2). If a family was in need of money the parents might sell one of their children into slavery. It was more likely that the child sold into slavery was a girl because the males were kept so that they could help on the land (Dillon and Garland 2000, 11.4). This was another way that a person could become a slave. Another fairly common way for a person to become a slave was to be kidnapped and sold into slavery. This was known as the slave trade, which was a main resource for the buying and selling of slaves. However kidnapping a slave was a serious offence and one could be put to death if caught (Dillon and Garland 2000). The price for slaves varied depending on factors such as age and their skills. A healthy, attractive, young and submissive, could sell for as much as 10 minae ($180) where as an old weak and stubborn might have sold for as little as ½ a mina ($9) (Crystalinks, date accessed 14th June 2001). These are the most common ways in which a person could become a slave. So what kind of work did they do?.
In Greece slaves performed many tasks. The work a slave did depended very much so on their sex. Male slaves could be mineworkers, ship crewmembers, household slaves, clerks at treasury offices or land workers. In Athens male slaves could also be archers (Dillon and Garland 2000, 11.7). Women slaves were generally household slaves who were responsible for such duties as shopping, fetching water, cooking, serving food, cleaning, child-care, and wool-working (Crystalinks, date accessed 14th June 2001). Basically male salves were assigned to agricultural duties and female slaves were assigned domestic duties. The male slaves that worked in the mines or as a ship's crewmember usually did not live long because of the grueling work and dangerous conditions of their work (Crystalinks, date accessed 14th June 2001). Female slaves were also known to have close relationships with their mistresses.
