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A Day in Old Athens

By William Stearns Davis Professor of Ancient History in the University of Minnesota



Preface



This little book tries to describe what an intelligent person would see and hear in ancient Athens, if by some legerdemain he were translated to the fourth century B.C. and conducted about the city under competent guidance. Rare happenings have been omitted and sometimes, to avoid long explanations, PROBABLE matters have been stated as if they were ascertained facts; but these instances are few, and it is hoped no reader will be led into serious error.

The year 360 B.C. has been selected for the hypothetical time of this visit, not because of any special virtue in that date, but because Athens was then architecturally almost perfect, her civic and her social life seemed at their best, the democratic constitution held its vigor, and there were few outward signs of the general decadence which was to set in after the triumph of Macedon.

I have endeavored to state no facts and to make no allusions, that will not be fairly obvious to a reader who has merely an elementary knowledge of Greek annals, such information, for instance, as may be gained through a good secondary school history of ancient times. This naturally has led to comments and descriptions which more advanced students may find superfluous.

The writer has been under a heavy debt to the numerous and excellent works on Greek "Private Antiquities" and "Public Life" written in English, French, or German, as well as to the various great Classical Encyclopedias and Dictionaries, and to many treatises and monographs upon the topography of Athens and upon the numerous phases of Attic culture. It is proper to say, however, that the material from such secondary sources has been merely supplementary to a careful examination of the ancient Greek writers, with the objects of this book kept especially in view. A sojourn in modern Athens, also, has given me an impression of the influence of the Attic landscape upon the conditions of old Athenian life, an impression that I have tried to convey in this small volume.

I am deeply grateful to my sister, Mrs. Fannie Davis Gifford, for helpful criticism of this book while in manuscript; to my wife, for preparing the drawings from Greek vase-paintings which appear as illustrations; and to my friend and colleague, Professor Charles A. Savage, for a kind and careful reading of the proofs. Thanks also are due to Henry Holt and Company for permission to quote material from their edition of Von Falke's "Greece and Rome."

W. S. D.

University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, Minnesota. May, 1914.



Contents.



Page Maps, Plans, and Illustrations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xii

Chapter I. The Physical Setting of Athens.

Section 1. The Importance of Athens in Greek History . . . . . . . . . . . 1 2. Why the Social Life of Athens is so Significant . . . . . . . . 1 3. The Small Size and Sterility of Attica . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 4. The Physical Beauty of Attica . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 5. The Mountains of Attica . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 6. The Sunlight in Attica . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 7. The Topography of the City of Athens . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 8. 360 B.C.—The Year of the Visit to Athens . . . . . . . . . . . 8

Chapter II. The First Sights in Athens.

9. The Morning Crowds bound for Athens . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 10. The Gate and the Street Scenes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 11. The Streets and House Fronts of Athens . . . . . . . . . . . . 12 12. The Simplicity of Athenian Life . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14

Chapter III. The Agora and its Denizens.

13. The Buildings around the Agora . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16 14. The Life in the Agora . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18 15. The Booths and Shops in the Agora . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18 16. The Flower and the Fish Vendors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20 17. The Morning Visitors to the Agora . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21 18. The Leisured Class in Athens . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22 19. Familiar Types around the Agora . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23 20. The Barber Shops . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24

Chapter IV. The Athenian House and its Furnishings.

21. Following an Athenian Gentleman Homeward . . . . . . . . . . . 26 22. The Type and Uses of a Greek House . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27 23. The Plan of a Greek House . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28 24. Modifications in the Typical Plan . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31 25. Rents and House Values . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32 26. The Simple yet Elegant Furnishings of an Athenian House . . . . 32

Chapter V. The Women of Athens.

27. How Athenian Marriages are Arranged . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35 28. Lack of Sentiment in Marriages . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36 29. Athenian Marriage Rites . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37 30. The Mental Horizon of Athenian Women . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38 31. The Honor paid Womanhood in Athens . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39 32. The Sphere of Action of Athenian Women . . . . . . . . . . . . 40

Chapter VI. Athenian Costume.

33. The General Nature of Greek Dress . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43 34. The Masculine Chiton, Himation, and Chlamys . . . . . . . . . . 44 35. The Dress of the Women . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46 36. Footwear and Head Coverings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47 37. The Beauty of the Greek Dress . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48 38. Greek Toilet Frivolities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49

Chapter VII. The Slaves.

39. Slavery an Integral Part of Greek Life . . . . . . . . . . . . 51 40. The Slave Trade in Greece . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52 41. The Treatment of Slaves in Athens . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54 42. Cruel and Kind Masters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55 43. The "City Slaves" of Athens . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56

Chapter VIII. The Children.

44. The Desirability of Children in Athens . . . . . . . . . . . . 57 45. The Exposure of Infants . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57 46. The Celebration of a Birth . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59 47. Life and Games of Young Children . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59 48. Playing in the Streets . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60 49. The First Stories and Lessons . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61 50. The Training of Athenian Girls . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62

Chapter IX. The Schoolboys of Athens.

51. The Athenians Generally Literate . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63 52. Character Building the Aim of Athenian Education . . . . . . . 63 53. The Schoolboy's Pedagogue . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64 54. An Athenian School . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65 55. The School Curriculum . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66 56. The Study of the Poets . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 68 57. The Greeks do not study Foreign Languages . . . . . . . . . . . 70 58. The Study of "Music" . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70 59. The Moral Character of Greek Music . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72 60. The Teaching of Gymnastics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73 61. The Habits and Ambitions of Schoolboys . . . . . . . . . . . . 74 62. The "Ephebi" . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75

Chapter X. The Physicians of Athens.

63. The Beginnings of Greek Medical Science . . . . . . . . . . . . 77 64. Healing Shrines and their Methods . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 78 65. An Athenian Physician's Office . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79 66. The Physician's Oath . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80 67. The Skill of Greek Physicians . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81 68. Quacks and Charlatans . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 82

Chapter XI. The Funerals.

69. An Athenian's Will . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 84 70. The Preliminaries of a Funeral . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 84 71. Lamenting the Dead . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 85 72. The Funeral Procession . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 86 73. The Funeral Pyre . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 87 74. Honors to the Memory of the Dead . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 88 75. The Beautiful Funeral Monuments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 89

Chapter XII. Trade, Manufactures, and Banking.

76. The Commercial Importance of Athens . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 91 77. The Manufacturing Activities of Athens . . . . . . . . . . . . 91 78. The Commerce of Athens . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 93 79. The Adventurous Merchant Skippers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 95 80. Athenian Money-changers and Bankers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 95 81. A Large Banking Establishment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 96 82. Drawbacks to the Banking Business . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 97 83. The Pottery of Athens . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 98 84. Athenian Pottery an Expression of the Greek Sense of Beauty . . 99

Chapter XIII. The Armed Forces of Athens.

85. Military Life at Athens . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 101 86. The Organization of the Athenian Army . . . . . . . . . . . . . 102 87. The Hoplites and the Light Troops . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 103 88. The Cavalry and the Peltasts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 104 89. The Panoply of the Hoplites . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 105 90. The Weapons of a Hoplite . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 107 91. Infantry Maneuvers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 108 92. The Preliminaries of a Greek Battle . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 109 93. Joining the Battle . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 110 94. The Climax and End of the Battle . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 112 95. The Burial Truce and the Trophy after the Battle . . . . . . . 114 96. The Siege of Fortified Towns . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 114 97. The Introduction of New Tactics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 115

Chapter XIV. The Peireus and the Shipping.

98. The "Long Walls" down to the Harbor Town . . . . . . . . . . . 117 99. Munychia and the Havens of Athens . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 118 100. The Glorious View from the Hill of Munychia . . . . . . . . . . 119 101. The Town of Peireus . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 120 102. The Merchant Shipping . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 122 103. The Three War Harbors and the Ship Houses . . . . . . . . . . . 124 104. The Great Naval Arsenal . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 125 105. An Athenian Trierarch . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 125 106. The Evolution of the Trireme . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 126 107. The Hull of a Trireme . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 127 108. The Rowers' Benches of a Trireme . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 129 109. The Cabins, Rigging, and Ram of a Trireme . . . . . . . . . . . 129 110. The Officers and Crew of a Trireme . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 131 111. A Trireme at Sea . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 132 112. The Tactics of a Naval Battle . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 133 113. The Naval Strength of Athens . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 134

Chapter XV. An Athenian Court Trial.

114. The Frequency of Litigation in Athens . . . . . . . . . . . . . 135 115. Prosecutions in Athens . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 136 116. The Preliminaries to a Trial . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 137 117. The Athenian Jury Courts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 138 118. The Juryman's Oath . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 139 119. Opening The Trial. The Plaintiff's Speech . . . . . . . . . . 140 120. The Defendant's Speech. Demonstrations by the Jury . . . . . . 141 121. The First Verdict . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 142 122. The Second and Final Verdict . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 143 123. The Merits and Defects of the Athenian Courts . . . . . . . . . 144 124. The Usual Punishments in Athens . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 144 125. The Heavy Penalty of Exile . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 145 126. The Death Penalty of Athens . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 145

Chapter XVI. The Ecclesia of Athens.

