The Athenian Oikos and the Kalos Kagathos Behavior

This chapter deals with the organization of the Athenian oikos, i.e., the family, the family’s property, and the house. It explains the relationships between the family members, such as between parents and children, describing their responsibilities, rights, and obligations. It describes the oikos as a laboratory where various types of social behaviors were formed and developed. It also describes the morals of society, by explaining that the highest duty of both the family and society as a whole was to create virtuous citizens who would be imbued by high moral standards, such as honesty, patriotism, and altruism. These morals could ensure a good quality and dignified life for the members of the society as a whole. This chapter introduces us to the general behavioral role models of the Athenians of the time. This is important because it provides an image of the Athenian society and indirectly explains the reasons why the Athenians shaped their economic relations in the ways that can be further explained extensively in the following chapters.