<P> Non-slave workers were paid by assignment, since the workshops could not guarantee regular work . In Athens, those who worked on state projects were paid one drachma per day, no matter what craft they practiced . The workday generally began at sunrise and ended in the afternoon . </P> <P> The potter's work consisted of selecting the clay, fashioning the vase, drying and painting and baking it, and applying varnish . Part of the production went to domestic usage (dishes, containers, oil lamps) or for commercial purposes, and the rest served religious or artistic functions . Techniques for working with clay have been known since the Bronze Age; the potter's wheel is a very ancient invention . The ancient Greeks did not add any innovations to these processes . </P> <P> The creation of artistically decorated vases in Greece had strong foreign influences . For instance, the famed black - figure style of Corinthian potters was most likely derived from the Syrian style of metalworking . The heights to which the Greeks brought the art of ceramics is therefore due entirely to their artistic sensibilities and not to technical ingenuity . </P> <P> Pottery in ancient Greece was most often the work of slaves . Many of the potters of Athens assembled between the agora and the Dipylon, in the Kerameikon . They most often operated as small workshops, consisting of a master, several paid artisans, and slaves . </P>

What is the economy in athens based on