Thomas R. Martin, An Overview of Classical Greek History from Mycenae to Alexander

---

---

Literacy and the Poor

Poorer girls and boys learned a trade and perhaps some rudiments of literacy¹ by helping their parents in their daily work, or, if they were fortunate, by being apprenticed to skilled crafts producers. The level of literacy in Athenian society outside the ranks of the prosperous was quite low by modern standards, with only a small minority of the poor able to do much more than perhaps sign their names. The inability to read presented few insurmountable difficulties for most people, who could find someone to read aloud to them any written texts they needed to understand. The predominance of oral rather than written communication meant that people were accustomed to absorbing information by ear² (those who could read usually read out loud) and very fond of songs, speeches, narrated stories, and lively conversation.