CHAPTER IX

THE CHILD IN GREECE

=Physical Characteristics.= The country of ancient Greece, as is modern

Greece, was a small peninsula in Southeastern Europe, projecting into

the Mediterranean Sea. It was a mountainous country, with no navigable

rivers, and a broken coast line with many good harbors. There were

differences of climate, varying from the excessive summer heat of the

plains on the coast to the chilling atmosphere of the uplands, and yet

as a whole the climate tended to be mild and even, with a bracing and

pure atmosphere. Although it does seem that the spirit of freedom and

independence was innate with the Greeks, yet the character of the

country and the climate tended to emphasize these innate propensities

and to bring human culture to a high development.

=The People.=. In studying the people of ancient Greece, there are found

two countries, although in neighboring sections, who were almost the

opposite in character and the like. These were Sparta and Athens. In

both these countries there were three classes. In Sparta there were

first the citizens, who were the owners and the rulers of the land; in

the second class were the _periaeci_, who lived in the surrounding towns

and country, and although free yet they paid large sums to the citizens

for the use of the lands and thus largely supported the Spartans; the

third class were the _helots_, who were serfs or slaves and who did all

the menial work for the citizens. The first class in Athens were the

citizens, who controlled the country and who reserved to themselves the

sole right of government and the making of laws; the second class were

the aliens, who had settled in Athens for the purpose of engaging in

trade or commerce, but who had no part in politics or administration;

the third class were the slaves.

The Athenian and the Spartan were almost the opposite in character. The

Athenians were refined, patriotic and brave, but at the same time fickle

and changing. The Spartans were as patriotic and brave, or even braver,

than the Athenians, but they were fixed and knew no change. The

Athenians cultivated letters and the finer arts, while the Spartans

practiced rigid, practical utilitarianism. The Athenians engaged in

employments and amusements, but the Spartans did but little work, had

few amusements, and spent their time mostly in military training. The

Spartans were cruel in disposition, as was shown in their bearing toward

the helots or slaves, as they greatly oppressed them and often put them

to death; while the Athenians treated their slaves kindly.

=The Home.= In the early times the private buildings both in Athens and

in Sparta were simple, but in later times the houses became larger and

more splendid. Yet there were, perhaps, not the extravagances as in

other countries, for in Greece much of the time was spent outdoors and

away from the home, so that public buildings flourished and they were

splendidly built rather than were the private houses.

In the cities the houses were built together, with only party-walls

between them. They were narrow in front but extended back to quite a

depth. They were, as a rule, built on the street but sometimes there was

a small space in front. The door opened out on to the street, instead of

inward, and it was a custom for any one going out to knock on the door

to avoid opening out against some one passing along the street.

The walls of the houses were a framework of wood, sun-dried brick, or

common stone, and covered with stucco. The roofs generally were flat,

made of beams laid close together and covered with cement. In the early

period the walls were plain on the inside and the ground served for a

floor, but later there were decorated walls and mosaic floors.

There were two principal divisions in the interior of the houses, the

one for the men and the other for the women, the women's apartments

being back of the men's. The rooms were built around one or more open

courts, by means of which light and air were admitted to the house. The

homes were furnished with chairs and tables and couches and lamps and

other household furniture and the kitchens were provided with pots and

pans and bowls and sieves and many other articles.

=Girls and Women.= In the heroic age of Greece, women were accorded much

freedom. Yet it would seem that their lot was not much above that found

with women in savagery. They had the heavy household cares and duties of

savage women. They had the management of the provisions--the grinding

of the grain, the preparing of the meals, etc. They had to look after

the clothing, doing the spinning and the weaving and the making of the

garments. They carried the heavy burdens of domestic life along with the

care of the children. Yet the women were well respected and had high

standing with the men of that time.

In Sparta the state was everything. Strong and vigorous men were needed

to protect the state and so must be provided for military life, and the

mothers who were to bear them must be strong and courageous. The girls

and women were allowed much greater freedom than in other parts of

Greece. The girls received vigorous training, such as was given to the

boys, having contests among themselves and even sometimes with the boys.

In some of these contests the girls had to divest themselves of their

apparel and appear thus before the public. This coming in contact with

the males, the great freedom allowed to them, and the vigorous training

did not spoil the purity of the girls, for adultery was scarcely known

in Sparta. Nor did the training impair their physical appearance, as the

Spartan women were noted for their beauty of person, although on account

of the vigorous physical training this beauty was somewhat of a

masculine type.

Women in Athens were treated quite differently to what they were in

Sparta. There was seemingly a contempt by the men for the women and

especially so among the leaders and rulers. "The most enlightened of the

Greeks limited the duties of a good wife, housewife, and mother, to the

following points: 1. That she should be faithful to her husband. 2. That

she should go abroad and expose herself to the view of strangers as

little as possible. 3. That she should take care of what the husband

acquired, and spend it with frugality; and, 4. That she should pay

maternal attention to the younger children of both sexes, and keep an

incessantly watchful eye upon her grown-up daughters."[155]

In Athens the women were closely watched and carefully guarded. They

were usually placed in the back part of the house and in the highest

rooms, and for the most part the women and girls passed their time in

the apartments allotted to them. There was no intercourse between young

men and young women. Women were considered men's inferiors and they were

thought little better than the slaves and they had but little more

influence with the men. Woman was looked upon as an entirely lower

being intellectually than man, and so not a fit companion for him in

public life. When men outside the household were present in the home,

the women were expected to seclude themselves. When a dinner was being

given the company consisted entirely of men and the wife kept herself

and her children in the women's quarters. The young women rarely went

from home. Even if it was necessary for them to appear in public

religious ceremonies, they did not take part in common with the other

sex but acted apart from them.

Thus the training of the Athenian girl and that of the Spartan girl were

quite in contrast and while the Athenian girl grew up to be a pale,

slender lady, but little versed in the ways of the world, the Spartan

girl grew up to be a vigorous, robust, healthy woman, ready even to take

part in public debate if necessary. Yet there was at least one class of

women in Athens not secluded, for "in the London market of Billingsgate

it is the fishwomen who have been notorious for abusive language; at

Athens it was the bread-women."[156]

A discussion of the women of Greece could not be complete without

including the much discussed but little understood class known as the

_Hetairai_, the stranger-women of Athens. Whether they were simply

courtesans or whether they were women seeking freedom from the

restraints and seclusion of the wife or whether they were both

courtesans and seeking freedom and education, they certainly exercised a

remarkable influence in Greece.

There were two classes of women at Athens, the first class being the

wives and mothers, the citizen-women of Athens, and the other class

being the stranger-women. Athens did not exclude strangers and indeed it

was an attractive place to foreigners. "The city itself was full of

attractions for the stranger, with its innumerable works of art, its

brilliant dramatic exhibitions, its splendid religious processions, its

gay festivals, its schools of philosophy, and its keen political

life."[157] Although they did not exclude strangers from the city, yet

they did exclude them from governing citizenship. Nor was a citizen,

male or female, allowed to marry a stranger and severe penalties were

inflicted on those who broke this law. Since the stranger-women could

not marry Athenian men, they had to gain their companionship by other

means. The citizen-women, the native women of Athens, were not allowed

the company of men nor were they given high accomplishments. "The names

of these wives are not to be found in history. But the influence of the

Companions came more and more into play. Almost every famous man, after

this date, has one Companion with whom he discusses the pursuits and

soothes the evils of his life. Plato had Archeanassa, Aristotle

Herpyllis, Epicurus Leontium, Isocrates Metaneira, Menander Glycera, and

others in like manner. And some of them attained the highest

positions.... Some were renowned for their musical ability, and a few

could paint. They cultivated all the graces of life; they dressed with

exquisite taste; they took their food, as a comic poet remarks, with

refinement, and not like the citizen women, who crammed their cheeks,

and tore away at the meat. And they were witty. They also occupied the

attention of historians."[158] "Thus arose a most unnatural division of

functions among the women of those days. The citizen-women had to be

mothers and housewives--nothing more; the stranger-women had to

discharge the duties of companions, but remain outside the pale of the

privileged and marriageable class."[159]

