The compressed knowledge about the germ cell of Greek society in one volume. House and family form the most important basic unit of society. Winfried Schmitz provides an exciting overview of the structures and economic foundations of the family in ancient Greece, starting with the Homeric epics and the archaic period, through classical Athens and Sparta, to house and family in the Hellenistic period. He describes childhood and education, age of marriage and marriage strategies, the position of women in marriage, inheritance of property, the status of elderly parents and slaves in the household, as well as the integration of households into society and political structures. The second part highlights research trends and controversies. The third part consists of an extensive systematically organized bibliography.