Why Did Ancient Greek Slaves Get Into Slavery

How did Ancient Greek slaves get into slavery?
Most of the jobs in ancient Greece were performed by slaves, allowing the citizens to enjoy an extravagant and carefree life. Ancient Greek slavery was somewhat similar to American slavery with one significant difference: Ancient Greek slaves were not born into slavery. The obvious wealth gap in Greece meant that many parents could not afford to raise their children and they would sell their children into slavery. Another way that slaves were captured is from the prisoners captured during war. Once you were captured, you were at your master’s command, meaning that you could not have children or get married without your master’s permission. Slaves were often abused by their master’s if they misbehaved
and they were treated as items, more valued according to their strength, gender, age and abilities. If slaves were lucky, they were bought by slave-owners. These people believed in treating their slaves with respect and dignity. They gave them food, clothing, a comfortable bed and would occasionally allow them to keep the money they earned while performing a trade so that eventually, they could buy their freedom. When a slave-owner was dying, he had two options: allow his eldest son to inherit his slaves or set his slaves free. The first option was inevitably more common amongst regular masters however a slave-owner would often choose to free his slaves if they had served him well. Slaves were the lowest ranking people in Ancient Greece. They had few rights and were often abused. Female slaves were even worse off than male slaves as they were believed to be less intelligent and important than men. This meant that they were not allowed to leave the house apart from to perform the most basic chores and take part in religious ceremonies.