The two most noted of the hetairai were Aspasia and Phryne. "Phryne, the

most beautiful woman that ever lived, attracted the eyes of all Greece;

Apelles painted her, and Praxiteles made her the model for the Cnidian

Aphrodite, the most lovely representation of woman that ever came from

sculptor's chisel."[160] "Aspasia, the beautiful, accomplished, and

highly gifted woman, a native of Miletus, first the mistress and

subsequently the wife of Pericles, exercised an influence and a power in

Greece very greatly superior to any ever exercised there by any other

woman. She was endowed with a mind more beautiful than her beautiful

form. Her genius drew around her all those who had a taste for the

beautiful, or a desire to cultivate their minds. At her house,

eloquence, politics and philosophy were daily discussed, and ladies of

the highest rank resorted thither to acquire some of the accomplishments

by which she was distinguished. Large concessions must certainly be

made to the mind that could be a fit companion for Pericles, and could

teach rhetoric to Socrates."[161]

=Marriage.= In most cases Greek marriage was not an affair of the heart,

for young people had but little opportunity to be with one another for

love-making. Marriage for the man was rather a matter of convenience,

for the purpose of the continuation of his family. This was a duty he

owed to himself and to the state, for the state must have citizens for

its perpetuation. To the Greek public life meant everything, the home

counted but little. The wife's duties were considered to be the

attending to household affairs and the bearing of children.

Marriage had to be with the consent of the parents. The young woman had

no control over her person as she was under the charge of her father,

and upon his death of a brother, and in case of no brother then the

grandfather, and last her guardian. The father not only had power over

his daughter's marriage in his lifetime but also after his death as he

could bequeath her by will. And yet more, for upon his deathbed he could

betroth his wife to another person and even he could bequeath her in his

will to another.

In order for the children to be legitimate both parties had to be

citizens of the state, and equality of birth and wealth were the chief

considerations. The man could not marry in the direct line of his own

descent, yet he could marry his half-sister on his father's side, which

was rarely done. There was usually some years of difference in the age

of bride and groom, the young woman being from fifteen to twenty and the

young man from twenty-four to thirty. Marriages were most frequent in

the winter, January being the favorite month, and when the omens were

favorable, the most favorable being at the time at which there happened

to be a conjunction of the sun and the moon. The selections and

arrangements were usually made by the father or the guardian but often a

professional matchmaker was employed, who was well informed in regard to

the marriageable young people. When the marriage was determined upon,

the betrothal took place, which was made by the legal guardian of the

young woman and in the presence of friends and relatives of both

parties, the dowry of the wife being agreed upon at the time.

In ancient Greece the lover would often write the name of his loved one

on walls and columns and carve it on trees. He would even write the

beloved name on the leaves of the trees. The lover would send verses to

his lady love. He would decorate her door with flowers and garlands. He

would wear a wreath on his head awry or wear it untied, as a token of

his being in love. Sometimes the lover would make an image of wax, call

it by the name of his loved one, and place it near a fire, as the heat

was supposed to melt the hard heart of her he loved as it melted her wax

image.

Love potions were in common use as were also antidotes to love. "Some

herbs were made use of for this purpose, also insects bred from putrid

matter; the lamprey, the lizard, the brains of a calf, the hair on the

extremity of the wolf's tail, with some of his secret parts, and the

bones of the left side of a toad eaten by ants. The bones on the right

side were supposed to cause hatred. Besides these, were also used the

blood of doves, the bones of snakes, the feathers of screech owls, and

bands of wool twisted upon a wheel, more especially such as had been

bound about a person that hanged himself.... The Greeks also professed

to have the means of allaying the passion of love, at least of that

species of it which originated from magical incantations. The antidotes

were of two kinds. The one consisted of those substances which possessed

some natural virtue, to which the production of the effect might be

attributed, as the herbs which were supposed enemies to generation. The

other included all such as wrought the cure by some occult or mystical

power, and by the assistance of demons. As instances of this latter, may

be cited the sprinkling of the dust in which a mule had rolled herself,

and the confining of toads in the hide of a beast lately slain. Another

method of curing love, was to wash in the water of the river

Selemnus."[162]

In the Homeric time in Greece, the suitor paid the father for his bride,

thus purchasing her. But in later times this was entirely changed and

the bride was expected to bring a dowry with her. Among the wealthy this

dowry was supposed to consist partly in cash and partly in clothes,

jewelry, and slaves. The husband had to give security for it, as in case

of divorce it was returned to the bride or to her parents and in case of

her death it did not go to the husband but to the nearest of kin. Where

there was a daughter of a poor, deserving citizen, and especially if her

ancestors had been serviceable to the state, she was provided a dowry

by the state. Sometimes the dowry was given to such a girl by a number

of citizens. The dowry was supposed to give the wife better standing and

thus bring more respect from the husband and greater freedom. A woman

might carry so great dowry to her husband as to make her the stronger

partner and so be able to have her husband in submission to her and her

money.

The day of the wedding having arrived, offerings were made to the

deities that protected marriage, the oath of fidelity was taken, and the

father declared that he gave his daughter to the man. The bride and

bridegroom both were bathed, at Athens the water being taken from a

famous fountain, and they were dressed in their wedding-garments, both

bride and bridegroom being richly adorned and wearing upon their heads

garlands of various herbs and flowers. The bride was then led from her

home and placed in a chariot between the bridegroom and his best man.

They then drove slowly through the streets, the bride's mother following

them and carrying the wedding torches, kindled at the parental hearth,

and a procession of relatives and friends followed. At the bridegroom's

home the axle-tree of the chariot was broken or burned, to designate

that the bride having found a new home would never return to her old

home. The bridegroom's house was decked with garlands and brilliantly

illuminated. The couple were met by his mother bearing torches, and

surrounded by a group of dancing-girls they came to the door, and at the

threshold the bride made a pretense of not wishing to enter, when the

bridegroom seized her and carried her inside, seeing that her feet did

not touch the sill. All then partook of a feast, consisting of wines,

meats, sweetmeats, and wedding-cake, the women with the veiled bride

among them sitting apart from the men. The final ceremony consisted in

the eating of a quince by husband and wife together, to signify,

perhaps, because of the bitter-sweetness, that they should partake of

the sweets and bitters of life together, our "for better or worse." Then

the guests departed and the couple entered the bridal chamber, where for

the first time the bride unveiled herself to her husband. At the last

the bridal hymn was sung before their door by a chorus of maidens. The

next morning the chorus returned and saluted the married couple with

songs. This was the day of "unveiling," as the bride unveiled herself,

and the newly married couple spent the entire day in receiving visits

with salutations and presents from their friends.

"The marriage ceremonies of the Spartans differed from those of all the

other Greeks. Instead of having a public celebration, everything was

there done in as private a manner as possible. When everything had been

settled between the parties, the bridegroom at night made a secret visit

to his bride at her father's house. Before day he returned to his

comrades, at the gymnasia, and never, for a long time, visited his wife

except at night and by stealth, as it was accounted a disgrace to be

seen coming out of his wife's apartment. They sometimes lived in this

clandestine manner for years, not unfrequently having children by their

wives before they ever saw their faces by daylight."[163]

As citizenship was limited in the states of Greece, it became highly

important that the citizens should perpetuate the state by marrying and

having children. So the state would encourage marriage and make it

honorable and likewise almost compulsory and unmarried men would not be

wanted nor would marriage deferred till late in life be considered the

best for the state. In both Athens and Sparta bachelors were subject to

a legal penalty. In Athens those who held public office and were

entrusted with public affairs had to be married, to have children, and

to have estates in land. Sparta was quite severe on the bachelors. If a

man delayed marriage after a specified age, he subjected himself to a

number of penalties. One was for once each winter to go naked around the

market-place and sing a song ridiculing his bachelorhood. Such men were

not permitted to be present at the contests wherein young women engaged

in a nude condition. Upon the celebration of a certain solemnity, the

bachelors were dragged around the altar by the women who beat them with

their fists. When these men became old they were not accorded that high

respect which the young of Sparta was accustomed to pay to the aged.

