Because of their physical differences, the Greeks believed slaves to be better suited to take care of the duties involved in running a household. For the most part, male slaves would most likely be responsible for the heavy outdoor work such as plowing the fields, collecting wood, and tasks that required extended amounts of time outdoors, for the Greeks felt "a man naturally is strong of body, and capable of enduring the fatigue of heat and cold, of traveling and undergoing the harsher exercise; so that it seems as if nature had appointed him to look after the affairs without doors." The mistress of the household primarily would look after women slaves, and would see to it that "bread (would) be made in the house, and all kinds of meats (would) be dressed; likewise spinning, carding and weaving" by the women slaves would be carried out in a diligent and economical fashion (Bradley,1727). .
Despite the fact that the Greek slaves did not even have rights over their own bodies (for they were not even allowed to have children unless permitted by their master as a reward for good behavior), the relationship between the Greek slaves and masters was unique in that a certain degree of trust and respect was established between them. For instance, it was the responsibility of each individual slave to look after the tools they used for each task. As Ischomachus tells Socrates "we instructed every servant respectively where every thing belonging to his office might be found, and directed them carefully to observe, that every implement under their care should be put into the same place where they took it from ." (Bradley,1727). Because there was this trust between a master and a slave, the immediate presence of the master was not necessary at all times around his or her slave.
In fact, not only did the Greek masters often entrust valuable resources unto their slaves, it was actually a goal of Greek slave owners to be well liked by them.