127. The Rule of Democracy in Athens . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 147 128. Aristocracy and Wealth. Their Status and Burdens . . . . . . . 147 129. Athenian Society truly Democratic up to a Certain Point . . . . 148 130. The Voting Population of Athens . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 149 131. Meeting Times of the Ecclesia . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 150 132. The Pnyx (Assembly Place) at Athens . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 151 133. The Preliminaries of the Meeting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 152 134. Debating a Proposition . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 154 135. Voting at the Pnyx . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 155 136. The Ecclesia as an Educational Instrument . . . . . . . . . . . 156

Chapter XVII. The Afternoon at the Gymnasia

137. The Gymnasia. Places of General Resort . . . . . . . . . . . . 158 138. The Road to the Academy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 158 139. The Academy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 159 140. The Social Atmosphere and Human Types at the Academy . . . . . 160 141. Philosophers and Cultivated Men at the Gymnasia . . . . . . . . 161 142. The Beautiful Youths at the Academy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 162 143. The Greek Worship of Manly Beauty . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 163 144. The Detestation of Old Age . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 165 145. The Greeks unite Moral and Physical Beauty . . . . . . . . . . 165 146. The Usual Gymnastic Sports and their Objects . . . . . . . . . 166 147. Professional Athletes: the Pancration . . . . . . . . . . . . 167 148. Leaping Contests . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 167 149. Quoit Hurling . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 168 150. Casting the Javelin . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 168 151. Wrestling . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 169 152. Foot Races . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 170 153. The Pentathlon: the Honors paid to Great Athletes . . . . . . 172

Chapter XVIII. Athenian Cookery and the Symposium

154. Greek Meal Times . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 174 155. Society desired at Meals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 175 156. The Staple Articles of Food . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 176 157. Greek Vintages . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 178 158. Vegetable Dishes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 179 159. Meat and Fish Dishes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 180 160. Inviting Guests to a Dinner Party . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 181 161. Preparing for the Dinner: the Sicilian Cook . . . . . . . . . 182 162. The Coming of the Guests . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 183 163. The Dinner Proper . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 184 164. Beginning the Symposium . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 185 165. The Symposiarch and his Duties . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 186 166. Conversation at the Symposium . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 187 167. Games and Entertainments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 188 168. Going Home from the Feast: Midnight Revelers . . . . . . . . . 189

Chapter XIX. Country Life around Athens.

169. The Importance of his Farm to an Athenian . . . . . . . . . . . 191 170. The Country by the Ilissus: the Greeks and Natural Beauty . . 191 171. Plato's Description of the Walk by the Ilissus . . . . . . . . 193 172. The Athenian Love of Country Life . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 194 173. Some Features of the Attic Country . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 195 174. An Attic Farmstead . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 196 175. Plowing, Reaping, and Threshing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 197 176. Grinding at the Mill . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 199 177. The Olive Orchards . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 199 178. The Vineyards . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 201 179. Cattle, Sheep, and Goats . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 201 180. The Gardens and the Shrine . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 202

Chapter XX. The Temples and Gods of Athens.

181. Certain Factors in Athenian Religion . . . . . . . . . . . . . 204 182. What constitutes "Piety" in Athens . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 205 183. The Average Athenians Idea of the Gods . . . . . . . . . . . . 206 184. Most Greeks without Belief in Immortality . . . . . . . . . . . 207 185. The Multitude of Images of the Gods . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 209 186. Greek Superstition . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 210 187. Consulting Omens . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 210 188. The Great Oracles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 211 189. Greek Sacrifices . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 212 190. The Route to the Acropolis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 213 191. The Acropolis of Athens . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 214 192. The Use of Color Upon Athenian Architecture and Sculptures . . 216 193. The Chief Buildings on the Acropolis . . . . . . . . . . . . . 217 194. The Parthenon . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 218 195. A Sacrifice on the Acropolis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 219 196. The Interior of the Parthenon and the Great Image of Athena . . 222 197. Greek Prayers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 224

Chapter XXI. The Great Festival of Athens.

198. The Frequent Festivals in Athens . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 228 199. The Eleusinia . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 228 200. The Holy Procession to Eleusis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 229 201. The Mysteries of Eleusis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 230 202. The Greater Dionysia and the Drama . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 231 203. The Theater of Dionysus . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 232 204. The Production of a Play . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 233 205. The Great Panathenaic Procession . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 235 206. The View from the Temple of Wingless Victory . . . . . . . . . 237

Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 239



Maps, Plans, and Illustrations.



1. Athenian Acropolis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Frontispiece Page 2. Sketch Map of Attica . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 3. Sketch Map of Athens . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 4. Peasant going to Market . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 5. At the Street Fountain . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11 6. A Wayside Herm . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17 7. A Carpenter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19 8. Conjectural Plan for the house of a Wealthy Athenian . . . . . . 29 9. Spinning . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41 10. The Maternal Slipper . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60 11. Athenian Funeral Monument . . . . . . . . . . . . . FACING PAGE 88 12. At the Smithy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 92 13. Hoplite in Armor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 106 14. The Town of Peireus and the Harbors of Athens . . . . . . . . . 118 15. Fishermen . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 121 16. An Athenian Trireme . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 127 17. The Race in Armor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 171 18. Itinerant Piper with his Dog . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 196 19. Women pounding Meal . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 198 20. Gathering the Olive Harvest . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 200 21. Rural Sacrifice to a Wooden Statue of Dionysus . . . . . . . . . 202 22. Sketch Map of the Acropolis of Athens . . . . . . . . . . . . . 214 23. Sacrificing a Pig . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 221 24. Athena Parthenos . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 223 25. Comic Actors dressed as Ostriches . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 233 26. Actor in Costume as a Fury . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 234



A Day in Old Athens



Chapter I. The Physical Setting of Athens.



1. The Importance of Athens in Greek History.—To three ancient nations the men of the twentieth century owe an incalculable debt. To the Jews we owe most of our notions of religion; to the Romans we owe traditions and examples in law, administration, and the general management of human affairs which still keep their influence and value; and finally, to the Greeks we owe nearly all our ideas as to the fundamentals of art, literature, and philosophy, in fact, of almost the whole of our intellectual life. These Greeks, however, our histories promptly teach us, did not form a single unified nation. They lived in many "city-states" of more or less importance, and some of the largest of these contributed very little directly to our civilization. Sparta, for example, has left us some noble lessons in simple living and devoted patriotism, but hardly a single great poet, and certainly never a philosopher or sculptor. When we examine closely, we see that the civilized life of Greece, during the centuries when she was accomplishing the most, was peculiarly centered at Athens. Without Athens, Greek history would lose three quarters of its significance, and modern life and thought would become infinitely the poorer.

2. Why the Social Life of Athens is so Significant.—Because, then, the contributions of Athens to our own life are so important, because they touch (as a Greek would say) upon almost every side of "the true, the beautiful, and the good," it is obvious that the outward conditions under which this Athenian genius developed deserve our respectful attention. For assuredly such personages as Sophocles, Plato, and Phidias were not isolated creatures, who developed their genius apart from, or in spite of, the life about them, but rather were the ripe products of a society, which in its excellences and weaknesses presents some of the most interesting pictures and examples in the world. To understand the Athenian civilization and genius it is not enough to know the outward history of the times, the wars, the laws, and the lawmakers. We must see Athens as the average man saw it and lived in it from day to day, and THEN perhaps we can partially understand how it was that during the brief but wonderful era of Athenian freedom and prosperity[*], Athens was able to produce so many men of commanding genius as to win for her a place in the history of civilization which she can never lose.

[*]That era may be assumed to begin with the battle of Marathon (490 B.C.), and it certainly ended in 322 B.C., when Athens passed decisively under the power of Macedonia; although since the battle of Cheroneia (338 B.C.) she had done little more than keep her liberty on sufferance.

3. The Small Size and Sterility of Attica.—Attica was a very small country according to modern notions, and Athens the only large city therein. The land barely covered some 700 square miles, with 40 square miles more, if one includes the dependent island of Salamis. It was thus far smaller than the smallest of our American "states" (Rhode Island = 1250 square miles), and was not so large as many American counties. It was really a triangle of rocky, hill-scarred land thrust out into the Aegean Sea, as if it were a sort of continuation of the more level district of Boeotia. Yet small as it was, the hills inclosing it to the west, the seas pressing it form the northeast and south, gave it a unity and isolation all its own. Attica was not an island; but it could be invaded only by sea, or by forcing the resistance which could be offered at the steep mountain passes towards Boeotia or Megara. Attica was thus distinctly separated from the rest of Greece. Legends told how, when the half-savage Dorians had forced themselves southward over the mainland, they had never penetrated into Attica; and the Athenians later prided themselves upon being no colonists from afar, but upon being "earth-sprung,"—natives of the soil which they and their twenty-times grandfathers had held before them.

This triangle of Attica had its peculiar shortcomings and virtues. It was for the most part stony and unfertile. Only a shallow layer of good soil covered a part of its hard foundation rock, which often in turn lay bare on the surface. The Athenian farmer had a sturdy struggle to win a scanty crop, and about the only products he could ever raise in abundance for export were olives (which seemed to thrive on scanty soil and scanty rainfall) and honey, the work of the mountain bees.

4. The Physical Beauty of Attica.—Yet Attica had advantages which more than counterbalanced this grudging of fertility. All Greece, to be sure, was favored by the natural beauty of its atmosphere, seas, and mountains, but Attica was perhaps the most favored portion of all, Around her coasts, rocky often and broken by pebbly beaches and little craggy peninsulas, surged the deep blue Aegean, the most glorious expanse of ocean in the world. Far away spread the azure water[*],—often foam-crested and sometimes alive with the dolphins leaping at their play,—reaching towards a shimmering sky line where rose "the isles of Greece," masses of green foliage, or else of tawny rock, scattered afar, to adapt the words of Homer, "like shields laid on the face of the glancing deep."

[*]The peculiar blueness of the water near Attica is probably caused by the clear rocky bottom of the sea, as well as by the intensity of the sunlight.

Above the sea spread the noble arch of the heavens,—the atmosphere often dazzlingly bright, and carrying its glamour and sparkle almost into the hearts of men. The Athenians were proud of the air about their land. Their poets gladly sung its praises, as, for example, Euripides[*], when he tells how his fellow countrymen enjoy being—

Ever through air clear shining brightly As on wings uplifted, pacing lightly.

[*]Medea:829.