Monogamy was early established in Greece as the basis of society. There

were some instances of polygamy or rather concubinage in the early ages

and on some occasions where large number of men were lost in war or from

other causes. This might have been resorted to in order to replenish the

state but this was of rare occurrence.

In early times in Greece divorce was in the hands of the husband and he

could exercise it whenever he felt that he was justified but in later

times this right was somewhat restricted. The Spartans seldom divorced

their wives. In Athens divorce was easy for the man, but a bill of

divorce was required to be presented to the magistrate in which the

reasons for the divorce were set forth. They would, no doubt, have been

more frequent had it not been that in divorce the husband had to restore

the dowry to the wife or pay her a sum each month for her support. For a

man to divorce his wife was considered a great dishonor to her. It was

difficult for a woman to procure a divorce, Athens being more favorable

to women in this respect than the other states of Greece. But here she

had to present a bill of grievances to the magistrate and it required

his action before separation could take place. "The terms expressing the

separation of men and women from each other were different. The men were

said to dismiss their wives; to loose them from their obligations; to

cast them out; to send them away; to put them away. If a woman left her

husband, it was termed simply to depart from him."[164]

=Dress.= The articles of dress worn by the Greeks were of two kinds--one

drawn on or got into, a tunic, called by the general term _endymata_;

the other thrown over the person, a mantle, known as the _epiblemata_.

Of the first kind the _chiton_ was the representative garment, which was

worn next to the body. The chiton in its usual form was an oblong piece

of cloth and thrown about the body in such a way as to leave an opening

for one arm to go through, while the two ends of the open side were

fastened over the other shoulder by means of a buckle or clasp.

Sometimes the chiton was made with two sleeves, with one sleeve, or with

short sleeves. In some cases, as with workmen, it was thrown across the

left shoulder with the right arm and shoulder entirely bare, so as to be

left free for action. The chiton was fastened about the waist by a

ribbon or girdle. The representative of the epiblemata was known as the

_himation_. This was also an oblong piece of cloth, one corner of which

was thrown over the left shoulder in front, drawn across the back to the

right side, sometimes below the right arm and sometimes over it, and

then it was thrown again over the left shoulder.

Boys commonly wore only the chiton. The young men, from the age of

seventeen to twenty, called the _ephebi_, instead of the himation wore

the _chlamys_, which was an oblong cloth, thrown over the left shoulder

and the open ends were fastened over the right shoulder with a clasp.

The himation of Sparta was smaller than that at Athens, scarcely

covering the person, and which was called the _tribon_. The women wore

the chiton and the himation and in addition they wore another garment

over the chiton, called the _crocotos_, which sometimes had sleeves and

was of a rich purple or saffron color and frequently had a broad border

of embroidery. The Doric maidens usually wore but a single loose woolen

garment. It was without sleeves and fastened over the shoulders with

clasps. It usually extended about half way to the knees, it was worn

with or without a girdle, and the left side was left open, which might

or might not have been fastened with a buckle or clasp.

The garments were made of linen, cotton, or wool, and in later times

silk also was used. White was, perhaps, the prevailing color and yet

many colors were used, as, purple, red, green, yellow, gray, brown,

olive, azure, cherry, and changeable colors. If the entire dress was not

colored, it might have had colored borders, embroidery, or stripes,

worked in or sewed on, and sometimes there were fringes or tassels. The

undergarment, in time of mourning, was sometimes black.

The Greeks, both men and women, were especially careful of the hair. The

men wore their hair and beard long and they had the hair curled or

braided and bound up in a large bunch on top of the head or it might be

arranged along the forehead and kept in place with golden grasshoppers.

Dandies went to extremes and let their hair grow till it fell down on

the shoulders. Most of the men had thick hair. In the cities the men

usually went bareheaded but sometimes they wore hats or caps, when at

work and on journeys.

The Grecian women for the most part had long, rich hair and, naturally,

they took even more care of it than did the men with their hair.

Sometimes it was allowed to fall loosely down the back; sometimes the

hair was combed over the back in waving lines and a ribbon tied around

the head; it might be that the front hair was combed back over the

temples and ears and tied at the back of the head in a knot, held in

place with hairpins of ivory, bronze, bone, gold, or silver; and there

were many other ways of keeping the hair.

The hair of children was carefully attended to. The girls' hair was

often twisted into artistic curls and then drawn together over the

forehead and held by a fancy comb. In Sparta the boys' hair was kept

short till their majority had been reached, when it was allowed to grow

long. Among the Athenians the hair of the boys was permitted to grow

till they had reached maturity, when it was cut off and burned to some

deity, after which it was allowed to grow long again.

There were oils, perfumes, ointments, and essences for the hair.

Curling-irons were in use for curling the hair. Powders were used on the

hair and especially the kind that gave it an auburn color. There were

dyes for the hair and they were well resorted to. Nets were used by the

ladies to enclose their hair, and veils of a light fabric and of

transparent texture were worn. On festive occasions wreaths and garlands

were worn by both men and women.

Among the Greeks the hands were not usually covered, gloves rarely being

worn. The feet were not covered in the house and even sometimes in the

street there was no covering to the feet. There was a great variety of

foot-wear from the simple sandal to the high boot, the three main kinds

being the sandal, the shoe, and the boot.

The sandal was the simplest form of foot-covering. This consisted of a

sole of wood or leather, or it might be two pieces of leather with a

piece of cork between. This was held on the foot by means of a strap or

thong passing between the big toe and the next and running back along

the top of the foot and fastened to another strap going over the instep

and another that passed round the back of the heel. Occasionally

slippers were worn, which among the women were ornamented with needle

work.

From the sandal was evolved the half shoe, covering the front part of

the foot, and then the shoe, covering all the foot, which arose from the

addition of a closed heel and smaller or larger side-pieces sewed to the

sole. The working-people of both town and country had the soles studded

with iron nails, while the dandy in the city might have had gold or

silver nails in his shoes. The women regulated their stature, increasing

or diminishing the height, by means of high or low heels and soles of

different thickness. The children at Athens began to wear shoes at an

early age. In the boot the covering reached to the calf of the leg, open

in front, and fastened with laces.

In the footwear was where novelty and taste was shown by the Greeks.

There was fashion in shoes and they often were named for those who

originated the styles. They were very careful about neatness of fit and

appearance. It was not considered good taste to wear patched or mended

shoes. Black, white, and colored shoes were worn. Blacking was used,

which was a kind of polish. The material was usually leather but felt

also was used and slippers were sometimes made of linen. Socks and

stockings seem to have been worn, but they were not in common use.

In the heroic times of Greece, as described by Homer, men wore earrings,

necklaces, armlets, fancy girdles, hair ornaments, and finger-rings. In

later times all these were discarded except the finger-rings, and these

were usually signet rings. The women continued to use all kinds of

ornaments. They wore both signet and jeweled rings on their fingers,

some of the latter being set with beautiful and costly jewels; they wore

necklaces of many patterns, varying from the simple ring to elaborate

pendants; they wore armlets, bracelets, and anklets, usually in the form

of spiral snakes; they wore a diadem or fillet to keep the hair in

place; they wore ornamented girdles. The ornaments mentioned above were

usually of gold and adorned with gems, as they used many kinds of

precious stones.

The ladies dyed their hair and bleached it and increased its amount by

adding other hair; they used tooth-powder; they blackened their

eyebrows; a dark complexion was whitened and one too pale was rouged;

their lips were touched with vermillion. To aid in this decorating, they

had mirrors, which were made of bronze and usually circular, either

without a handle or with one richly adorned.

The ladies had parasols, much like the ones at present, which could open

and shut by means of wires, and which they carried themselves or had

servants to hold over them. They had fans of peacocks' feathers or of

thin light wood. Canes were used by the men both in Sparta and Athens,

which were mostly of great length and with crook handles.

