Reconstructing the Lives of Urban Craftspeople in Archaic and Classical Greece

Abstract

Abstract This chapter considers the evidence available to scholars hoping to reconstruct the lives of ancient Greek urban workers, with a focus on the group of people called banausoi: non-agricultural, skilled workers who produced durable goods to make a living. It begins by reviewing the textual evidence for the role of craftworkers in Greek society. It argues that, while we may read about these workers in ancient textual sources, these sources are unlikely to allow us to reconstruct the lives of these individuals with fidelity. Instead, we may glimpse the values and voices of workers from ancient Greece most clearly by looking at the epigraphic and material records, especially the remains of workshops and workers’ tools. The chapter also explores what material evidence can reveal about the spaces where banausoi worked and the objects that surrounded them and considers what ritual and belief systems that Greek urban workers may have followed based on evidence from dedications and curse tablets in urban and rural sanctuary spaces.