5. The Mountains of Attica.—The third great element, besides the sea and the atmosphere of Athens, was the mountains. One after another the bold hills reared themselves, cutting short all the plainlands and making the farmsteads often a matter of slopes and terraces. Against the radiant heavens these mountains stood out boldly, clearly; revealing all the little gashes and seams left from that long-forgotten day when they were flung forth from the bowels of the earth. None of these mountains was very high: Hymettus, the greatest, was only about 3500 feet; but rising as they often did from a close proximity to the sea, and not from a dwarfing table-land, even the lower hills uplifted themselves with proud majesty.

These hills were of innumerable tints according to their rocks, the hue of the neighboring sea, and the hour of the day. In spring they would be clothed in verdant green, which would vanish before the summer heats, leaving them rosy brown or gray. But whatever the fundamental tone, it was always brilliant; for the Athenians lived in a land where blue sky, blue sea, and the massive rock blent together into such a galaxy of shifting color, that, in comparison, the lighting of almost any northern or western landscape would seem feeble and tame. The Athenians absorbed natural beauty with their native air.

6. The Sunlight in Athens.—The Athenian loved sunshine, and Helios the Sun God was gracious to his prayers. In the Athens of to-day it is reckoned that the year averages 179 days in which the sun is not concealed by clouds one instant; and 157 days more when the sun is not hidden more than half an hour[*]. Ancient Athens was surely not more cloudy. Nevertheless, despite this constant sunshine and a southern latitude, Athens was stricken relatively seldom with semitropical heat. The sea was a good friend, bringing tempering breezes. In the short winter there might be a little frost, a little snow, and a fair supply of rain. For the rest of the year, one golden day was wont to succeed another, with the sun and the sea breeze in ever friendly rivalry.

[*]The reason for these many clear days is probably because when the moist west and southwest winds come in contact with the dry, heated air of the Attic plain, they are at once volatilized and dispersed, not condensed (as in northern lands); therefore the day resolves itself into brilliant sunshine.

The climate saved the Athenians from being obliged to wage a stern warfare with nature as did the northern peoples. Their life and civilization could be one developed essentially "in the open air"; while, on the other hand, the bracing sea breeze saved them from that enervating lethargy which has ruined so many southern folk. The scanty soil forced them to struggle hard to win a living; unless they yielded to the constant beckoning of the ocean, and sought food, adventure, wealth, and a great empire across the seas.

7. The Topography of the City of Athens.—So much for the land of Attica in general; but what of the setting of the city of Athens itself? The city lay in a plain, somewhat in the south central part of Attica, and about four miles back from the sea. A number of mountains came together to form an irregular rectangle with the Saronic Gulf upon the south. To the east of Athens stretched the long gnarled ridge of Hymettus, the wildest and grayest mountain in Attica, the home of bees and goatherds, and (if there be faith in pious legend) of innumerable nymphs and satyrs. To the west ran the lower, browner mountains, Aegaleos, across which a road (the "Sacred Way") wound through an easy pass towards Eleusis, the only sizable town in Attica, outside of Athens and its harbors. To the rear of the plain rose a noble pyramid, less jagged than Hymettus, more lordly than Aegaleos; its summits were fretted with a white which turned to clear rose color under the sunset. This was Pentelicus, from the veins whereof came the lustrous marble for the master sculptor. Closer at hand, nearer the center of the plain, rose a small and very isolated hill,—Lycabettus, whose peaked summit looked down upon the roofs of Athens. And last, but never least, about one mile southwest of Lycabettus, upreared a natural monument of much greater frame,—not a hill, but a colossal rock. Its shape was that of an irregular oval; it was about 1000 feet long, 500 feet wide, and its level summit stood 350 feet above the plain. This steep, tawny rock, flung by the Titans, one might dream, into the midst of the Attic plain, formed one of the most famous sites in the world, for it was the Acropolis of Athens. Its full significance, however, must be explained later. From the Acropolis and a few lesser hills close by, the land sloped gently down towards the harbors and the Saronic Bay.

These were the great features of the outward setting of Athens. One might add to them the long belt of dark green olive groves winding down the westward side of the plain, where the Cephisus (which along among Attic rivulets did not run dry in summer) ran down to the sea. There was also a shorter olive belt west of the city, where the weaker Ilissus crept, before it lost itself amid the thirsty fields.

Sea, rock, and sky, then, joined together around Athens as around almost no other city in the world. The landscape itself was adjusted to the eye with marvelous harmony. The colors and contours formed one glorious model for the sculptor and the painter, one perpetual inspiration for the poet. Even if Athens had never been the seat of a famous race, she would have won fame as being situated in one of the most beautiful localities in the world. Rightly, therefore, did its dwellers boast of their city as the "Violet-crowned" (Iostephanos).

8. 360 B.C.—The Year of the Visit to Athens.—This city let us visit in the days of its greatest outward glory. We may select the year 360 B.C. At that time Athens had recovered from the ravages of the Peloponnesian War, while the Macedonian peril had not as yet become menacing. The great public buildings were nearly all completed. No signs of material decadence were visible, and if Athens no longer possessed the wide naval empire of the days of Pericles, her fleets and her armies were still formidable. The harbors were full of commerce; the philosophers were teaching their pupils in the groves and porticoes; the democratic constitution was entirely intact. With intelligent vision we will enter the city and look about us.



Chapter II. The First Sights in Athens.



9. The Morning Crowds bound for Athens.—It is very early in the morning. The sun has just pushed above the long ridge of Hymettus, sending a slanting red bar of light across the Attic plain, and touching the opposite slopes of Aegaleos with livid fire. Already, however, life is stirring outside the city. Long since, little market boats have rowed across the narrow strait from Salamis, bringing the island farmer's produce, and other farmers from the plain and the mountain slopes have started for market. In the ruddy light the marble temples on the lofty Acropolis rising ahead of these hurrying rustics are standing out clearly; the spear and helmet of the great brazen statue of the Athena Promachos are flashing from the noble citadel, as a kind of day beacon, beckoning onward toward the city. From the Peireus, the harbor town, a confused him of mariners lading and unlading vessels is even now rising, but we cannot turn ourselves thither. Our route is to follow the farmers bound for market.

The most direct road from the Peireus to Athens is hidden indeed, for it leads between the towering ramparts of the "Long Walls," two mighty barriers which run parallel almost four miles from the inland city to the harbor, giving a guarded passage in wartime and making Athens safe against starvation from any land blockade; but there is an outside road leading also to Athens from the western farmsteads, and this we can conveniently follow. Upon this route the crowd which one meets is certainly not aristocratic, but it is none the less Athenian. Here goes a drover, clad in skins, his legs wound with woolen bands in lieu of stockings; before him and his wolf-like dog shambles a flock of black sheep or less manageable goats, bleating and baaing as they are propelled toward market. After him there may come an unkempt, long-bearded farmer flogging on a pack ass or a mule attached to a clumsy cart with solid wheels, and laden with all kinds of market produce. The roadway, be it said, is not good, and all carters have their troubles; therefore, there is a deal of gesticulating and profane invocation of Hermes and all other gods of traffic; for, early as it is, the market place is already filling, and every delay promises a loss. There are still other companions bound toward the city: countrymen bearing cages of poultry; others engaged in the uncertain calling of driving pigs; swarthy Oriental sailors, with rings in their ears, bearing bales of Phoenician goods from the Peireus; respectable country gentlemen, walking gravely in their best white mantles and striving to avoid the mud and contamination; and perhaps also a small company of soldiers, just back from foreign service, passes, clattering shields and spear staves.

10. The Gate and the Street Scenes.—The crowds grow denser as everybody approaches the frequented "Peireus Gate," for nearly all of Attica which lies within easy reach of Athens has business in the Market Place every morning. On passing the gate a fairly straight way leads through the city to the market, but progress for the multitude becomes slow. If it is one of the main thoroughfares, it is now very likely to be almost blocked with people. There are few late risers at Athens; the Council of Five Hundred[*], the huge Jury Courts, and the Public Assembly (if it has met to-day[+]) are appointed to gather at sunrise. The plays in the theater, which, however, are given only on certain festivals, begin likewise at sunrise. The philosophers say that "the man who would accomplish great things must be up while yet it is dark." Athenians, therefore, are always awake and stirring at an hour when men of later ages and more cold and foggy climes will be painfully yawning ere getting out of bed.

[*]The "Boule," the great standing committee of the Athenian people to aid the magistrates in the government.

[+]In which case, of course, the regular courts and the Council would hardly meet.

The Market Place attracts the great masses, but by no means all; hither and thither bevies of sturdy slave girls, carrying graceful pitchers on their heads, are hurrying towards the fountains which gush cool water at most of the street corners. Theirs is a highly necessary task, for few or no houses have their own water supply; and around each fountain one can see half a dozen by no means slatternly maidens, splashing and flirting the water one at another, while they wait their turn with the pitchers, and laugh and exchange banter with the passing farmers' lads. Many in the street crowds are rosy-cheeked schoolboys, walking decorously, if they are lads of good breeding, and blushing modestly when they are greeted by their fathers' acquaintances. They do not loiter on the way. Close behind, carrying their writing tablets, follow the faithful 'pedagogues,' the body-servants appointed to conduct them to school, give them informal instruction, and, if need be, correct their faults in no painless manner. Besides the water maids and the schoolboys, from the innumerable house doors now opening the respective masters are stepping forth—followed by one, two, or several serving varlets, as many as their wealth affords. All these join in the crowd entering from the country. "Athenian democracy" always implies a goodly amount of hustling and pushing. No wonder the ways are a busy sight!