The ladies of Old Greek times well understood how to adorn, enhance, and

remodel the human figure. As was stated above, they hung on to the

figure all kinds of ornaments--rings, necklaces, earrings, bracelets,

etc.; they could curl and dye and increase the amount of hair; they

painted and powdered the cheeks and eyebrows and lips; they knew how to

increase or diminish the stature by means of the heels and soles of the

shoes; and they knew the art of enlarging or diminishing the figure by

means of corsets and padding. Not only did they know all these things,

but also they understood how to display to best advantage any part of

the figure that was beautiful, as, a woman having pretty white teeth

knew how and when to laugh to best display them and the handsome mouth.

=Food.= In the earlier times of Greece, when the food supply was limited

to a narrow territory, there was frugality and little variety. As

commerce increased the food supply became greater and of a varied

character, and yet the Greeks were for the most part frugal and

temperate.

There were usually three meals a day--a light breakfast, a heavier meal

near midday, while the principal meal was toward the close of the day.

When the family ate alone, the father reclined on a couch, the mother

sat on a chair near him, and the children sat about them, the younger

perhaps on the mother's lap or on the couch by the father.

The bread was made from wheat and barley and also from rye, millet,

spelt, and rice. The bread sold by the bread-women in Athens had a big

reputation all over Greece. Among their cakes was one made of wheat and

honey, another of rice, cheese, eggs, and honey, and a third of cheese,

eggs, and garlic. Beef, mutton, goat's flesh, and pork, were the most

common meats. Poultry was abundant and eggs were used in various ways.

There was plenty of wild game, as, the partridge, wild pigeons, wild

geese, deer, hares, and wild boars. Hot sausages were greatly liked and

they were sold on the streets of Athens and perhaps in other cities.

Fish were abundant, both fresh-water and salt, and oysters, eels,

mussels, and turtles were used as food. Among the vegetables were

lettuce, spinach, cabbage, peas, beans, radishes, onions, garlic,

turnips, and asparagus. The food was seasoned with salt, mustard,

garlic, onions, and herbs. Honey was used as sugar with us and olive-oil

and cheese took the place of butter. Of fruits there were figs, apples,

quinces, peaches, pears, plums, cherries, grapes, and of nuts there were

walnuts, almonds, and chestnuts. Wine was in great use and, perhaps,

there was no other beverage but water as milk was not often drunk except

in the country.

After being weaned, the child at Athens was fed by its mother or nurse

with milk and a weak broth, which consisted mostly of honey. The older

Athenian child no doubt had an abundance and a variety of food, but

such was not the case in Sparta. Taken to the public tables at seven

years of age, the Spartan child was given only very coarse food and not

nearly a sufficient quantity of this. He was permitted, however, to

steal more food, but if caught he was severely punished.

=Child and Parent.= One of the worst things that could happen to a Greek

in the old times was not to have children, and especially not to have a

son. Although daughters were not disliked, yet it was through the son

that the family name and the worship of family gods and ancestors could

be continued after the death of the father. There was more, for the

state considered childlessness and especially no sons in a family

unfortunate, as it was thought such a condition lessened the ties

between citizen and state. So when a boy was born into a family the

outer door was decorated with an olive branch, while for a girl a fillet

of wool was used.

"The Grecian mothers were subjected to certain rules prior to the birth

of their children. Their food and exercises were regulated either by the

laws, or by the manners and customs. In most of the Grecian states they

were required to lead a sedentary, inactive, and tranquil life. In

Sparta, however, it was directly the reverse. There, women while in that

condition were required to be abroad, engaged in their usual athletic

recreations, eating and drinking as at any other period of time."[165]

=Care of Children.= The newly born child was bathed in water and oil and

then it was put into swaddling clothes, a narrow woolen band wrapped

tightly round and round the child from the neck to the feet. In Sparta

the newly born child was bathed in water tempered with wine, as it was

considered strengthening to the child and also that such a bath could be

endured only by strong and healthy infants. The baby was not placed in

swaddling clothes in Sparta, so that it was allowed the freedom of its

limbs and body.

There were two family festivals observed with the young child. The first

was of a religious nature, the ceremony of purification, and it usually

took place on the fifth day after birth. The child was held in the arms

of the nurse, midwife, or some member of the family, who ran round a

fire blazing on the family altar, followed by the members of the

household. This was done that the child might thus be placed under the

care of the household gods. It was ended with a feast. The second

festival was that of the name-day, which occurred on the child's tenth

day after birth. This was a very important event in the life of the

child, as on this occasion the infant was acknowledged by the father as

his own and he committed himself to its rearing and education. A feast

was held, a special cake was eaten, a sacrifice was offered, chiefly to

the goddess of child-bearing, and the baby was given a name. Presents

were given to the child, among them being charms or amulets and which

were hung around its neck to protect it against magical arts and the

evil eye. The favorite name for the eldest son was that of his paternal

grandfather. Sometimes the boy was named for his father or there might

be a shortened form of the grandfather's or father's name. He might be

named for an intimate friend or for some god or for some action or

condition or experience in his father's life. Later in life the boy

might receive a nickname that would take the place of his real name.

In the earlier times the mothers both of Athens and Sparta nursed their

children, but later this was abandoned and nurses were procured.

Wet-nurses were employed for the baby's first year or a half year longer

and then a regular nurse was obtained for the child. In Sparta the

nurses were usually from the women of the perioeci, and the other

peoples of Greece preferred the Spartan nurses because they were strong

and healthy and also gave the children a vigorous training. "When the

child grew to some understanding, the nurse told stories out of the

great wealth of Greek mythology and Æsopian beast fables which

circulated among the Greeks from the earliest times; also ghost stories,

chiefly to frighten and subdue the rebellious: about the horrible

bugaboo called Mormo; about Acco, who carried off bad children in a huge

sack; or Lamia, once a princess, who ate her own and others' children;

or Empūsa, a hobgoblin that took any shape it pleased. If these stories

failed to restrain the naughty child, then the sandal was vigorously

applied."[166]

The earlier cradle was of basket-work, in the form of a flat swing. A

later one was shaped like a shoe, having handles at the sides for

carrying and suspending. In yet later times appeared cradles similar to

those of modern times. Lullabies were sung over children as now. One

cradle-song has come down to us in this form:

"Tenderly she touched their little heads and sang:

Sleep, baby boys, a sweet and healthful sleep;

Sleep on, my darlings, safely through the night,

Sleep, happy in your baby dreams, and wake

With joy to greet the morning's dawning light."[167]

=Infanticide.= If in Sparta the child survived the bath of water and

wine, then it was subjected to an inspection by a council of the state

to decide whether it was fit to live or not. The strong and robust

children were permitted to live, but the weak and sickly and deformed

children were thrown down a precipice or exposed on the mountains. If

any of the helots or perioeci should find the child and take it they

were permitted to keep it, but the child could never become a citizen of

Sparta. This custom of destroying or casting out infants was done in

order to insure strong citizens for the state. No parent was allowed to

pass judgment on the child, such was retained by the state alone.

Infanticide was practiced in Athens, but not by the state. This was

wholly in the hands of the fathers. The fathers at Athens were more

cruel than the state at Sparta, for not only weak and deformed children

were cast aside by the Athenian fathers, but this might be true of other

children, as poverty and other causes might be a motive. This was done

by placing the infant in a basket or earthenware vessel and leaving it

in a temple, or some other public place, so that some one might take it.

This was called "potting" the child. The mother usually placed a token

as a trinket or an amulet with the child so that possibly afterward the

child might be recognized. The party who might take such a child had

full power over it and might rear it as a slave or do with it as he

might wish. The father was sometimes brutal enough to take the baby to

the mountains and leave it to die from exposure or wild beasts.

"From this barbarous custom the Thebans formed an honorable exemption.

