Daily Life of the Ancient Greeks

The People 89
departing for war. Political scenes are nonexistent, and scenes of
men engaged in work are rare. Although pictorial considerations
are partly responsible for the selection, the images of daily life have
much to tell us about the average man’s view of the idealized man’s
world.
PARENTS AND CHILDREN
Birth
In the absence of hospitals, most births took place either in the
home or out of doors. Male physicians were present only when
there were fears for the mother’s life. Medical texts indicate that the
presence of male physicians would have caused embarrassment
and shame to women in labor. One of the most important assistants
was the maia, or midwife, who combined medical expertise with
proficiency in ritual.
Birth and religion were inseparably bound together. Women in
labor were placed under the protection of Eileithyia, or “She who
comes.” The goddess was so named because her arrival was believed
to enable birth to take place. Artemis, herself a virgin who rigorously
shunned sexual intercourse, was also prominent in the birthing
ritual. It was necessary to appease the goddess’s anger by invoking
her in prayer before delivery and by dedicating clothing in her
shrine afterward. An olive branch was hung on the front door when
a boy was born and a tuft of wool in the case of a girl, perhaps as an
indication that the house was polluted, as later sources claim. The
walls were smeared with pitch, evidently to prevent the pollution
from seeping into the community.
The Newborn Baby Officially Enters the Home
On the fifth day after birth, the newborn baby was ceremoniously
introduced into the home and placed under the protection
of the household deities. The ceremony, which was called the Amphidromia
or “Running around,” was so named because the child’s
father would run around the domestic hearth holding his infant in
his arms in order to consecrate it to Hestia, goddess of the hearth.
Relatives would bring gifts for the newborn called optêria (see
p. 76), so named in this case because this was the first time they had
set eyes upon the child, including charms for protection against bad
luck or the evil eye. On the tenth day after birth, the child would be
given his or her name. Most firstborn boys were named after their