11. The Streets and House Fronts of Athens.—Progress is slower near the Market Place because of the extreme narrowness of the streets. They are only fifteen feet wide or even less,—intolerable alleys a later age would call them,—and dirty to boot. Sometimes they are muddy, more often extremely dusty. Worse still, they are contaminated by great accumulations of filth; for the city is without an efficient sewer system or regular scavengers. Even as the crowd elbows along, a house door will frequently open, an ill-favored slave boy show his head, and with the yell, "Out of the way!" slap a bucket of dirty water into the street. There are many things to offend the nose as well as the eyes of men of a later race. It is fortunate indeed that the Athenians are otherwise a healthy folk, or they would seem liable to perpetual pestilence; even so, great plagues have in past years harried the city[*].

[*]The most fearful thereof was the great plague of 430 B.C. (during the Peloponnesian War), which nearly ruined Athens.

The first entrance to Athens will thus bring to a stranger, full of the city's fame and expectant of meeting objects of beauty at every turn, almost instant disappointment. The narrow, dirty, ill-paved streets are also very crooked. One can readily be lost in a labyrinth of filthy little lanes the moment one quits the few main thoroughfares. High over head, to be sure, the red crags of the Acropolis may be towering, crowned with the red, gold, and white tinted marble of the temples, but all around seems only monotonous squalor. The houses seem one continuous series of blank walls; mostly of one, occasionally of two stories, and with flat roofs. These walls are usually spread over with some dirty gray or perhaps yellow stucco. For most houses, the only break in the street walls are the simple doors, all jealously barred and admitting no glance within. There are usually no street windows, if the house is only one story high. If it has two stories, a few narrow slits above the way may hint that here are the apartments for the slaves or women. There are no street numbers. There are often no street names. "So-and-so lives in such-and-such a quarter, near the Temple of Heracles;" that will enable you to find a householder, after a few tactful questions from the neighbors; and after all, Athens is a relatively small city[*] (as great cities are reckoned), very closely built, and her regular denizens do not feel the need of a directory.

[*]Every guess at the population of Athens rests on mere conjecture; yet, using the scanty data which we possess, it seems possible that THE POPULATION OF ALL ATTICA at the height of its prosperity was about 200,000 FREE PERSONS (including the METICS—resident foreigners without citizenship); and a rather smaller number of slaves—say 150,000 or less. Of this total of some 350,000, probably something under one half resided in the city of Athens during times of peace, the rest in the outlying farms and villages. ATHENS MAY BE IMAGINED AS A CITY OF ABOUT 150,000—possibly a trifle more. During serious wars there would be of course a general removal into the city.

So the crowd elbows its way onward: now thinning, now gaining, but the main stream always working towards the Market Place.



12. The Simplicity of Athenian Life.—It is clear we are entering a city where nine tenths of what the twentieth century will consider the "essential conveniences" of life are entirely lacking; where men are trying to be civilized—or, as the Greeks would say, to lay hold upon "the true, the beautiful, and the good," without even the absolute minimum of those things which people of a later age will believe separate a "civilized man" from a "barbarian." The gulf between old Athens and, for instance, new Chicago is greater than is readily supposed[*]. It is easy enough to say that the Athenians lacked such things as railways, telephones, gas, grapefruit, and cocktails. All such matters we realize were not known by our fathers and grandfathers, and we are not yet so removed from THEM that we cannot transport ourselves in imagination back to the world of say 1820 A.D.; but the Athenians are far behind even our grandfathers. When we investigate, we will find conditions like these—houses absolutely without plumbing, beds without sheets, rooms as hot or as cold as the outer air, only far more drafty. We must cross rivers without bridges; we must fasten our clothes (or rather our "two pieces of cloth") with two pins instead of with a row of buttons; we must wear sandals without stockings (or go barefoot); must warm ourselves over a pot of ashes; judge plays or lawsuits on a cold winter morning sitting in the open air; we must study poetry with very little aid from books, geography without real maps, and politics without newspapers; and lastly, "we must learn how to be civilized without being comfortable!"[+]

[*]See the very significant comment on the physical limitations of the old Athenian life in Zimmern's "The Greek Commonwealth," p. 209.

[+]Zimmern, ibid.

Or, to reverse the case: we must understand that an Athenian would have pronounced our boasted "civilization" hopelessly artificial, and our life so dependent on outward material props and factors as to be scarcely worth the living. He would declare himself well able to live happily under conditions where the average American or Englishman would be cold, semi-starved, and miserable. He would declare that HIS woe or happiness was retained far more under his own control than we retain ours, and that we are worthy of contemptuous pity rather than of admiration, because we have refined our civilization to such a point that the least accident, e.g. the suspension of rail traffic for a few days, can reduce a modern city to acute wretchedness.

Probably neither the twentieth century in its pride, nor the fourth century B.C. in its contempt, would have all the truth upon its side.[*] The difference in viewpoint, however, must still stand. Preeminently Athens may be called the "City of the Simple Life." Bearing this fact in mind, we may follow the multitude and enter the Marketplace; or, to use the name that stamps it as a peculiarly Greek institution,—the Agora.

[*]The mere matter of CLIMATE would of course have to come in as a serious factor. The Athenian would have found his life becoming infinitely more complex along the material side when he tried to live like a "kalos-k'agathos"—i.e. a "noble and good man," or a "gentleman,"—in a land where the thermometer might sink to 15 degrees below zero Fahrenheit (or even lower) from time to time during the winter.



Chapter III. The Agora and its Denizens.



13. The Buildings around the Agora.—Full market time![*] The great plaza of the Agora is buzzing with life. The contrast between the dingy, dirty streets and this magnificent public plaza is startling. The Athenians manifestly care little for merely private display, rather they frown upon it; their wealth, patriotism, and best artistic energy seem all lavished upon their civic establishments and buildings.

[*]Between nine and twelve A.M.

The Agora is a square of spacious dimensions, planted here and there with graceful bay trees. Its greatest length runs north and south. Ignoring for the time the teeming noisy swarms of humanity, let our eyes be directed merely upon the encircling buildings. The place is almost completely enclosed by them, although not all are of equal elegance or pretension. Some are temples of more or less size, like the temple of the "Paternal Apollo" near the southwestern angle; or the "Metroon," the fane of Cybele "the Great Mother of the Gods," upon the south. Others are governmental buildings; somewhat behind the Metroon rise the imposing pillars of the Council House, where the Five Hundred are deliberating on the policy of Athens; and hard by that is the Tholos, the "Round House," with a peaked, umbrella-shaped roof, beneath which the sacred public hearth fire is ever kept burning, and where the presiding Committee of the Council[*] and certain high officials take their meals, and a good deal of state business is transacted. The majority of these buildings upon the Agora, however, are covered promenades, porticoes, or stoe.

[*]This select committee was known technically as the "Prytanes."

The stoe are combinations of rain shelters, shops, picture galleries, and public offices. Turn under the pillars of the "Royal Stoa" upon the west, and you are among the whispering, nudging, intent crowd of listeners, pushing against the barriers of a low court. Long rows of jurors are sitting on their benches; the "King Archon" is on the president's stand, and some poor wight is being arraigned on a charge of "Impiety"[*]; while on the walls behind stand graved and ancient laws of Draco and Solon.

[*]The so-called "King Archon" had special cognizance of most cases involving religious questions; and his court was in this stoa.

Cross the square, and on the opposite side is one of the most magnificent of the porticoes, the "Painted Porch" ("Stoa Poikile"), a long covered walk, a delightful refuge alike from sun and rain. Almost the entire length of the inner walls (for it has columns only on the side of the Agora) is covered with vivid frescoes. Here Polygnotus and other master painters have spread out the whole legendary story of the capture of Troy and of the defeat of the Amazons; likewise the more historical tale of the battle of Marathon. Yet another promenade, the "Stoa of Zeus," is sacred to Zeus, Giver of Freedom. The walls are not frescoed, but hung with the shields of valiant Athenian warriors.

In the open spaces of the plaza itself are various alters, e.g. to the "Twelve Gods," and innumerable statues of local worthies, as of Harmodius and Aristogeiton, the tyrant-slayers; while across the center, cutting the Market Place from east to west, runs a line of stone posts, each surmounted with a rude bearded head of Hermes, the trader's god; and each with its base plastered many times over with all kinds of official and private placards and notices.

14. The Life in the Agora.—So much for the physical setting of the Agora: of far greater interest surely are the people. The whole square is abounding with noisy activity. If an Athenian has no actual business to transact, he will at least go to the Agora to get the morning news. Two turns under the "Painted Porch" will tell him the last rumor as to the foreign policy of Thebes; whether it is true that old King Agesilaus has died at Sparta; whether corn is likely to be high, owning to a failure of crops in the Euxine (Black Sea) region; whether the "Great King" of Persia is prospering in his campaign against Egypt. The crowd is mostly clad in white, though often the cloaks of the humbler visitors are dirty, but there is a sprinkling of gay colors,—blue, orange, and pink. Everybody is talking at once in melodious Attic; everybody (since they are all true children of the south) is gesticulating at once. To the babel of human voices is added the wheezing whistle of donkeys, the squealing of pigs, the cackle of poultry. Besides, from many of the little factories and workshops on or near the Agora a great din is rising. The clamor is prodigious. Criers are stalking up and down the square, one bawling out that Andocides has lost a valuable ring and will pay well to recover it; another the Pheidon has a desirable horse that he will sell cheap. One must stand still for some moments and let eye and ear accustom themselves to such utter confusion.

15. The Booths and Shops in the Agora.—At length out of the chaos there seems to emerge a certain order. The major part of the square is covered with little booths of boards and wicker work, very frail and able to be folded up, probably every night. There are little lanes winding amid these booths; and each manner of huckster has its own especial "circle" or section of the market. "Go to the wine," "to the fish," "to the myrtles" (i.e. the flowers), are common directions for finding difficult parts of the Agora. Trade is mostly on a small scale,—the stock of each vendor is distinctly limited in its range, and Athens is without "department stores." Behind each low counter, laden with its wares, stands the proprietor, who keeps up a din from leathern lungs: "Buy my oil!" "Buy charcoal!" "Buy sausage!" etc., until he is temporarily silenced while dealing with a customer.