They rendered the murder of infants a capital offense. Those who were

born of parents unable to provide for their maintenance were brought up

at the public charge, but in return, when grown up, the public had a

right to their services until they were adequately compensated for what

had been expended in bringing them up."[168]

=Duties of Children.= The boy at Greece was expected to walk along the

street in a quiet manner with head bent, as a sign of modesty, and to

speak to no one. At home he was to be careful of his manners and habits.

He was to be respectful to his elders, making way for them on the

street, keeping silence in their company, and when seated to arise when

they entered the room and to give way to them. It was the duty of

children to be obedient and respectful to their parents, and to care for

them when there was need. But the parents, too, had their duty to

perform and if they neglected the children then the children were

excused from maintaining their parents.

=Adoption and Inheritance.= People not having children of their own were

permitted to adopt other children. If a man had no son he could adopt a

young man and have him marry his daughter. Those adopted were accorded

all the rights and privileges of any children. The children of an

adopted son were regarded as descendants of the adopting father and they

preserved the ancestral worship and paid homage at his tomb. If after

adopting a son the man should marry and have a son from this marriage,

then the two boys received equal shares of the property upon the death

of the father. When there were neither legitimate nor adopted sons, the

estate went to the nearest relatives. In case of death without heirs,

the estate descended to the prince, the commonwealth, or the supreme

magistrate, as the laws directed. Sometimes if the children of noted men

were left without property, they were provided for by the state.

Children could be disinherited, but such had to be done publicly before

certain judges appointed for that purpose. When a parent was unable,

through age or infirmity, to manage his estate the son could bring this

before magistrates, who had the power to turn over the property to the

son, who would care for the property and the parent.

=Toys and Playthings.= The children of ancient Greece had quite a number

of toys and playthings. The infant's first toy was a rattle, made of

metal or wood, having small stones inside. A little older they had

painted clay puppets, representing human beings and such animals as

tortoises, hares, ducks, and mother apes with their offspring. Dolls

were plentiful, made of painted clay or wax, often with movable hands

and feet. "In more than one instance we have found in children's graves

their favorite dolls, which sorrowing parents laid with them as a sort

of keepsake in the tomb."[169] The little girls had houses for their

dolls and dishes and tables. The children had ships and tops and balls

and hoops and carts and swings. They also had pet animals. Sometimes the

toys were bought and again they were made by the children, for, through

instinct and imitation, they were much given to modeling and making

things out of clay or wax or fruit-peel or leather. This is well

illustrated by a passage from "The Clouds" of Aristophanes, wherein he

has a countryman describing the precocious abilities of his son:

"He is a lad of parts, and from a child

Took wondrously to dabbling in the mud,

Whereof he'd build you up a house so natural

As would amaze you, trace you out a ship,

Make you a little cart out of the sole

Of an old shoe, mayhap, and from the rind

Of a pomegranate cut you out a frog,

You'd swear it was alive."[170]

=Games and Plays.= Just as with children in all ages and in all times,

the children of Greece had many plays and games. The little boys and

girls were in the homes together till they were seven years of age and

so they played together, but apart after that. The boys of Athens, just

as in other cities in older times and present times, played on the

streets and pestered the passers-by and kept the guardians of the peace

busy.

The little girls played with their dolls, making houses for them,

setting out dishes before them, hauling them in carts, and swinging them

and themselves in swings. In some of their plays they were joined by the

little boys and they all played in the sand and made mud-pies and had

see-saws and swings and they hitched up one another and dogs and goats

to carts. The children carried one another pick-a-pack and they rode

stick-horses and hobby-horses and they played bob-cherry and

hide-the-rope and many other such games.

They rolled hoops, walked on stilts, played running and catching games,

such as hide-and-seek; they played leapfrog, hopped and jumped, flew

kites; they played games of forfeit, odd or even, how many fingers are

held up; the older boys had the tug of war and tossed one another in

blankets. In one game the boy had to hop with one foot on a skin-bottle

filled with water and greased; they spun coins on the edges; they shot

beans from the fingers as the modern boys do marbles; they threw up five

small stones and caught them on the back of the hand, as boys do

jack-stones now; they played with dice.

There was a game in which a stone was to be so thrown into a circle as

to knock out the stones thrown into it by the other boys and itself

remain in the circle. They would sharpen one end of a heavy peg of wood

and then throw it into a softened place in the earth so that it would

stand upright and also knock out another's peg. They would blacken or

moisten one side of an oyster-shell and would call one side _day_ and

the other side _night_; then the boys would divide into two sides with

these names and would take turns in tossing the shell up into the air

and then note which side was up when it fell to the ground; the winning

side would then pursue the others and take prisoners.

The boys, then as now, found great sport with tops, playing in the house

as well as in the street. They had different kinds of tops, among them

being a humming-top. The Greek boy would tie a long string to the leg of

a beetle and then let it loose and guide its flying by holding to the

string; sometimes the boys would fix a wax splinter to the beetle's tail

and then light it before letting him loose.

The children played blind man's buff. They would bandage a boy's eyes,

who would then go about calling out, "I am hunting a brazen fly." This

would be answered by the others with, "You will hunt, but you won't

catch it." They would then run about and strike him with whips till he

caught one, who would then be blindfolded.

The Greeks were very fond of the ball and ball-playing. The balls were

of all sizes and colors. Some were stuffed with feathers and wool and

others were empty. They were made of leather and of such a size as was

suited to the kind of game to be played with them. There was tossing and

throwing and juggling with balls and also there were regular games.

Mahaffy thinks that he has discovered from the descriptions given that

they played games similar to the present foot-ball, hand-ball, and

lacrosse. He believes foot-ball is shown in this description: "The first

is played by two even sides, who draw a line in the center, on which

they place the ball. They draw two other lines behind each side, and

those who first reach the ball throw it over the opponents, whose duty

it is to catch it and return it, until one side drives the other back

over their goal line." In the following he can see hand-ball: "It

consists of making a ball bound off the ground, and sending it against a

wall, counting the number of the hops according as it was returned."

From another writer he finds lacrosse: "Certain youths, divided equally,

leave in a level place, which they have before prepared and measured, a

ball made of leather, about the size of an apple, and rush at it, as if

it were a prize lying in the middle, from their fixed starting-point (a

goal). Each of them has in his right hand a racket of suitable length

ending in a sort of flat bend, the middle of which is occupied by gut

strings, dried by seasoning, and plaited together in net fashion. Each

strives to be the first to bring it to the opposite end of the ground

from that allotted to them. Whenever the ball is driven by the rackets

to the end of the ground, it counts a victory."[171]

=Sports and Festivals.= Besides the games and plays for the younger

people noted above, there was plenty of amusement of youths and adults

in the way of sports and festivals. The gymnasium, with its palæstra,

and the festivals gave opportunity for exercises and displays of all

kinds.

The most common forms of gymnastic exercises were running, jumping,

throwing the discus, hurling the javelin, and wrestling, and they formed

what was known as the _pentathlon_. They were engaged in at the

gymnasium and at the four great national festivals. Beside these there

were boxing, the pancration, which consisted of boxing and wrestling,

horse racing, and chariot racing.

The gymnasium was originally an athletic ground where all kinds of

sports were carried on and it contained the palæstra, which was

essentially a building for the purposes of wrestling, although both

palæstra and gymnasium came later to stand for other things beside.

There were four great national festivals, known as the Olympian, the

Pythian, the Nemean, and the Isthmian. In these festivals contests in

races and athletic exercises were held and also sometimes in music,

poetry, rhetoric, and the like. The Olympic festival was held at Olympia

every four years, in the summer, and lasted for five days; the Pythian

festival was also held every four years, near Delphi, in the winter, in

the third year of every Olympiad; the Nemean festival was held at Nemea

in the second and fourth year of every Olympiad, alternating in winter

and in summer; and the Isthmian festival was held at Corinth, in the

first and third years of each Olympiad, alternating between spring and

summer. These times were thus arranged so that these national festivals

did not conflict with one another.

