A day in the Life of an Ancient Athenian Woman.
"I'm so happy! I'm very delighted that I have to do the chores and the cleaning around the house! This is a miracle!" Mera seemed quite excited to start off her new life as a 14 year old woman in the early morning. "When is it going to happen? When am I getting married!?" Not only was she excited to be cleaning the house, but she was also getting married. That is, to a very rich and brave man. This means that she would be living in a huge household, where she can bring in her large dowry, which would then be managed by her future husband, eventhough he never owned it, and had to return it in its entirety in case they would divorce, but this is unlikely for Mera because she is a great civilized young women ready to do anything told.
"Come downstairs, Mera, someone is waiting for you!" Mera was so pleased she was about to faint. She rushed downstars and saw her future husband- He was very short and bald, and ugly. "But pappa, why do you choose him? I know much better men than him!" Mera complained. "I'm sorry, Mera. But I had to make this decision because I know he would make a great husband and my son-in-law, and he is also very rich!" Mera didn't seem to look like she loves him, but loving was not very important in Athenian marriages. The important thing is that marriages were based on the prospect of a good relationship for the future. Mera was sure that love and respect between them were going to develop as time went by, she hoped and hoped. "Hello there, my name is Karl, are you my bride?" "Yes I am." Mera replied in an awefuly quiet voice. About half an hour later, they finally got married and settled in their house.
Both of them were observing, until Karl called for Mera. "Mera! Where are you, my wife!?" "I'm coming, my husband!" Mera replied to Karl's urgent call. "I must go sail and hunt some animals for food! After that I will go trade some of our belongings with other people!" Karl had alarmed her. "Good, my husband." Mera replied. "I will see you at the end of the day." Karl rushed out the door leaving Mera along at home. "This is great! Now I get to run the house!" Mera thought. She sent one of her slaves in the house to the market to buy some food, because she wasn't allowed to get out of the house. The slave bought milk bread, rye bread, wheaten bread, and brown bread. She also asked him to take some farmhouse bread from their garden full of crops. That was enough bread for three meals today.
In the meantime, when Mera had nothing to do after her work of cleaning and sewing, she decided to go upstairs and make herself a new shirt- she was indeed running out of clothes. Her new shirt was made out of wool and linen. She thought that it would be nice to have a bright green shirt, so she decided to dye it out of a plant. When she was satisfied with her new shirt, she moved on to making her hair look good. Firstly, Mera took her long hair and braided it, and then put it on top of her head using headbands called cecryphalaes. She used waxes and lotions in order for her hair to smell good and pleasant.
A couple of hours later, Karl had arrived home. He had started a fire outside in order to bake the meet he had hunted in the forest. Of course, he invited some visitors in the house so that he wouldn't eat all by himself. When Karl finished baking the meat, he went to the hallway (andron) with his visitors and Mera went to eat in the living room (aule) by herself. When they had finished eating, the visitors left and the two couples went to bed and fell asleep peacefully.
"Come downstairs, Mera, someone is waiting for you!" Mera was so pleased she was about to faint. She rushed downstars and saw her future husband- He was very short and bald, and ugly. "But pappa, why do you choose him? I know much better men than him!" Mera complained. "I'm sorry, Mera. But I had to make this decision because I know he would make a great husband and my son-in-law, and he is also very rich!" Mera didn't seem to look like she loves him, but loving was not very important in Athenian marriages. The important thing is that marriages were based on the prospect of a good relationship for the future. Mera was sure that love and respect between them were going to develop as time went by, she hoped and hoped. "Hello there, my name is Karl, are you my bride?" "Yes I am." Mera replied in an awefuly quiet voice. About half an hour later, they finally got married and settled in their house.
Both of them were observing, until Karl called for Mera. "Mera! Where are you, my wife!?" "I'm coming, my husband!" Mera replied to Karl's urgent call. "I must go sail and hunt some animals for food! After that I will go trade some of our belongings with other people!" Karl had alarmed her. "Good, my husband." Mera replied. "I will see you at the end of the day." Karl rushed out the door leaving Mera along at home. "This is great! Now I get to run the house!" Mera thought. She sent one of her slaves in the house to the market to buy some food, because she wasn't allowed to get out of the house. The slave bought milk bread, rye bread, wheaten bread, and brown bread. She also asked him to take some farmhouse bread from their garden full of crops. That was enough bread for three meals today.
In the meantime, when Mera had nothing to do after her work of cleaning and sewing, she decided to go upstairs and make herself a new shirt- she was indeed running out of clothes. Her new shirt was made out of wool and linen. She thought that it would be nice to have a bright green shirt, so she decided to dye it out of a plant. When she was satisfied with her new shirt, she moved on to making her hair look good. Firstly, Mera took her long hair and braided it, and then put it on top of her head using headbands called cecryphalaes. She used waxes and lotions in order for her hair to smell good and pleasant.
A couple of hours later, Karl had arrived home. He had started a fire outside in order to bake the meet he had hunted in the forest. Of course, he invited some visitors in the house so that he wouldn't eat all by himself. When Karl finished baking the meat, he went to the hallway (andron) with his visitors and Mera went to eat in the living room (aule) by herself. When they had finished eating, the visitors left and the two couples went to bed and fell asleep peacefully.
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