The classical idea of leisure: Cultural ideal or class prejudice?

The field of leisure studies routinely has adopted the conventional account that ancient Greek citizens embraced leisure as a cultural ideal while des pising work as slavish and degrading Described in the works of such aristoc rats as Plate and Aristotle, this ideal is most typically attributed to the democratic city-state of Athens during its classical period (fourth and fi fth centuries BC). Evidence challenging this explanation has prompted a rea ssessment of attitudes toward work and leisure in ancient Athens. Perusing documents that shed light on the perspectives of leisured aristocrats and w orking-class citizens this study investigates the classical conception of l eisure in its sociopolitical context. Ideal and ideology were blended in At henian views toward work and leisure. In particular; theories of work and l eisure were politicized by aristocrats in an effort to exclude ordinary cit izens from membership in the city-state. Working citizens were not passive recipients of the aristocratic view, however; but instead responded with a perspective of their own that both challenged and accepted the aristocratic ideal. In correcting the record, this study points to the need to place le isure theory in historical context.