Greek Culture Articles

The Ancient Greeks were not fussy about their clothing. The garments they wore were made for function, and they were made simply. A single piece of fabric could be styled and restyled, to fit a particular occasion or a fashion. And with Greek summers being brutally hot, the less fabric and complicating seams to deal with, the better. The fabrics that... [continue reading]

Although it has been commonly accepted that cats were first domesticated in Egypt 4000 years ago, their history among human beings goes back much further. Wild cats are now known to have lived among the people of Mesopotamia over 100,000 years ago and to have been domesticated there approximately 12,000 BCE at about the same time as dogs, sheep, and goats. Archaeological... [continue reading]

Although the male citizen, with his full legal status, right to vote, hold public office and own property, may well have dominated Greek Society, the social groups which made up the population of a typical Greek city-state or polis were remarkably diverse. Women, children, immigrants (both Greek and foreign), labourers and slaves all had defined roles... [continue reading]

The 2nd and 1st centuries BCE offer a timeline in which contact with Greece had a noticeably important effect on the cultural development of Rome; directly, and as an indirect spur to differentiate a Roman, and not Greek, Mediterranean ‘culture’. This topic is utterly vast in its scope, and as such this article acts as an introduction to... [continue reading]

Umami is the taste of foods that are rich in glutamic acid and 2 ribonucleotides, 5#-inosinate and 5#-guanylate. This distinctive taste of modern Eastern cuisine, which is finding a receptive audience in the Western hemisphere, characterized many dishes that ancient Romans consumed 2000 y ago. Romans enjoyed numerous foods that are identified today... [continue reading]

This paper attempts to redefine the role of the “hero” in ancient Western epic poetry, focusing specifically on the Iliad of Homer and the Irish epic the Tain Bo Cuailgne, by focusing on the maintenance of a hierarchy of loyalties. Similarly, this paper demonstrates the need to expand the traditional conception of the epic seductress. Ultimately... [continue reading]

The issue of perspective is intrinsic to historiography. This is evident in the ancient Greco-Roman literary record, specifically the limits placed on its value to modern academics by the ethnographic biases of its authors. However, with the rise of the post-processual approach to archaeology over the past thirty years, modern historians have begun... [continue reading]

The roles of Athenian women in the fifth century B.C. were primarily those of wife and mother. The Athenians, in their patriarchal society, selected models for women based on the divine and heroic orders. The divine order subjected the female duties to their male counterparts. The heroic order depicted Penelope as the absolute role model for Greek-Athenian... [continue reading]

In an intriguing overview of research related to leisure, enjoyment, and the good life, Estes and Henderson posed a provocative question: “What do people need to know to pursue the good life, and what roles do leisure service providers have in maximizing people’s enjoyment?”. In their response they paid homage to classical Greek philosophy... [continue reading]

One cannot deny that the outcomes of historical research are to some extent a reflection of the researcher’s perceptions of historical events. When one deals with a topic such as “the role of women in antiquity,” which gained eminence in feminist literature in the 1970s, this is all the more true. Thus, although the sources and the interpretation... [continue reading]