Moral Inferiors

Associated with the compulsion to classify all men as either free or slave, came a tendency to assimilate this polarity to others: Greek and barbarian, intelligent and stupid, superior and inferior—and from there the shift to ‘good and bad’ was unavoidable. Slaves appear as frequently in Greek romances as they no doubt did in the households of the wealthy members of the educated elite who read these works for their entertainment. The moral inferiority must imply that slaves are unworthy of the higher aspirations of human beings, from which they must be formally excluded. Slaves naturally helped their masters when these went on a campaign, by carrying heavy equipment, preparing food, and assisting the wounded. Slaves were generally allowed to participate on equal terms in religious ceremonies; but some cults treated slaves as unclean and excluded them, for specific reasons.

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