Culture. Describe the family life, education, religion and recreation of Ancient Greece.

Ancient Greece is a period of Greek history that begun roughly around 12th to 9th centuries B. C and ended in 600 A. D. This timeframe of Greek history is known for its pretty unique characteristics, when this civilization is compared to others that were already formed at the time.

To begin with, unlike other nations and regions, Greece was not organized into one country and was not ruled by just one person. Politically, Ancient Greece was organized into city-states, also known as Poleis. It was much later that Greece finally organized into one state. Each of these city-states was completely independent from the others, even if there was a general perception of an identity by Greeks. They were led at first by a reknown member of the city, but they were not at all considered kings. However, during the Archaic period, oligarchies were formed and they took control of the leadership until democracy was established as the ruling system in the 6th century B. C.

A for culture, there were some generalities for all city-states. All shared a politeistic religion, believing in the gods and also in heroes. Greek Mythology is born from this. There was also a strong believe in education. Boys were usually taught in public schools, known as Lyceums, or agoras, for Sparta. Girls were only taught the necessary to lead their households: reading, writing and basic arithmetic. Marriage happened for men when they were 25, but girls could be married at 12 or 13 years of age. There was a strong emphasis on philosophy, mathematics, language, religion and also sports in the education of children. In recreation, Greeks were great believers in sports and also artistic displays. It is at this time that the first comedies and dramas are represented in theaters in the open air and poetry is also developed at this time. Finally, as for family, the unit was formed by father and mother and their children, with boys usually leaving their homes to their apprenticeships at the age of seven.