In one "circle" may be found onions and garlic (a favorite food of the poor); a little further on are the dealers in wine, fruit, and garden produce. Lentils and peas can be had either raw, or cooked and ready to eat on the spot. An important center is the bread market. The huge cylindrical loaves are handed out by shrewd old women with proverbially long tongues. Whosoever upsets one of their delicately balanced piles of loaves is certain of an artistic tongue lashing. Elsewhere there is a pottery market, a clothes market, and, nearer the edge of the Agora, are "circles," where objects of real value are sold, like jewelry, chariots, good furniture. In certain sections, too, may be seen strong-voiced individuals, with little trays swung by straps before them, pacing to and fro, and calling out, not foods, but medicines, infallible cure-alls for every human distemper. Many are the unwary fools who patronize them.

16. The Flower and the Fish Vendors.—Two circles attract especial attention, the Myrtles and the Fish. Flowers and foliage, especially when made up into garlands, are absolutely indispensable to the average Greek. Has he a great family festival, e.g. the birth of a son, then every guest should wear a crown of olives; is it a wedding, then one of flowers.[*] Oak-leaves do the honors for Zeus; laurel for Apollo; myrtle for Aphrodite (and is not the Love-Goddess the favorite?). To have a social gathering without garlands, in short, is impossible. The flower girls of Athens are beautiful, impudent, and not at all prudish. Around their booths press bold-tongued youths, and not too discreet sires; and the girls can call everybody familiarly by name. Very possibly along with the sale of the garlands they make arrangements (if the banquet is to be of the less respectable kind) to be present in the evening themselves, perhaps in the capacity of flute girls.

[*]The Greeks lacked many of our common flowers. Their ordinary flowers were white violets, narcissus, lilies, crocuses, blue hyacinths, and roses ("the Flower of Zeus"). The usual garland was made of myrtle or ivy and then entwined with various flowers.

More reputable, though not less noisy, is the fish market. Athenians boast themselves of being no hearty "meat eaters" like their Boeotian neighbors, but of preferring the more delicate fish. No dinner party is successful without a seasonable course of fish. The arrival of a fresh cargo from the harbor is announced by the clanging of a bell, which is likely to leave all the other booths deserted, while a crowd elbows around the fishmonger. He above all others commands the greatest flow of billingsgate, and is especially notorious for his arrogant treatment of his customers, and for exacting the uttermost farthing. The "Fish" and the "Myrtles" can be sure of a brisk trade on days when all the other booth keepers around the Agora stand idle.

All this trade, of course, cannot find room in the booths of the open Agora. Many hucksters sit on their haunches on the level ground with their few wares spread before them. Many more have little stands between the pillars of the stoe; and upon the various streets that converge on the market there is a fringe of shops, but these are usually of the more substantial sort. Here are the barbers' shops, the physicians' offices (if the good leech is more than an itinerant quack), and all sorts of little factories, such as smithies, where the cutler's apprentices in the rear of the shop forge the knives which the proprietor sells over the counter, the slave repositories, and finally wine establishments of no high repute, where wine may not merely be bought by the skin (as in the main Agora), but by the potful to be drunk on the premises.

17. The Morning Visitors to the Agora.—The first tour of inspection completed, several facts become clear to the visitor. One is the extraordinarily large proportion of MEN among the moving multitudes. Except for the bread women and the flower girls, hardly one female is to be found among the sellers. Among the purchasers there is not a single reputable lady. No Athenian gentlewoman dreams of frequenting the Agora. Even a poor man's wife prefers to let her spouse do the family marketing. As for the "men folk," the average gentleman will go daily indeed to the Agora, but if he is really pretentious, it will be merely to gossip and to meet his friends; a trusted servant will attend to the regular purchasing. Only when an important dinner party is on hand will the master take pains to order for himself. If he does purchase in person, he will never CARRY anything himself. The slaves can attend to that; and only the slaveless (the poorest of all) must take away their modest rations of boiled lentils, peas, beans, onions, and garlic, usually in baskets, though yonder now is a soldier who is bearing off a measure of boiled peas inside his helmet.

Another thing is striking. The average poor Athenian seems to have no purse. Or rather he uses the purse provided by nature. At every booth one can see unkempt buyers solemnly taking their small change from their mouths.[*] Happy the people that has not learned the twentieth century wisdom concerning microbes! For most Athenians seem marvelously healthy.

[*]A wealthier purchaser would, of course, have his own pouch, or more probably one carried for him by a slave.

Still one other fact is brought home constantly. "Fixed prices" are absolutely unknown. The slightest transaction involves a war of bargaining. Wits are matched against wits, and only after a vast deal of wind do buyer and seller reach a fair compromise. All this makes retail trade in the Agora an excellent school for public affairs or litigation.

18. The Leisured Class in Athens.—Evidently Athens, more than many later-day cities, draws clear lines between the workers and the "gentlemen of leisure." There is no distinction of dress between the numerous slaves and the humbler free workers and traders; but there is obvious distinction between the artisan of bent shoulders who shambles out of yonder pungent tannery, with his scant garments girded around him, and the graceful gentleman of easy gestures and flowing drapery who moves towards the Tholos. There is great POLITICAL democracy in Athens, but not so much SOCIAL democracy. "Leisure," i.e. exemption from every kind of sordid, money-getting, hard work, is counted the true essential for a respectable existence, and to live on the effort of others and to devote oneself to public service or to letters and philosophy is the open satisfaction or the private longing of every Athenian.

A great proportion of these, therefore, who frequent the Agora are not here on practical business, unless they have official duties at the government offices.[*] But in no city of any age has the gracious art of doing nothing been brought to such perfection. The Athenians are an intensely gregarious people. Everybody knows everybody else. Says an orator, "It is impossible for a man to be either a rascal or an honest man in this city without your all knowing it." Few men walk long alone; if they do keep their own company, they are frowned on as "misanthropes." The morning visit to the Agora "to tell or to hear some new thing"[+] will be followed by equally delightful idling and conversation later in the day at the Gymnasia, and later still, probably, at the dinner-party. Easy and unconventional are the personal greetings. A little shaking out of the mantle, an indescribable flourish with the hands. A free Greek will despise himself for "bowing," even to the Great King. To clasp hands implies exchanging a pledge, something for more than mere salutation.

"Chaire, Aristomenes!"

"Chaire, Cleandros!"

Such is the usual greeting, using an expressive word which can mean equally well "hail!" and "farewell!"

[*]To serve the state in any official capacity (usually without any salary attached to the office) would give the highest satisfaction to any Greek. The desire for participation in public affairs might be described as a mania.

[+]Acts of the Apostles, 17:21.

19. Familiar Types around the Agora.—These animated, eager-faced men whose mantles fall in statuesque folds prefer obviously to walk under the Painted Porch, or the blue roof of heaven, while they evolve their philosophies, mature their political schemes, or organize the material for their orations and dramas, rather than to bend over desks within close offices. Around the Athenian Agora, a true type of this preference, and busy with this delightful idleness, half a century earlier could have been seen a droll figure with "indescribable nose, bald head, round body, eyes rolling and twinkling with good humor," scantily clad,—an incorrigible do-nothing, windbag, and hanger-on, a later century might assert,—yet history has given to him the name of Socrates.

Not all Athenians, of course, make such justifiable use of their idleness. There are plenty of young men parading around in long trailing robes, their hair oiled and curled most effeminately, their fingers glittering with jewels,—"ring-loaded, curly-locked coxcombs," Aristophanes, the comic poet, has called them,—and they are here only for silly display. Also there are many of their elders who have no philosophy or wit to justify their continuous talking; nevertheless, all considered, it must be admitted that the Athenian makes a use of their dearly loved "leisure," which men of a more pragmatic race will do well to consider as the fair equivalent of much frantic zeal for "business." Athenian "leisure" has already given the world Pericles, Thucydides, Aeschylus, Sophocles, Euripides, Socrates, and Plato, not to name such artists as Phidias, whose profession cannot exempt them from a certain manual occupation.

20. The Barber Shops.—This habit of genteel idleness naturally develops various peculiar institutions. For example, the barber shops are almost club rooms. Few Hellenes at this time shave their beards[*], but to go with unkempt whiskers and with too long hair is most disgraceful. The barber shops, booths, or little rooms let into the street walls of the houses, are therefore much frequented. The good tonsors have all the usual arts. They can dye gray hair brown or black; they can wave or curl their patrons' locks (and an artificially curled head is no disgrace to a man). Especially, they keep a good supply of strong perfumes; for many people will want a little scent on their hair each morning, even if they wish no other attention. But it is not an imposition to a barber to enter his shop, yet never move towards his low stool before the shining steel mirror. Anybody is welcome to hang around indefinitely, listening to the proprietor's endless flow of talk. He will pride himself on knowing every possible bit of news or rumor: Had the Council resolved on a new fleet-building program? Had the Tyrant of Syracuse's "four" the best chance in the chariot race in the next Olympic games? The garrulity of barbers is already proverbial.

[*] Alexander the Great (336-323 B.C.) required his soldiers to be shaved (as giving less grasp for the enemy!), and the habit then spread generally through the whole Hellenic world.

"How shall I cut your hair, sir?" once asked the court tonsure of King Archelaus of Macedon.

"In silence," came the grim answer.

But the proprietor will not do all the talking. Everybody in the little room will join. Wits will sharpen against wits; and if the company is of a grave and respectable sort, the conversation will grow brisk upon Plato's theory of the "reality of ideas," upon Euripides's interpretation of the relations of God to man, or upon the spiritual symbolism of Scopas's bas-reliefs at Halicarnassus.

