The paper was read as an introduction to the seminar. The main narrative sources are Hesiodos, Xenophon and Theophrastos. Not a few vase paintings might be included as well as the more or less casual hints to agriculture in the ancient litterature. The monuments comprise inscriptions and archaeological remains. One of the most difficult problems is to establish to what extent the sources are representative. One should avoid to supplement the ty evidence by introducing information from the Roman writers. The interpretation is difficult because you are to combine pieces of intormation which are difficult to compare. Questions of the type "did the ancient Greeks live in dispersed farmsteads or in nuclaeted settlements ?", "how large was the nomal cultivated unit ?", "did the Greeks use biennial fallow ?", "what was the rôle of slaves ?" etc. are not easily answered, but in the following papers one will find many of the problems discussed.