The Greeks as described in the Homeric epics were in a
transitional stage between the life of shepherds and that of farmers. Wealth consisted
chiefly of flocks and herds, though nearly every freeman owned a little plot of
land on which he cultivated grain and cared for his orchard and vineyard. There
were few skilled workmen, for almost everything was made at home. A separate
class of traders had not yet arisen. Commerce was little followed. The Greeks
depended on Phoenician sailors to bring to their shores the commodities which
they could not produce themselves. Iron was known and used, for instance, in
the manufacture of farm tools. During Homeric times, however, that metal had
not yet displaced copper and bronze.
SOCIAL LIFE
Social life was very simple. Princes tended flocks and
built houses; princesses carried water and washed clothes. Agamemnon, Odysseus,
and other heroes were not ashamed to be their own butchers and cooks. The
Homeric knights did not ride on horseback, but fought from chariots. They sat
at table instead of reclining at meals, as did the later Greeks. Coined money
was unknown. Trade was by barter, values being reckoned in oxen or in lumps of
gold and silver. Men bought their wives by making gifts of cattle to the
parents. The art of writing is mentioned only once in the Homeric poems, and
doubtless was little used.