The barber shops by the Agora then are essential portions of Athenian social life. Later we shall see them supplemented by the Gymnasia;—but the Agora has detained us long enough. The din and crowds are lessening. People are beginning to stream homeward. It lacks a little of noon according to the "time-staff" (gnomon), a simple sun dial which stands near one of the porticoes, and we will now follow some Athenian gentleman towards his dwelling.



Chapter IV. The Athenian House and its Furnishings.



21. Following an Athenian Gentleman Homeward.—Leaving the Agora and reentering the streets the second impression of the residence districts becomes more favorable. There are a few bay trees planted from block to block; and ever and anon the monotonous house walls recede, giving space to display some temple, like the Fane of Hephestos[*] near the Market Place, its columns and pediment flashing not merely with white marble, but with the green, scarlet, and gold wherewith the Greeks did not hesitate to decorate their statuary.

[*]Wrongly called the "Theseum" in modern Athens.

At street corners and opposite important mansions a Hermes-bust like those in the plaza rises, and a very few houses have a couple of pillars at their entrances and some outward suggestion of hidden elegance.

We observe that almost the entire crowd leaving the Agora goes on foot. To ride about in a chariot is a sign of undemocratic presumption; while only women or sick men will consent to be borne in a litter. We will select a sprucely dressed gentleman who has just been anointed in a barber's shop and accompany him to his home. He is neither one of the decidedly rich, otherwise his establishment would be exceptional, not typical, nor is he of course one of the hard-working poor. Followed by perhaps two clean and capable serving lads, he wends his way down several of the narrow lanes that lie under the northern brow of the Acropolis[*]. Before a plain solid house door he halts and cries, "Pai! Pai!" ["Boy! Boy!"]. There is a rattle of bolts and bars. A low-visaged foreign-born porter, whose business it is to show a surly front to all unwelcome visitors, opens and gives a kind of salaam to his master; while the porter's huge dog jumps up barking and pawing joyously.

[*]This would be a properly respectable quarter of the city, but we do not know of any really "aristocratic residence district" in Athens.

As we enter behind him (carefully advancing with right foot foremost, for it is bad luck to tread a threshold with the LEFT) we notice above the lintel some such inscription as "Let no evil enter here!" or "To the Good Genius," then a few steps through a narrow passage bring us into the Aula, the central court, the indispensable feature of every typical Greek house.

22. The Type and use of a Greek House.—All domestic architecture, later investigators will discover, falls into two great categories—of the northern house and the southern house. The northern house begins with a single large room, "the great hall," then lesser rooms are added to it. It gets its light from windows in the outer walls, and it is covered by a single steep roof. The southern (Greek and Oriental) house is a building inclosing a rectangular court. The rooms, many or few, get their light from this court, while they are quite shut off from the world outside. All in all, for warm climates this style of house is far more airy, cool, comfortable than the other. The wide open court becomes the living room of the house save in very inclement weather.

Socrates is reported to have uttered what was probably the average sensible view about a good house.[*] The good house, he thought, should be cool in summer, and warm in winter, convenient for the accommodation of the family and its possessions. The central rooms should therefore be lofty and should open upon the south, yet for protection in summer there should be good projecting eaves (over the court) and again the rooms on the northern exposure should be made lower. All this is mere sense, but really the average male Athenian does not care a great deal about his dwelling. He spends surprisingly little money beautifying it. Unless he is sick, he will probably be at home only for sleeping and eating. The Agora, the Public Assembly, the Jury Courts, the Gymnasium, the great religious festivals consume his entire day. "I never spend my time indoors," says Xenophon's model Athenian, "my wife is well able to run the household by herself."[+] Such being the case, even wealthy men have very simple establishments, although it is at length complained (e.g. by Demosthenes) that people are now building more luxurious houses, and are not content with the plain yet sufficient dwellings of the great age of Pericles.[@]

[*]In Xenophon's "Memorabilia," III. 8, sections 9,10.

[+]Xenophon, "Economics," VII. 3.

[@]Very probably in such outlying Greek cities as Syracuse, Taras (Tarentum), etc., more elegant houses could be found than any at this time in Athens.

23. The Plan of a Greek House.—The plan of a Greek house naturally varies infinitely according to the size of the land plot, the size of the owner's family, his own taste, and wealth. It will usually be rectangular, with the narrower side toward the street; but this is not invariable. In the larger houses there will be two courts (aule), one behind the other, and each with its own circuit of dependent chambers. The court first entered will be the Andronitis (the Court of the Men), and may be even large enough to afford a considerable promenade for exercise. Around the whole of the open space run lines of simple columns, and above the opening swings an awning if the day is very hot. In the very center rises a small stone alter with a statue of Zeus the Protector (Zeus Herkeios), where the father of the family will from time to time offer sacrifice, acting as the priest for the household. Probably already on the alter there has been laid a fresh garland; if not, the newcomers from the Agora have now fetched one.

+ -+ GARDEN + + -+ + Conjectural Plan for the House Y D Y of A Wealthy Athenian. + +=+ -= -+=+ + A = Alter of Zeus Herkelos. B = Alter of Hestia. Y = o o o o = Y C = Entrance Hall. o o D = Kitchen. + + GYNAECONITIS + + T = Thalmos. o o T' = Anti-thalmos. Y = o o o o = Y X = Rooms for the Men. Y = Rooms for the Women. + +=+ -=-+ -+=+ + B o T + -+ T' ANDRON + + + + X X + +=+ ' ' +=+ + X = o o o o = X + + o A o + + X = o O o = X + + ANDRONITIS + + X = o o o o = X + +=+-=-+ +-=-+=+ + X X C X X + + -+===+ -+ +

The Andronitis is the true living room of the house: here the master will receive his visitors, here the male slaves will work, and the women also busy themselves (promptly retiring, however, on the appearance of masculine strangers). The decoration is very plain: the walls are neatly tinted with some kind of wash; the floor is of simple plaster, or, in a humbler house, common earth pounded hard. Under the colonnade at all four sides open the various chambers, possibly twelve in all. They really are cells or compartments rather than rooms, small and usually lighted only by their doors. Some are used for storerooms, some for sleeping closets for the male slaves and for the grown-up sons of the house, if there are any. Dark, ill ventilated, and most scantily furnished, it is no wonder that the average Athenian loves the Agora better than his chamber.

The front section of the house is now open to us, but it is time to penetrate farther. Directly behind the open court is a sizable chamber forming a passage to the inner house. This chamber is the Andron, the dining hall and probably the most pretentious room in the house. Here the guests will gather for the dinner party, and here in one corner smokes the family hearth, once the real fire for the whole household cooking, but now merely a symbol of the domestic worship. It is simply a little round alter sacred to Hestia, the hearth goddess,[*] and on its duly rekindled flame little "meat offerings and drink offerings" are cast at every meal, humble or elaborate.

[*]Who corresponds to the Roman goddess Vesta.

In the rear wall of the Andron facing the Andronitis is a solid door. We are privileged guests indeed if we pass it. Only the father, sons, or near male kinsmen of the family are allowed to go inside, for it leads into the Gyneconitis, the hall of the women. To thrust oneself into the Gyneconitis of even a fairly intimate friend is a studied insult at Athens, and sure to be resented by bodily chastisement, social ostracism, and a ruinous legal prosecution. The Gyneconitis is in short the Athenian's holy of holies. Their women are forbidden to participate in so much of public life that their own peculiar world is especially reserved to them. To invade this world is not bad breeding; it is social sacrilege.

In the present house, the home of a well-to-do family, the Gyneconitis forms a second pillared court with adjacent rooms of substantially the same size and shape as the Andronitis. One of the rooms in the very rear is proclaimed by the clatter of pots and pans and the odor of a frying turbot to be the kitchen; others are obviously the sleeping closets of the slave women. On the side nearest to the front of the house, but opening itself upon this inner court, is at least one bed chamber of superior size. This is the Thalamos, the great bedroom of the master and mistress, and here are kept all the most costly furnishings and ornaments in the house. If there are grown-up unmarried daughters, they have another such bedroom (anti-thalamos) that is much larger than the cells of the slave girls. Another special room is set apart for the working of wool, although this chief occupation of the female part of the household is likely to be carried on in the open inner court itself, if the weather is fine. Here, around a little flower bed, slave girls are probably spinning and embroidering, young children playing or quarreling, and a tame quail is hopping about and watching for a crumb. There are in fact a great many people in a relatively small space; everything is busy, chattering, noisy, and confusing to an intruding stranger.

24. Modifications in the Typical Plan.—These are the essential features of an Athenian house. If the establishment is a very pretentious one, there may be a small garden in the rear carefully hedged against intruders by a lofty wall.[*] More probably the small size of the house lot would force simplifications in the scheme already stated. In a house one degree less costly, the Gyneconitis would be reduced to a mere series of rooms shut off in the rear. In more simple houses still there would be no interior section of the house at all. The women of the family would be provided for by a staircase rising from the main hall to a second story, and here a number of upper chambers would give the needful seclusion.[+] Of course as one goes down the social scale, the houses grow simpler and simpler. Small shops are set into the street wall at either side of the entrance door, and on entering one finds himself in a very limited and utterly dingy court with a few dirty compartments opening thence, which it would be absurd to dignify by the name of "rooms." Again one ceases to wonder that the male Athenians are not "home folk" and are glad to leave their houses to the less fortunate women!

[*]Such a luxury would not be common in city houses; land would be too valuable.

[+]Houses of more than two stories seem to have been unknown in Athens. The city lacked the towering rookeries of tenements (insule) which were characteristic of Rome; sometimes, however, a house seems to have been shared between several families.

