2003 Catholic trial

Question 22: Athenians

a) Name TWO Athenian Festivals (2 marks)
Panethenaeia
Anthesteria
b) What as the a!ora" (2 marks)
A central meeting place in Athens. It was used for commercial reasons as a market place. It
housed the central political buildings such as the Bouleuterion and Tholos.
c) #escribe the main activities o$ Athenian slaves (% marks)
Domestically slaves had a significant role in weaving and dying cloth and also making clothes.
They acted as nannies for the children, especially for girls who received no formal education.
They provided mundane tasks such as cooking, baking and cleaning around the house. laves
were sometimes sent to the Agora to purchase specific goods.
laves were traded for cheap labour. They worked in the silver mines at !aurion. They also
would have worked on larger farms tilling soil, planting and harvesting crops of mainly olives
or barley. They would also have e"tracted the oil from the olives to make olive oil to be
e"ported overseas. They also worked in the Piraeus loading and unloading cargos. laves were
used in manufacturing by large pottery and metal workshops. The largest workshop in Athens
was owned by #ephalos$ it manufactured armour and employed %&' slaves.
laves were owned by the state to keep order in the assembly, the courts and other public
places, to guard prisoners in the gaol, carry out e"ecutions and also to work as prostitutes.
&) Outline the im'ortance o$ tra&e to Athenian societ( () marks)
Athens became the centre of a very large empire. The wealth of this empire was based on trade
which was vital to Athens( survival. Athens( main port, The Piraeus, was important enough to
be re built as part of Pericles( building program showing that trade was important to Athenian
society. The Piraeus had thousands of visitors each year, for trade and tourism, which made an
important contribution to the economy. The Piraeus also made an income from trade as it
charged a ta" of &) on all items entering or leaving the port. The trade in the Piraeus was
important for ensuring a regular supply of work for ship builders, maintenance crews, builder
of shipyards and dry docks.
Athens needed basic imports of timber, grain, iron, oil, copper and fla". These were imported
from all over the *editerranean from places such as #yrene and +gypt. Athens( soil was very
infertile and thus they could not grow enough staple foods to support the population. The
reason the partan(s won the Peloponnesian war was that they succeeding in cutting off the
grain route. Demosthenes wrote, ,we are more dependent than anyone else on imported grain(.
-rain, therefore, was a vital trade to Athenian society.
Trade supported the economy in that e"port provided .obs for many Athenians. They e"ported
olive oil, silver, wine and finely crafted pots for which Attica became famous for. Internal trade
also provided .obs for many Athenians as people could sell goods from workshops attached to
their houses, in the toa, on the road between the agora and the Dipylon -ate and in the agora
itself from booth, tables and round platforms.
Trade was important to Athenian culture as the money that could be made from it attracted
people from other countries and allied states to move to Athens to make money. This was
important to the culture as it increased the diversity of religion, philosophy, art and probably
even food.
e) With re$erence to *ource +0 (!roun& 'lan o$ the Athenian Acro'olis) an& other
evi&ence (ou have stu&ie&, e-'lain the main $eatures o$ the cit( o$ Athens in the time o$
.ericles/
+"plain/ relate cause and effect, make the relationship between things evident, provide why
and0or how.
Athens( main features were the agora, the Piraeus, the acropolis and the defence walls. The
Agora was the central meeting place of Athens. Its buildings were used for commercial,
administrative, political and social activities. It was an open area with temples, courthouses,
shops, government buildings and an art gallery. It was the political centre of Athens. People
visited the Agora to discuss important political matters and to vote. The bouleuterion, or
council house, was situated in the Agora. This building had seating on wooden benches
arranged in a semi1circle for the full 2'' counsellors of the Boule. The trategion which was
the military head3uarters was also situated in the agora. The Tholos also featured in the Agora.
This was a large circular building with si" interior columns to support the roof which was made
from a series of large diamond1shaped tiles set in an overlapping pattern which would have
resembled the scales of a fish.
The agora was also the central market place of Athens. hops have been e"cavated for
craftsmen, eating establishment and shopkeepers. The other centre for trade in Athens was the
Piraeus. It was an international port and clearing house. According to Isocrates, ,the city
established Piraeus as a trading centre as a market centre to Greece. It had a deep harbour
which allowed 3uick and easy loading and a safe place for the navy. As such it was the centre
for the building, maintenance and training of the Athenian fleet. Thucydides wrote that it ,had
a position of power with its three natural harbours. The trade route was defended by the !ong
4alls built between Piraeus and Athens as well as the Athenian warships which constantly
patrolled the surrounding waters.
The Panathenaic way led from the main entrance to the city at the Dipylon gate past the Agora
and ended at the Acropolis. This road was used for events such as the Panathenaic festival
which comprised of a procession which assembled at dawn at the Dipylon gate and made it
way along the Panathenaic road to the Acropolis. This procession is depicted on Phidias( frie5e
in the Parthenon. It was also used for trade as people held small stalls along the road to sell
their goods such as clothes and perhaps fresh bread made in their homes.
The Acropolis was the religious centre of Athens. As seen in source %' the Acropolis held the
religious features of the +rechtheum, the Parthenon, and the Propylaea, the Altar of Athena, the
Altar of Poseidon, the sanctuary of Artemis of Brauron and the temple of Athena 6ike. These
were not places of communal worship but were houses of the gods, where their cult1images
and often their treasures were stored. Public access was restricted.
The Parthenon was built from 778 to 79& B# as part of Pericles( building program. It was
dedicated to the city(s patron goddess, Athena. It was the main feature of the acropolis being
the largest Doric temple build in anti3uity. It was built entirely of white marble and designed
by the architects, Ictinus and #allicrates. Phidias built the sculptures and metopes which
depicted the Panathenaic festival and famous scenes of deities. It also housed a forty two foot
high statue of Athena Parthenos covered in ivory and gold. As seen in source %' it comprised
of two rooms$ one housed the statue functioning as the temple proper and the other acted as a
treasury.
The small temple of Athena 6ike was situated on the *ycenaean wall near the entrance to the
Acropolis. It comprised of a temple, sacrificial pit and altar to Athena 6ike. The goddess(s
statue showed her holding a helmet in her left hand and, in her right, the pomegranate which
symbolised fertility and the blessings of peace.
The large sanctuary of Artemis of Brauron was situated on the south wall beside the Propylaea.
Artemis was the goddess of hunting and wild like, and of women in childbirth. An inscription
details the offerings made there by women including tunics and ivory lyres.
The +rectheum was on the north wall of the acropolis as seen in source %'. Its construction
concluded in 7&% B#. It consisted of a wooden statue of Athena, the Porch of maidens, the
Altar of Poseidon and Poseidon(s saline spring, Athena(s sacred olive tree and an inner shrine
for snake and tomb of +rectheus. The temple was dedicated to the earth gods. The upper floor
had benches for participants in the arcane ceremonies which took place in the side chambers.