The ancient Athenians believed there was an inborn trait in humans that either defined them to be a slave or a master. They felt that those who are meant to be masters have stronger more willful souls than those who are meant to serve. As Aristotle stated: “the soul rules the body with the authority of a master,” and that “the rule of the body by the soul, and the rule of the passionate part by the rational, is in accordance with nature and beneficial,” and therefore they were justified in

saying that the strong willed souls were intended by nature itself to rule over those with weak souls. The Greeks further rationalized this idea by saying that an individual with a weak soul is reasonless on their own, and being enslaved actually improves them in the same manner as the domesticating of wild animals, for “domesticated animals are by nature superior to wild ones and they are always better off when they are ruled by man…” Slaves were also to be distinguished not only by their lack of reason, but also by their body type. Aristotle explains that “it is the intention of nature also to make a distinction between the bodies of free men and those of slaves – the latter are strong for the performance of necessary tasks, while the former are erect and useless for such tasks but useful for the life of a citizen” (Spyradakis,1985).

Because of their physical differences, the Greeks believed slaves to be better suited to take care of the duties involved in running a household. For the most part, male slaves would most likely be responsible for the heavy outdoor work such as plowing the fields, collecting wood, and tasks that required extended amounts of time outdoors, for the Greeks felt “a man naturally is strong of body, and capable of enduring the fatigue of heat and cold, of traveling and undergoing the harsher exercise; so that it seems as if nature had appointed him to look after the affairs without doors.” The mistress of the household primarily would look after women slaves, and would see to it that “bread (would) b

Some topics in this essay:
, Despite Greek, Spyridakis1985 Athenian, slave master, greek slaves, slaves masters, athenian culture, women slaves,