The Olympic festival was the most noted. It was so important that in

case of war a truce was entered into among the Grecian states, which

lasted probably for three months during the year of the festival. During

this time all people journeying to and from the festival were granted

protection, and no one was allowed to carry arms within the sacred

territory. The official prize was but a crown of wild olive, not

valuable in itself, but it was perhaps the most coveted honor in all

Greece. Only Greeks were eligible to compete and the winner received the

highest honor from his fellow-townspeople. Poets of high renown composed

odes in his honor, bronze statues were made of him, he rode home in a

triumphal chariot and sometimes a part of the wall of his town was torn

down for his entry, he was generally supported for the remainder of his

life at public expense, and his honor extended to his parents and to his

children, and even to the city of his birth.

Women were not allowed to be present at the Olympian games. The only

exception was in permitting the priestesses of Demeter to be present,

who remained in a temple built for them near the Stadium. All other

women were excluded from the territory for a certain number of days. The

penalty of trespassing on the part of a woman was death, the

transgressor being thrown from the Typæan rock. "Only one instance is

recorded of this rule being broken. Pherenice, a member of the famous

family of the Diagoridæ, in her anxiety to see her son Peisirodus

compete in the boys' boxing, accompanied him to Olympia disguised as a

trainer. In her delight at his victory she leapt over the barrier and so

disclosed her sex. The Hellanodicæ, however, pardoned her in

consideration for her father and brothers and son, all of them Olympic

victors, but they passed a decree that henceforth all trainers should

appear naked."[172] But women were permitted to enter their horses for

the chariot-race, which they did, and won some races, too. The women had

their own festival at Olympia, the Heræa, occurring every four years, at

which there were races for maidens of various years, the course being

one-sixth less than that for men.

Every Greek boy received a thorough physical training. To keep up the

spirit for such training, local festivals were held in which was given

opportunity for the boys' testing their strength and skill. In the 37th

Olympiad were first introduced contests for boys, the names of the

victors being inscribed on the records of the events before the names of

the adult victors. At first there were only two classes of competition,

for boys and for men, later a third class being added, for the beardless

or those between boys and men. It would appear as if the ages for boys

was between twelve and sixteen and for the beardless between sixteen and

twenty. The length of the race-course for boys was but half that for

adults and for the beardless it was two-thirds the full length. In the

races at the Olympic Heræa the girls were likewise divided into the

three ages. In the second century before Christ was introduced the

pancration for boys, which shows that the games were becoming more cruel

and degraded.

=Other Amusements.= The Greeks of the olden times were much given to

entertainments. These might be at the home or on the sea-shore or in the

country. They might be given by an individual, or gotten up by parties,

each one contributing his part or sharing in the expense. It was not

uncommon to have excursions into the country or to the sea-shore, with

food and drink packed and taken along for the occasion.

The entertainments in the home were sometimes simply an informal affair,

while again they were quite formal. A man wishing to give an

entertainment would go out to the market-place or the gymnasium and

invite his friends or he might send the invitations by a slave. After

entrance into the home and the exchange of greetings, the meal was

partaken of and the drinking was entered upon. Toasts were drank to one

another and to absent ones, the young men taking the occasion to drink

to their loved ones and to sing love-songs. Conversation would be

entered upon and jokes and puns made, professional jesters being quite

often hired for the evening. There would be games and conundrums and

riddles and enigmas. A favorite game for such an evening was called

_kottabos_, in which the player would throw the last drops of wine in

his cup on to the head of a small brazen figure, which produced a

clanging sound and a bobbing of the head; the louder the clang and the

more violent the bobbing with the smaller the amount of the wine thrown,

the greater the success of the player. There were dancing-girls and

flute players and jugglers and contortionists. Recitations of passages

from the poets were given and there were pantomimic and dramatic scenes

acted. There might have been little of the kind of entertaining as noted

above and the evening spent in deep conversation upon the important

topics of the day and by the great philosophers and poets and dramatists

and the other great men gathered on the occasion.

One of the very greatest amusements of the Greeks was that of the

theater. These were usually built along a hillside, the seats being cut

into the solid rock. The performances were held in connection with two

of the leading religious festivals, the one in the midwinter and the

other in the spring. The theaters were public and open to all the

citizens and free of expense, the expenses being borne by the state or

by wealthy citizens. There were no playbills nor similar kind of

announcements of the plays, usually the audience not knowing what was to

come till the play opened.

Dancing and music were among the pleasures of the young people. Of these

were mimetic dances, representing mythological scenes. There were also

warlike and choral dances performed at the feasts of the gods. There

were professional dancers and singers and flute-players. There were a

number of kinds of musical instruments. The types of the stringed

instruments were represented by the lyre, the kithara, and the harp; the

wind-instruments were the pipes, clarionets, and trumpets; and the

clanging instruments were the castanets, cymbal, and tambourine.

The young men indulged in horse-racing; they frequented gambling places

where dice was used; and they placed metal spurs on cocks, pheasants,

and quails and fought them thus armed. Hunting was a favorite sport. It

was quite fashionable for rich young men to have fine horses and,

although they did ride some, yet they preferred to drive their horses to

chariots.

The jugglers and acrobats were quite skilful and they were of both

sexes. Outside the help of present day science, they seemed to have

performed as remarkable feats as at the present time. They gave sword

dances; they tossed hoops and balls; they did rope-walking and dancing;

they extracted things from their eyes and ears and noses and mouths.

They would stand on their hands and head and perform feats with their

toes, as filling vessels with water and shooting bows and arrows. In one

feat a woman acrobat would bend back her head till it met her heels,

then she would clasp her feet with her hands and roll off like a hoop.

In one exhibit there was a contrivance, known as the potter's wheel, in

which a young woman would be whirled round rapidly and yet she managed

to read and write while being so twirled.

=Sickness and Death.= In the earlier times of Greece old age was highly

respected in all the states. In Sparta and Thebes this respect was

maintained, but among the smart set in Athens this was not the case. In

the more remote and primitive districts the aged enjoyed the reverence

and affection of the young and middle-aged alike. They were treated with

great respect in both public and private and their opinions were sought

for in affairs of state and of the home. Yet in all Greece there was a

desire for children so that parents might be protected and comforted in

advancing age, and those without children were often in a pitiable

condition in extreme old age. At the age of sixty a man was recognized

to be at least physically old, as he was then exempt from military duty.

Although the Greeks enjoyed an exceptionally fine climate and gave

especial care to the body, yet they were subject to diseases as other

people. Their houses were not in sanitary conditions, the streets were

not in proper order, and the water was not always pure. There were

physicians who had quite good skill in the treatment of diseases and

both medicine and surgery were in a fair condition, although

superstition and folk-lore too often ruled. Athens and other cities

employed physicians at public cost to care for the poor free of charge.

Burial of the dead was a very important function and one demanded by

both custom and religion. Without this final honor, it was thought the

spirit would wander restlessly on forever. So when a man died his family

was bound to give him proper burial. This was considered so important

that when a man died in a foreign land his body was brought home, or, if

that was impossible, then a tomb was erected to him and the burial rites

enacted. It was even considered disgraceful not to let enemies in war

bury their dead and after battles a truce was entered upon that the dead

might be buried.

When dead the body was washed and anointed and clothed in white and

placed on a couch. A wreath was placed on the head and garlands about

the body, which were given by friends. On the floor about the couch were

set pitchers that were to be put into the grave or on the funeral pile.

The burial took place early in the morning, at Athens, at least, before

sunrise. In the earlier times the dead were buried in the houses, but

later they were placed outside the cities, usually along a road, but in

Sparta they were kept in the city, while in the country they were buried

in the fields. The bodies either were buried or cremated, but as the

latter was quite expensive it was used usually by the wealthy only.

In the funeral procession the body was carried in a vehicle or on the

shoulders of friends or slaves. The male mourners marched in front of

the corpse and the female mourners behind it, all dressed in black with

the hair cut short. In the Homeric times there were violent outbursts of

grief and abuse of person by the mourners, but in later times laws were

passed to prevent such. At the grave if the body was to be burnt it was

placed upon the pile and precious ointments and perfumes were poured

over it while burning and the ashes were collected and placed in an urn.

