Être vieux dans le monde grec. De Solon à Philopoemen. VIe-IIe s. a.C.

In the Greek world, the elderly did not form a specific social category, nor even a formal age category: there was no generational shift at a given age, applicable to the whole of a demographic cohort, leading to a new stage of life. The elderly did not form a reference group either, because universes were so segmented and end-of-life pathways so divergent. What did it mean to be old in Greece between the 6th and 2nd centuries?

To provide an answer, it is necessary to adopt a range of points of view by analyzing various sources, by considering individuals from different socio-economic backgrounds and by paying attention to gender gaps. In the domestic sphere, the material conditions imposed on the elderly resulted in comfort or need; the existence or otherwise of family relationships, both horizontal and vertical, meant protection or isolation. In this respect, old age was like a magnifying mirror of inequalities, taken to the extreme. In the community sphere, the ranks and forms of involvement of seniors in the public domain, their contributions to the political, military or religious life of cities were just as diverse: these were areas where background and gender came into play, and were highly discriminatory in terms of recognition and social utility. In the Greek world, then, there was no “average” elderly person, nor did they have a “testimonial” role, because each space of sociability was a place of construction of the elderly man or woman. 

“Being old” was both a singular and a collective experience that must be understood in each historical context. The challenge is to do justice to the entire social spectrum, to bring out the diversity of conditions, behaviors, functions, assigned places, and relationships with friends and family or peers.