castilian language through popular derivation.
- Cultism: Latin terms introduced into Castilian via the educated tongue, largely unchanged.
- Doublets: Instances where a single Latin word gives rise to two terms in Castilian: one patrimonial word and one cultism.