If it was to be interred, the body was placed in a wooden, earthenware,

or metallic coffin and put into the grave, which was usually in the

rock. The mourners then returned to the house and partook of the funeral

meal. On the third and tenth days sacrifices were offered at the tomb

and again on the thirtieth day, which concluded the mourning period. The

graves were well cared for and decorated with flowers and plants. "To

neglect the tomb of your ancestors was so far a crime that no man could

become a chief officer of the state who could be proved to have failed

in this respect."[173]

=Religion.= "An Athenian child begins by listening to the 'old wives'

tales' of his nurse; then is present at domestic rites and sacrifices,

which impress him without his understanding them; afterwards learns his

old-fashioned Homer and his poets, before he has any notion of

questioning their theology; next moves about among altars and splendid

temples and statues of Zeus, Athena, Dionysus, and many another

divinity; is later on initiated into awesome mysteries, which are

addressed to his emotions and not to his reason; and is at all times

trained to undertake no enterprise, public or private, without first

consulting the will of the gods, praying to them, and sacrificing to

them."[174]

The child was introduced into the religious life in the home, as each

house had its own altar and its special household deities, to whom

prayers were offered and sacrifices made, and on occasions of marriage,

birth, death, and the like, special ceremonies occurred. He learned

about both the good and the bad, as amulets were hung about his neck to

ward off harm and he saw sacrifices made to appease the wrath of the

evil ones. In public there were sacrifices and celebrations to the gods,

in some of which the child took part.

Old Greek religion was a worship of the beautiful--the ideal in nature

and human life, and the gods were ideal expressions of human thought,

portraying the divine in man. Religion influenced the old Greek in every

way and on every side he was reminded of the gods by temples, altars,

statues, sacred trees, etc. But with all his religion, strange to say,

the Greek did not connect it closely with his moral life, for his

religion was expressed in his attitude toward the gods, while his

morality was determined by the laws of the land and the customs of

society. This is well shown in his prayers, for these were not offered

for inward betterment, but for some definite outward help.

=Education.= In the early times of Greece there were no real schools,

the young receiving their training from the life of the family and the

community. As this came through contact with living persons and not

through dead precepts in sacred books, which demanded strict obedience

and following, there was opportunity for growth so that progress might

be made by the individual away from fixed and stereotyped ways of doing

things. The purpose of the training of those times was to help the boy

to become a man who would be wise and eloquent in council and strong and

courageous in battle.

Sparta represented a phase of education in Greece. Surrounded as it was

by people who were hostile to its ways and customs, it was necessary

that the young should be trained to be patriotic to the state and

skilled in war. To this end education began before birth, for means were

used for having strong children born and those not strong at birth were

cast aside from the state. If the child at birth was decided by the

council to be fit to grow up to be a Spartan, then he was given to his

mother and remained with her till his seventh year, when he was taken

from her and put under the care and training of state officials.

When at seven years of age the boy was taken over by the state, he was

placed in the care of an officer called the paedonomus. This officer had

supreme power over all the boys and youth and superintended their moral

training and gymnastic exercises and their punishments, having men to

assist in the work.

All the education was at public cost and all the young were placed in

public buildings, eating and sleeping in common, all being placed

together in common, even the younger members of the royal family, the

heir-apparent to the throne being alone exempt. Here they were divided

into three companies according to age--from the seventh to the twelfth

year, from the twelfth to the fifteenth, from the fifteenth to the

eighteenth. The elder and stronger boys were placed over them as,

captains and had them in charge.

When the boy first entered with the others his hair was cut short. The

life was one of continued severe discipline and hardship. In summer and

winter they went without shoes and with but little clothing, after the

twelfth year with only one garment. They slept on pallets of straw

without covering and after fifteen their beds consisted of rushes

collected by themselves without the use of a knife. They were given but

little food. They had permission to steal other food, but if caught

stealing they were considered disgraced and received a severe flogging.

The training of the boys consisted in gymnastic exercises, being

carefully organized and graded. The younger boys were drilled in running

and leaping and ball-playing. The older boys engaged in wrestling,

boxing, throwing the discus, and hurling the javelin. Sometimes the

_pancratium_ was used, consisting of boxing and wrestling and also most

anything to win, as biting, kicking, scratching, gouging. The

contestants generally were naked. Dancing supplemented the gymnastics,

which for the most part were war-dances and also some choral dancing was

given to be used in religious festivals. This was all done to prepare

the young for warfare.

When a boy reached eighteen years of age, he then left the buildings

for boys and entered upon a more distinctive study of warfare. He was

permitted to let his hair and beard grow and was known as a _melleiren_,

"budding youth." These youths were drilled in the use of arms and in

skirmishing. They were given frequent strict examinations. To test their

courage and endurance, there was a custom of each year of whipping a

certain number of youth. They were placed at the altar of Artemis Orthia

and so severely whipped as to cause the blood to stream from them, their

fathers and mothers standing by and urging them to endure it without

flinching or murmuring. Sometimes they endured till they died under the

severity of the whipping. Also there was another test in the way of a

battle of the _melleirenes_, held each year on a small island near

Sparta. These youths were divided into two companies, sacrifices to the

gods were made, they were lined up against one another, and then

commanded to fight. They fought without weapons, but fists and teeth and

body and limbs were most fiercely used, and many were the wounds

received.

At twenty years of age, the budding youth became known as an _eiren_, "a

youth." These remained youths for the next ten years and they lived in

barracks to themselves. They took a public oath of loyalty to Sparta and

entered the army, thus going into real military life. They entered upon

the life of a soldier, lived upon the coarsest fare, were drilled in the

usages of warfare, and were sent out to guard and care for some armed

camps or fortresses on the border. Each year there were festivals in

which was displayed by all the youth their skill in military drill and

gymnastic exercises and in music and dancing, such exhibits being before

the king and the officers and the public.

At thirty years of age, the Spartan was recognized as being a full-grown

man and became a member of the public assembly and was required to

marry. But even then he had to remain with the youths and boys and eat

at the common table with them, so that he had no home and had to visit

his wife secretly in her home. He also continued in military service. It

was the custom for each man to select a boy or a youth as a companion

and to look after his care and training. These men were expected to be

examples to the boys and youths and to correct them in their faults, the

men being punished upon failure to do these things.

The girls of Sparta received a public training similar to that of the

boys. It was the aim to train them so as to become strong, healthy

women, such as could bear robust sons to the state. They were given

gymnastic exercises such as were given to the boys, but not in company

with the boys, and also the girls were permitted to remain at home. They

were exercised in running, wrestling, leaping, throwing the discus,

hurling the javelin, and in dancing and music. On some occasions the

young men and young women danced and sang together in public in

festivals to the gods. This training did produce strong women and who

were as patriotic as the men and who as mothers could give thanks to the

gods in the temples when they learned that husbands and sons had died

fighting for their country.

It may be seen that Spartan education was public and free and open

equally to all free-born children. The Spartan youth received very

little intellectual training. No doubt some acquired reading and

writing, as such was not forbidden, although not encouraged. They

obtained ethical and intellectual training from listening to their

elders at meals and on the street. They gained from criticism of their

conduct, which criticism was severe at all times. Thus they learned

reverence for elders, honesty, and self-respect. All the sufferings and

hardships placed upon the youth were that they might receive training to

make them good soldiers to go out to battle for their native land.

Although Spartan education did produce warriors and patriots, yet it did

not bring out individuality, that which makes most for true progress and

right living. "The state regulated the individual life, and, by so

doing, crushed out individuality, personal initiation, literary and

scientific activity, and ethical freedom."[175]

Athens represented another phase in Greek education. A new conception of

human life developed here and hence there came forth new ideas in regard

to the meaning and end of education. The idea of the significance of the

individual took prominence and, although interests centered upon the

state, yet the state was considered as being composed, of individuals,

each of whose free development made the voluntary giving of his life to

the state all the stronger and better state. The citizens of Athens were

educated for peace as well as for war, so that the aim of education was

to produce all-round men who by being trained to be individuals would

thus make the best citizens.

