Because female slaves were literally owned by their employers, how well slaves were treated depended upon their status in the household and the temperament of their owners. As a result of her vulnerable position within the household, a female slave was often subjected to sexual exploitation and physical abuse. Any children born of master-servant liaisons were disposed of because female slaves were prohibited from rearing children.

The price one might have paid for a slave in ancient Greek times varied depending on their appearance, age and attitude. Those who were healthy, attractive, young and submissive, could sell for as much as 10 minae ($180.00). Those who were old, weak and stubborn might have sold for as little as 1/2 a Mina ($9.00). If there happened to be a large supply of slaves on the market, the price automatically went down. This usually happened after winning a large battle, when there were many prisoners of war. Imagine having a price placed on your life!

Slaves took part in all of the religious holidays, and even participated in the Great Mysteries, such as those which honored Demeter and Persephóne at Eleusis. Also, on the first day of the Anthestérion in Athens, and the Iakínthian in Sparta, as well as at other festivals in Arcadia, the slaves sat at the same tables with their masters, and were therefore referred to as omóphagoi [dinner companions]. At Epídauros, the temple to Athena belonged to the slaves, and the Great Priest of this holy shrine had to be a runaway slave, who was also a fierce fighter as well. The slave in a home took part in all of the religious observances of the household, and participated in the holidays which were held sacred by the family. At his death, he would be buried in the family tomb.

Should a slave suffer bad treatment at the hands of his master, he had the right to seek sanctuary at certain sacred places, such as the Temple of Theséus in Athens, or the Temple of the Erínyes, located beneath the Hill of Ares, and legally claim the right to be sold to another master. A decision of the court was required for a slave to be put to death. There were also special laws governing the rights and treatment of slaves besides that of sanctuary: Xenía [hospitality, which forbade mistreatment], specific laws having to do with their protection, and a law which granted them the right to own property, called éngtisis [possession of property in a foreign country]. The murder of a slave carried the same punishment as the murder of a freeborn citizen, and from the time of Solon [the great Athenian lawgiver], the beating or ill-treatment of a slave was punishable by law.

As for the talents and capabilities of slaves, we know, first of all, that many were competent doctors: practitioners who were trained along with some of the great physicians of the ancient Greek world. This became such a common phenomenon that the [Roman] emperor Domition, in the first century A.D., imposed a law forbidding the medical training of slaves because they had become too numerous. Ermíppos, the [one-eyed Athenian] writer of comedies of the second century A.D., even wrote a book about all of the distinguished authors of his time who were slaves. Some of these were Pómpylos, Persáios, Mýs, and Mónimos, philosophers and slaves of Theophrástus, Zénon, Epicúrus, and lastly, a banker from Corinth respectively. The Stoic philosopher, Epictétus, who lived and flourished in the first century A.D., was not only born a slave in Phrygia, but was disabled as well. The philosopher Pháedo [in whose honor Plato named his famous dialogue], was brought to Athens as a slave, became a devout student of Socrates after gaining his freedom, and ultimately opened his own school of philosophy in Elis. Ménippus, of Gadara, in Syria [3rd century B.C.], was a slave who was brought to Greece where he became wealthy. After buying his freedom, he studied philosophy and eventually became the originator of the serio-comic style [spouthogélion] of writing, authoring a total of thirteen books. Bion, the Borysthenite [4th/3rd centuries B.C.], was the slave of a rich rhetorician who, when he died, left everything to him. Bion had already received an excellent education provided for him by his master. After his master's death, he moved to Athens where he studied philosophy at the Perípatos (under Theophrástus) and the Academy (under Xenocrátes). He became a famous Cynic philosopher, and his writings later strongly influenced Roman satire.

Slaves were to be found in many professions, trades, and crafts. From the ancient rhetoricians, we learn that they worked as metallurgists, rope makers, pharmacists, iron workers, musical instrument makers, roof tile craftsmen, cooks, and even civil servants. From a catalogue which names 66 recently freed slaves, together with the work they did before gaining their freedom, we find farmers, merchants of flax, salt meat, vegetables, incense, and sesame. There were middle-men, shop keepers, goldsmiths, cobblers, foundry workers, lead and silver molders, metal workers, scribes, legal secretaries, engravers, and others.

Slaves also worked for the state as civil servants. These were divided into two categories: laborers and clerks. Life for the clerks was much better than it was for the laborers. As "office workers" for the state, they had the right to live in their own homes with their own furnishings. They could accumulate wealth, which became part of their personal estate. They were free to marry and to raise their children. They took part in the sacred ceremonies and processions of their respective cities. One such clerk, whose name has come down to us, was Pittalákos, who lived a prosperous life and would frequent the courts of Athens like a freeborn citizen.