The Difference Between Labor and Work in Ancient Greece

The distinction between labor and work was an important one in ancient Greece. Credit: Greek Reporter illustration

The motion of work in ancient Greece had a clear distinction between working for one’s self and working for someone else.

This subtle but crucial distinction between types of work is something modern individuals need to revisit to better understand the deeper meaning of their careers.

Was work ”pain” in ancient Greece?

Ponos (πόνος), in ancient Greece, referred to physically exhausting, often degrading work (labor) performed under compulsion. This is much closer to what we define today as ”work” as in one’s job.

Originally, the term “ponos,” which translates in modern Greek as “pain,” was associated with enslaved people, women, and lower-class free men who had to do whatever was necessary to survive.

The tasks of ponos included farming, mining, and hauling goods—activities essential for the survival of the poor. These stood in direct contradiction to work undertaken by choice.

Ancient philosophers like Xenophon and Aristotle viewed ponos as something that weakened both body and spirit, as it was not something someone chose to do, but was necessary.

Gravestone of a Greek high-status woman with her slave attendant. Credit: mharrsch, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 2.0

Aristotle argued that wage labor (what we now call a ‘job’) was “illiberal,” something similar to slavery, as it deprived citizens of their much-needed leisure (schole) required for civic participation.

In Hesiod’s “Works and Days”, ponos is viewed in an even more negative light: it was perceived as a curse unleashed by Pandora, linked to ”evils and quarrels.”

Those perspectives also align with the Biblical view of labor in Genesis, where Adam is condemned to toil: “Cursed is the ground because of you; through painful toil you will eat food from it all the days of your life” (Genesis 3:17) and “By the sweat of your brow, you will eat your food until you return to the ground” (Genesis 3:19).

Interestingly enough, in direct contrast to ponos, ergon was another form of work that was celebrated, when performed by free people, such as landowners, who wanted to take care of their land.

Linguistically, ponos shares roots with the Greek word “penia”, which means poverty. This linguistic detail tells us a lot about how ancient Greeks perceived this form of labor, associating it with an inability to enjoy life and therefore being of a lower status.

Plato, while acknowledging ponos as necessary for the lower classes in his ideal state (Republic), criticized forced labor as soul-crushing: ”A free soul ought not to pursue any study slavishly; for while bodily labors performed under constraint do not harm the body, nothing that is learned under compulsion stays with the mind.” (Mέχρι μὲν γὰρ ἥβης κουφότερα γυμνάσια προσοιστέον, τὴν βίαιον τροφὴν καὶ τοὺς πρὸς ἀνάγκην πόνους ἀπείργοντας, ἵνα μηδὲν ἐμπόδιον ᾖ πρὸς τὴν αὔξησιν.)

Participation in civic matters was a form of work for many ancient Greeks, who believed this was their way of promoting the common good. Credit: Philipp Foltz (1852), Wikimedia Commons, Public Domain

The notion of Ergon in Ancient Greece

Ergon (ἔργον), in contrast, was another word for work that included the elements of skilled craftsmanship, agricultural management, and intellectual pursuits.

Rooted in what the ancient Greeks called techne (τέχνη), meaning expertise, it implied that the person who performed an ergon had the autonomy to do so and was not obliged by the need for survival to complete it. The completion of ergon also contributed to autarkeia, the self-sufficiency that was ideal for free male citizens.

Hesiod, for example, praised ergon in his ”Works and Days” as a virtuous competition among artisans and farmers that was important for society as it drives prosperity for all.

Plato expanded upon this notion, defining ergon as something that includes roles vital to the mental efforts of the guardians of the polis (city). He also included the craftsmen’s trades and even philosophical inquiry into the definition of ergon.

In the Republic, ergon is used to describe one’s expertise, for example, a carpenter’s “work” to build a rudder. However, Plato’s elitism was evident as he dismissed manual artisans as “banausic” (vulgar).

The distinction between ponos and ergon showed how the ancient Greek elite tried to avoid ponos. The elites in Athens, for example, were known for trying to delegate manual labor (ponos) to non-citizens, like slaves.

At the same time, they continued to engage in politics for themselves—a form of work they regarded as a selfless duty.

 

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