At birth the child at Athens was judged by the father and upon his

decision it remained in the family or it was taken from the mother and

exposed. If it was returned to the mother, whether a boy or a girl, it

remained in the home till marriage, when the man or woman went to his or

her own home. For the first seven years of the child's life, both boy

and girl, he was under the care and training of the mother and the other

women of the household. The Athenian boy was well cared for and given

plenty to eat and to wear and toys and playthings, so that at least the

early years of his life were easy and pleasant. By hearing the

nursery-rhymes and the stories from folk-lore, and by having related to

him the doings of the gods and god-like men as given in the writings of

the times, his emotional nature was stimulated and he became imbued with

the poetic feeling and dramatic spirit which invaded Athens and with

which later he was to come in close contact through his school training

and in his social and political life.

When the boy became seven years of age, he was sent to school. He was

then placed under the charge of a male slave, known as a pedagogue,

whose duty it was to go back and forth to school with the boy and carry

his things and to have care of the boy's manners and morals, having the

power of discipline, but he did not impart instruction, that being given

by the grammatist (elementary teacher) and the pedotribe (gymnastic

teacher). The state did not provide elementary schools, although they

were under its supervision. The schools were not only private, but the

father had the right to decide what work should be given to his boy, and

yet the law did prescribe instruction in gymnastics and music. If the

father did not give due education to his sons, in his old age he could

not claim support from them. The length of stay in the school and the

amount of education obtained depended upon the will and condition of the

father, but all the boys did receive elementary instruction in reading,

writing, and arithmetic. The physical training consisted in

ball-playing, running, leaping, throwing the discus, hurling the

javelin, and wrestling, the course being graded to the age and size of

the boys. They were also taught dancing and music. Their education was

to train the boy to be able to use his body with ease and grace and to

increase his intelligence rather than to train him solely to become a

soldier.

At fifteen years of age the boy passed out of the elementary training

and from the control of the pedagogue, and if of the higher classes he

entered upon higher training. He now left the private school and entered

the public school, the gymnasium, which was not more than an exercising

ground located in a grove just outside Athens. At this time the youth

was given much more liberty than when a boy, as now he was allowed to go

wherever he wished, that he might become acquainted with what was going

on in the city to prepare him for the duties of public life. He was

still under the care of his father or guardian and through him he had

opportunity for meeting men and hearing the conversations and

discussions and thus learn of the political life of the state and the

moral obligations of a citizen. At this time the youth began to learn to

play a musical instrument and he read and recited poetry and studied

drawing and geometry and grammar. The gymnastic training received much

more attention at this period than the literary, as beauty of person and

health was the great aim. The exercises were about the same as in the

previous period but of a more strenuous nature. Boxing was introduced

now and sometimes the pancratium was used. Hunting and swimming became a

part of the life of the youth.

At eighteen the young man completed the second period of public training

and became known as an _ephebus_, "youth," His father or guardian

presented him for citizenship, and if he showed proper credentials of

legitimate birth, of Athenian parentage, up to standard in body, mind,

and morals, he was registered. He also took an oath of fidelity to the

state. He then entered into military service and continued for two

years. He was thoroughly drilled and then sent to the frontier. At the

close of this second year, when he was twenty years of age, he was

called to Athens and examined for citizenship, and if he made a proper

showing he was then made a full citizen, with all the privileges and

duties pertaining to that office.

The pedagogue was not held in high esteem, as he was usually a slave

that was unable to work, being too old or crippled. The elementary

teacher, too, did not take a high, position, as there were no special

qualifications, so that any one could fill the position and usually only

those entered into this work who were unfitted or unprepared for other

occupations, and too often as the last resort. The elementary schools

were sometimes carried on in a portico or the sheltered corner of a

street, but again there were good buildings and well-equipped for the

times. The furniture of these buildings usually consisted of stools for

the children and a seat with a back for the teacher. The Athenian boy

left home at daybreak for school and he did not get back home till

sunset, but this was somewhat offset by the frequent closing of the

school for holidays and festivals. The discipline was quite severe, the

stick and the strap being much in evidence, and yet the teachers of

ancient Greece do not appear to have been more cruel than those of

Europe and of the earlier days in America.

In reading, the child was first taught his letters and their sounds,

next came the learning of syllables, and this was followed by the

learning of words, and the learning of the sentence came at the last.

After he had learned to read, the boy was given Homer and other Greek

writers. The teacher would recite the selection and the pupil would then

repeat it. The poems were carefully explained to the children and

questions asked them after such explanation.

Paper made from the bark of the papyrus-plant and parchment were used

for writing on. To write on the paper and parchment reeds, split and

pointed-like pens were used. Both black and red ink were used in the

writing. Such were not used by the school-boy, as he had wax tablets,

which were made by covering a small, thin board with a layer of wax. The

boy used an ivory or metal pencil for writing on the tablet. One end of

the pencil was made pointed for this purpose and the other end was

flattened so that the pupil could smooth over the wax when the tablet

was to be used again. The teacher would write letters and words, which

the boys copied. At times he would guide the hand of a beginner. Also

sometimes the copies were made deep in the wax and the children would

trace them.

There was no such thing as school education of girls and young women in

Athens, no public training whatever. The Athenians held that woman's

place was in the home and that she should not take part in public life.

Hence, according to their ideas, the girl needed no education beyond

what would be required for the life within doors, such as would fit her

to perform what they considered the simple duties that would come to her

as wife and mother. The education of the girl, therefore, fell solely to

the mother, aided by the other women of the household. The girl was

taught to sew, spin, knit, weave, etc., and sometimes she learned to

read and to write and to play on the lyre and sing. It is true there

were women at Athens who were educated, and some of them were most

highly learned, but they were not citizens of Athens, being foreigners

and known as the hetairai. These women were discussed in a previous

section of this chapter, so there is no need of further statements here.

Education in Sparta and in Athens comprehended in a general way much the

same, as gymnastic and music were the two basic elements. The gymnastic

education consisted not only in the exercising of the muscles, but also

in the training for endurance to fit the young men for the fatiguing

duties of the life of a soldier. Also music was broadened to include

literary and moral training as well as music in its narrower sense. If

the Spartan education did crush out much of individuality with the men,

yet it did allow advantages to its women as no other education, in that

the public training of the girls and the taking part in public affairs

by the women gave to them great opportunities for growth. If the

Athenian education did allow individual expression to the men, yet in

confining the women to the narrow place of the home at Athens and in not

allowing them to have any part in public education and public life, it

narrowed the life of the woman in Athens more than was narrowed the life

of the man in Sparta. There are things to praise and things to condemn

in the education of Athens as well as that of Sparta.

LITERATURE

1. Anderson, Lewis F., History of common school education.

2. Davidson, Thomas, The education of the Greek people.

3. Davis, William Stearns, A day in old Athens.

4. Dean, Amos, The history of civilization.

5. Donaldson, James, Woman, Her position and influence in ancient Rome

and Greece, and among the early Christians.

6. Duncker, Max, History of Greece.

7. Felton, C. C., Greece, ancient and modern.

8. Gamble, Eliza Burt, The evolution of woman.

9. Gardner, E. Norman, Greek athletic sports and festivals.

10. Gardner, Ernest Arthur, Ancient Athens.

11. Graves, Frank Pierrepont, A history of education, Before the middle

ages.

12. Guhl, E., and Koner, W., The life of the Greeks and Romans.

13. Gulick, Charles Burton, The life of the ancient Greeks.

14. Laurie, S. S., Historical survey of pre-Christian education.

15. Letourneau, Ch., The evolution of marriage.

16. Mahaffy, J. P., Old Greek education.

17. Mahaffy, J. P., Social life in Greece.

18. Tucker, T. G., Life in ancient Athens.