Men at the Marketplace

Everyone in the family ate a light breakfast of a pecs of bread soaked in wine mixed with water. Afterward, the father headed down a narrow, crookora or markeed streets toward the agora of marketplace. the Agora was a large open square located near the Acropolis, Beautiful public buildings and temples lined two side of the square, men debated the issues of the day. In the huge open center, vendors sold items ranging form food and pottery to goats and sheep. Athenian merchants hawked their wares or argued with customers over prices.

Each men walking in the agora was dressed in the usual Greek fashion a woolen tunic that fell the richest men could afford cotton or line tunics.

The Ancient Olympics

It is impossible to say precisely when the Olympic festival began, we know that it was very early in Greek history because it is the mentioned in some of the writing of the early anonymous Greek poets. The Olympic games began in ancient Greece and were held to honor the  gods, especially Zeus, the king of the gods. For athletes, victory in Olympic events was the ultimate achievement. The Olympic Village of ancient Greece grew into great complex, a vast temple that held a forty foot tall statue of Zeus was built there, the sculpture a man named Phidias, carved the form of Zeus form ivory, wood, and stone and seated him on a throne made of cedar wood.

Originally, athletic competition at the Olympic festival was limited to male Greek citizens, foreigners, slaves, and women were barred from competitions. Every athlete had to take the Olympic oath, swearing that he had trained for ten months before the games and that he had done nothing to offend the gods.

For many centuries women ware barred not only as competitors but also as spectators. The penalty for Breaking the rule was death, even so some women still tried to watch the games even if the meant donning a disguise.