25. Rents and House Values.—Most native Athenians own their houses. Houses indeed can be rented, usually by the foreign traders and visitors who swam into the city; and at certain busy seasons one can hire "lodgings" for a brief sojourn. Rents are not unreasonable, 8% or 8 1/3% of the value of the house being counted a fair annual return. But the average citizen is also a householder, because forsooth houses are very cheap. The main cost is probably for the land. The chief material used in building, sun-dried brick, is very unsubstantial,[*] and needs frequent repairs, but is not expensive. Demosthenes the Orator speaks of a "little house" (doubtless of the kind last described) worth only seven minue [about $126.00 (1914) or $2,242.80 (2000)], and this is not the absolute minimum. A very rich banker has had one worth 100 minue [about $1,800.00 (1914) or $32,040.00 (2000)], and probably this is close to the maximum. The rent question is not therefore one of the pressing problems at Athens.

[*]This material was so friable and poor that the Greek burglar was known as a "Wall-digger." It did not pay him to pick a lock; it was simpler for him to quarry his way through the wall with a pickax.

26. The Simple yet Elegant Furnishings of an Athenian Home.—These houses, even owned by the lordly rich, are surprisingly simple in their furnishings. The accumulation of heavy furniture, wall decorations, and bric-a-brac which will characterize the dwellings of a later age, would be utterly offensive to an Athenian—contradicting all his ideas of harmony and "moderation." The Athenian house lacks of course bookcases and framed pictures. It probably too lacks any genuine closets. Beds, couches, chairs (usually backless), stools, footstools, and small portable tables,—these alone seem in evidence. In place of bureaus, dressers and cupboards, there are huge chests, heavy and carved, in which most of the household gear can be locked away. In truth, the whole style of Greek household life expresses that simplicity on which we have already commented. Oriental carpets are indeed met with, but they are often used as wall draperies or couch covers rather than upon the floors. Greek costume (see p. 43) is so simple that there is small need for elaborate chests of drawers, and a line of pegs upon the wall cares for most of the family wardrobe.

All this is true; yet what furniture one finds is fashioned with commendable grace. There is a marked absence of heavy and unhealthful upholstery; but the simple bed (four posts sustaining a springless cushion stuffed with feathers or wool) has its woodwork adorned with carving which is a true mean betwixt the too plain and the too ornate; and the whole bed is given an elegant effect by the magnificently embroidered scarlet tapestry which overspreads it. The lines of the legs of the low wooden tables which are used at the dinner parties will be a lesson (if we have time to study them) upon just proportion and the value of subtle curves. Moreover, the different household vessels, the stone and bronze lamps, the various table dishes, even the common pottery put to the humblest uses, all have a beauty, a chaste elegance, a saving touch of deft ornamentation, which transforms them out of "kitchen ware" into works of art. Those black water pots covered with red-clay figures which the serving maids are bearing so carelessly into the scullery at the screaming summons of the cook will be some day perchance the pride of a museum, and teach a later age that costly material and aristocratic uses are not needful to make an article supremely beautiful.

Of course the well-to-do Athenian is proud to possess certain "valuables." He will have a few silver cups elegantly chased, and at least one diner's couch in the andron will be made of rare imported wood, and be inlaid with gilt or silver. On festival days the house will be hung with brilliant and elaborately wrought tapestries which will suddenly emerge from the great chests. Also, despite frowns and criticisms, the custom is growing of decorating one's walls with bright-lined frescoes after the manner of the Agora colonnades. In the course of a few generations the homes of the wealthier Greeks will come to resemble those of the Romans, such as a later age has resurrected at Pompeii.



Chapter V. The Women of Athens.



27. How Athenian Marriages are Arranged.—Over this typical Athenian home reigns the wife of the master. Public opinion frowns upon celibacy, and there are relatively few unmarried men in Athens. An Athenian girl is brought up with the distinct expectation of matrimony.[*] Opportunities for a romance almost never will come her way; but it is the business of her parents to find her a suitable husband. If they are kindly people of good breeding, their choice is not likely to be a very bad one. If they have difficulties, they can engage a professional "matchmaker," a shrewd old woman who, for a fee, will hunt out an eligible young man. Marriage is contracted primarily that there may be legitimate children to keep up the state and to perpetuate the family. That the girl should have any will of her own in the matter is almost never thought of. Very probably she has never seen "Him," save when they both were marching in a public religious procession, or at some rare family gathering (a marriage or a funeral) when there were outside guests. Besides she will be "given away" when only about fifteen, and probably has formed no intelligent opinion or even prejudices on the subject.

[*]The vile custom of exposing unwelcome female babies probably created a certain preponderance of males in Attica, and made it relatively easy to marry off a desirable young girl.

If a young man (who will marry at about thirty) is independent in life, the negotiations will be with him directly. If he is still dependent on the paternal allowance, the two sets of parents will usually arrange matters themselves, and demand only the formal consent of the prospective bridegroom. He will probably accept promptly this bride whom his father has selected; if not, he risks a stormy encounter with his parents, and will finally capitulate. He has perhaps never seen "Her," and can only hope things are for the best; and after all she is so young that his friends tell him that he can train her to be very useful and obedient if he will only take pains. The parents, or, failing them, the guardians, adjust the dowry—the lump sum which the bride will bring with her towards the new establishment.[*] Many maxims enjoin "marry only your equal in fortune." The poor man who weds an heiress will not be really his own master; the dread of losing the big dowry will keep him in perpetual bondage to her whims.

[*]The dowry was a great protection to the bride. If her husband divorced her (as by law he might), the dowry must be repaid to her guardians with 18 per cent. interest.

28. Lack of Sentiment in Marriages.—Sometimes marriages are arranged in which any sentiment is obviously prohibited. A father can betroth his daughter by will to some kinsman, who is to take her over as his bride when he takes over the property. A husband can bequeath his wife to some friend who is likely to treat her and the orphan children with kindness. Such affairs occur every day. Do the Athenian women revolt at these seemingly degrading conditions, wherein they are handed around like slaves, or even cattle?—According to the tragic poets they do. Sophocles (in the "Tereus") makes them lament,

"We women are nothing;—happy indeed is our childhood, for THEN we are thoughtless; but when we attain maidenhood, lo! we are driven away from our homes, sold as merchandise, and compelled to marry and say 'All's well.'"

Euripides is even more bitter in his "Medea":—

Surely of creatures that have life and wit, We women are of all things wretchedest, Who first must needs, as buys the highest bidder, Thus buy a husband, and our body's master.[*/

[*]Way's translation.

29. Athenian Marriage Rites.—However, thus runs public custom. At about fifteen the girl must leave her mother's fostering care and enter the house of the stranger. The wedding is, of course, a great ceremony; and here, if nowhere else, Athenian women can surely prepare, flutter, and ordain to their heart's content. After the somewhat stiff and formal betrothal before witnesses (necessary to give legal effect to the marriage), the actual wedding will probably take place,—perhaps in a few days, perhaps with a longer wait till the favorite marriage month Gamelion [January].[*] Then on a lucky night of the full moon the bride, having, no doubt tearfully, dedicated to Artemis her childish toys, will be decked in her finest and will come down, all veiled, into her father's torchlit aula, swarming now with guests. Here will be at last that strange master of her fate, the bridegroom and his best man (paranymphos). Her father will offer sacrifice (probably a lamb), and after the sacrifice everybody will feast on the flesh of the victim; and also share a large flat cake of pounded sesame seeds roasted and mixed with honey. As the evening advances the wedding car will be outside the door. The mother hands the bride over to the groom, who leads her to the chariot, and he and the groomsman sit down, one on either side, while with torches and song the friends to with the car in jovial procession to the house of the young husband.

[*]This winter month was sacred to Hera, the marriage guardian.

"Ho, Hymen! Ho, Hymen! Hymeneous! Io!"

So rings the refrain of the marriage song; and all the doorways and street corners are crowded with onlookers to shout fair wishes and good-natured raillery.

At the groom's house there is a volley of confetti to greet the happy pair. The bride stops before the threshold to eat a quince.[*] There is another feast,—possibly riotous fun and hard drinking. At last the bride is led, still veiled, to the perfumed and flower-hung marriage chamber. The doors close behind the married pair. Their friends sing a merry rollicking catch outside, the Epithalamium. The great day has ended. The Athenian girl has experienced the chief transition of her life.

[*]The symbol of fertility.

30. The Mental Horizon of Athenian Women.—Despite the suggestions in the poets, probably the normal Athenian woman is neither degraded nor miserable. If she is a girl of good ancestry and the usual bringing up, she has never expected any other conditions than these. She knows that her parents care for her and have tried to secure for her a husband who will be her guardian and solace when they are gone. Xenophon's ideal young husband, Ischomachus, says he married his wife at the age of fifteen.[*] She had been "trained to see and to hear as little as possible"; but her mother had taught her to have a sound control of her appetite and of all kinds of self-indulgence, to take wool and to make a dress of it, and to manage the slave maids in their spinning tasks. She was at first desperately afraid of her husband, and it was some time before he had "tamed" her sufficiently to discuss their household problems freely. Then Ischomachus made her join with him in a prayer to the gods that "he might teach and she might learn all that could conduce to their joint happiness"; after which they took admirable counsel together, and her tactful and experienced husband (probably more than twice her age) trained her into a model housewife.

[*]See Xenophon's "The Economist," VII ff. The more pertinent passages are quoted in W. S. Davis's "Readings in Ancient History," Vol. I, pp. 265-271.

31. The Honor paid Womanhood in Athens.—Obviously from a young woman with a limited intellectual horizon the Athenian gentleman can expect no mental companionship; but it is impossible that he can live in the world as a keenly intelligent being, and not come to realize the enormous value of the "woman spirit" as it affects all things good. Hera, Artemis, Aphrodite, above all Pallas-Athena,—city-warder of Athens,—who are they all but idealizations of that peculiar genius which wife, mother, and daughter show forth every day in their homes? An Athenian never allows his wife to visit the Agora. She cannot indeed go outside the house without his express permission, and only then attended by one or two serving maids; public opinion will likewise frown upon the man who allowed his wife to appear in public too freely[*]; nevertheless there are compensations. Within her home the Athenian woman is within her kingdom. Her husband will respect her, because he will respect himself. Brutal and harsh he may possibly be, but that is because he is also brutal and harsh in his outside dealings. In extreme cases an outraged wife can sue for divorce before the archon. And very probably in ninety-nine cases out of a hundred the Athenian woman is contented with her lot: partly because she knows of nothing better; partly because she has nothing concrete whereof to complain.

[*]Hypereides, the orator, says, "The woman who goes out of her own home ought to be of such an age that when men meet her, the question is not 'Who is her husband?' but 'Whose mother is she?'" Pericles, in the great funeral oration put in his mouth by Thucydides, says that the best women are those who are talked of for good or ill the very least.

Doubtless it is because an Athenian house is a "little oasis of domesticity," tenderly guarded from all insult,—a miniature world whose joys and sorrows are not to be shared by the outer universe,—that the Athenian treats the private affairs of his family as something seldom to be shared, even with an intimate friend. Of individual women we hear and see little in Athens, but of NOBLE WOMANHOOD a great deal. By a hundred tokens, delightful vase paintings, noble monuments, poetic myths, tribute is paid to the self-mastery, the self-forgetfulness, the courage, the gentleness "of the wives and mothers who have made Athens the beacon of Hellas"; and there is one witness better than all the rest. Along the "Street of Tombs," by the gate of the city, runs the long row of stele (funeral monuments), inimitable and chaste memorials to the beloved dead; and here we meet, many times over, the portrayal of a sorrow too deep for common lament, the sorrow for the lovely and gracious figures who have passed into the great Mystery. Along the Street of the Tombs the wives and mothers of Athens are honored not less than the wealthy, the warriors, or the statesmen.

32. The Sphere of Action of Athenian Women.—Assuredly the Athenian house mother cannot match her husband in discussing philosophy or foreign politics, but she has her own home problems and confronts them well. A dozen or twenty servants must be kept busy. From her, all the young children must get their first education, and the girls probably everything they are taught until they are married. Even if she does not meet many men, she will strive valiantly to keep the good opinion of her husband. If she has shapely feet and hands (whereupon great stress is laid in Hellas), she will do her utmost to display them to the greatest advantage[*]; and she has, naturally, plenty of other vanities (see section 38). Her husband has turned over to her the entire management of the household. This means that if he is an easy-going man, she soon understands his home business far better than he does himself, and really has him quite at her mercy. Between caring for her husband's wants, nursing the sick slaves, acting as arbitress in their inevitable disputes, keeping a constant watch upon the storeroom, and finally in attending to the manufacture of nearly all the family clothing, she is not likely to rust in busy idleness, or sit complaining of her lot. At the many great public festivals she is always at least an onlooker and often she marches proudly in the magnificent processions. She is allowed to attend the tragedies in the theater.[+] Probably, too, the family will own a country farm, and spend a part of the year thereon. Here she will be allowed a delightful freedom of movement, impossible in the closely built city. All in all, then, she will complain of too much enforced activity rather than of too much idleness.

[*]The custom of wearing sandals instead of shoes of course aided the developing of beautiful feet.

[+]Not the comedies—they were too broad for refined women. But the fact that Athenian ladies seem to have been allowed to attend the tragedies is a tribute to their intellectual capacities. Only an acute and intelligent mind can follow Aeschylus, Sophocles, and Euripides.

Nevertheless our judgment upon the Athenian women is mainly one of regret. Even if not discontented with their lot, they are not realizing the full possibilities which Providence has placed within the reach of womanhood, much less the womanhood of the mothers of the warriors, poets, orators, and other immortals of Athens. One great side of civilization which the city of Athens might develop and realize is left unrealized. THIS CIVILIZATION OF ATHENS IS TOO MASCULINE; it is therefore one sided, and in so far it does not realize that ideal "Harmony" which is the average Athenian's boast.



Chapter VI. Athenian Costume.



33. The General Nature of Greek Dress.—In every age the important kingdom of dress has been reserved for the peculiar sovereignty of woman. This is true in Athens, though not perhaps to the extent of later ages. Still an Athenian lady will take an interest in "purple and fine linen" far exceeding that of her husband, and where is there a more fitting place than this in which to answer for an Athenian, the ever important question "wherewithal shall I be clothed"?

Once again the Athenian climate comes in as a factor, this time in the problem of wardrobe. Two general styles of garment have divided the allegiance of the world,—the clothes that are PUT ON and the clothes that are WRAPPED AROUND. The former style, with its jackets, trousers, and leggings, is not absolutely unknown to the Athenians,—their old enemies, the Persians, wear these[*]; but such clumsy, inelegant garments are despised and ridiculed as fit only for the "Barbarians" who use them. They are not merely absurdly homely; they cannot even be thrown off promptly in an emergency, leaving the glorious human form free to put forth any noble effort. The Athenians wear the wrapped style of garments, which are, in final analysis, one or two large square pieces of cloth flung skillfully around the body and secured by a few well-placed pins. This costume is infinitely adjustable; it can be expanded into flowing draperies or contracted into an easy working dress by a few artful twitches. It can be nicely adjusted to meet the inevitable sense of "beauty" bred in the bone of every Athenian. True, on the cold days of midwinter the wearers will go about shivering; but cold days are the exception, warm days the rule, in genial Attica.[+]

[*]The Persians no doubt learned to use this style of garment during their life on the cold, windy steppes of Upper Asia, before they won their empire in the more genial south.

[+]The whole civilization of Athens was, of course, based on a climate in which artificial heat would be very little needed. A pot of glowing charcoal might be used to remove the chill of a room in the very coldest weather. Probably an Athenian would have regarded a climate in which furnace heat was demanded nearly eight months in the year as wholly unfit for civilized man.

This simplicity of costume has produced certain important results. There are practically no tailors in Athens, only cloth merchants, bleachers, and dyers. Again fashions (at least in the cut of the garments) seldom change. A cloak that was made in the days of Alcibiades (say 420 B.C.) can be worn with perfect propriety to-day (360 B.C.) if merely it has escaped without severe use or moth holes. It may be more usual this year to wear one's garments a little higher or a little more trailing than formerly; but THAT is simply a matter for a shifting of the pins or of the girdle.

As a result, the Athenian seldom troubles about his "spring" or "winter" suit. His simple woolen garments wear a very long time; and they have often been slowly and laboriously spun and woven by his wife and her slave girls. Of course even a poor man will try to have a few changes of raiment,—something solid and coarse for every day, something of finer wool and gayer color for public and private festivals. The rich man will have a far larger wardrobe, and will pride himself on not being frequently seen in the same dress; yet even his outfit will seem very meager to the dandies of a later age.

34. the Masculine Chiton, Himation, and Chlamya.—The essential garments of an Athenian man are only two—the CHITON and the HIMATION. The chiton may be briefly described as an oblong of woolen cloth large enough to wrap around the body somewhat closely, from the neck down to just above the knees. The side left open is fastened by fibule—elegantly wrought pins perhaps of silver or gold; in the closed side there is a slit for the arm. There is a girdle, and, if one wishes, the skirt of the chiton may be pulled up through it, and allowed to hang down in front, giving the effect of a blouse. The man of prompt action, the soldier, traveler, worker, is "well girded,"—his chiton is drawn high, but the deliberate old gentleman who parades the Agora, discussing poetry or statecraft, has his chiton falling almost to a trailing length. Only occasionally short sleeves were added to this very simple garment; they are considered effeminate, and are not esteemed. If one's arms get cold, one can protect them by pulling up the skirt, and wrapping the arms in the blouse thus created.

An Athenian gentleman when he is in the house wears nothing but his chiton; it is even proper for him to be seen wearing nothing else upon the streets, but then more usually he will add an outer cloak,—his HIMATION.

The himation is even simpler than the chiton. It is merely a generous oblong woolen shawl. There are innumerable ways of arranging it according to the impulse of the moment; but usually it has to be worn without pins, and that involves wrapping it rather tightly around the body, and keeping one of the hands confined to hold the cloak in place. That is no drawback, however, to a genteel wearer. It proclaims to the world that HE does not have to work, wearing his hands for a living; therefore he can keep them politely idle.[*] The adjustment of the himation is a work of great art. A rich man will often have a special slave whose business it is to arrange the hang and the folds before his master moves forth in public; and woe to the careless fellow if the effect fails to display due elegance and dignity!

[*]Workingmen often wore no himation, and had a kind of chiton (an exomis) which was especially arranged to leave them with free use of their arms.

There is a third garment sometimes worn by Athenians. Young men who wish to appear very active, and genuine travelers, also wear a CHLAMYS, a kind of circular mantle or cape which swings jauntily over their shoulders, and will give good protection in foul weather.

There are almost no other masculine garments. No shirts (unless the chiton be one), no underwear. In their costume, as in so many things else, the Athenians exemplify their oft-praised virtue of simplicity.

35. The Dress of the Women.—The dress of the women is like that of the men, but differs, of course, in complexity. They also have a chiton,[*] which is more elaborately made, especially in the arrangement of the blouse; and probably there is involved a certain amount of real SEWING[+]; not merely of PINNING.

[*]This robe was sometimes known by the Homeric name of PEPLOS.

[+]Probably with almost all Greek garments the main use of the needle was in the embroidery merely, or in the darning of holes and rents. It was by no means an essential in the real manufacture.

Greater care is needed in the adjustment of the "zone" (girdle), and half sleeves are the rule with women, while full sleeves are not unknown. A Greek lady again cannot imitate her husband, and appear in public in her chiton only. A himation, deftly adjusted, is absolutely indispensable whenever she shows herself outside the house.