A Day in Old Athens; a Picture of Athenian Life

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

ments 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

ent during their life on the cold, windy steppes of Upper

A pot of glowing charcoal might be used to remove the chill of a room in the very coldest weather. Probably an Athenian would

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

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

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 ge

ton; it is even proper for him to be seen wearing nothing else upon the

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 adjus

ind of chiton (an ex?mis) which was especially ar

active, and genuine travelers, also wear a CHLAMYS, a kind of circular mantle or cape wh

chiton be one), no underwear. In their costume, as in so many things

complexity. They also have a chiton,[*] which is more elaborately made, especially in the arrangement o

times known by the Ho

eedle was in the embroidery merely, or in the darning of holes a

e full sleeves are not unknown. A Greek lady again cannot imitate her husband, and appear in public in her chit

their mistress cools herself with a huge peacock-feather fan, one maid is busy over her hair; a second holds the round metallic mirror before her; a third stands ready to extend the jewel box whence she can select finger rings, earrings, gold armlets, chains for her neck and hair, as well as the indispensable brooches whereon the stability of the whole costume depends. When she rises to have her himation draped around her, the directions she gives reveal her whole bent and character. A di

o toughen their bodies by refraining from thick garments in cold weather. In hot w

t normally when he walks abroad, he will wear SANDALS, a simple solid pair of open soles tied to his feet by leather thongs passing between the toes. For hard country walking and for hunting there is something like a high leather boot,[*] though doubtl

boot with high soles to give

little discomfort. Of course certain trades require hats, e.g. sailors who can be almost identified by their rimless felt caps. Genteel travelers will wear wide-brimmed hats; but the ladies,

oming color on any common occasion for either sex;[+] and on festival days even grave and elderly men will appear with chitons worked with brilliant embroidery along the borders, and with splendid himatia of some single clear hue-violet, red, purple, blue, or yellow. As for the costume of the groom at a wedding, it is far indeed from the "conventional black" of more degenerate days. He may well wear a purple-edged white chiton of fine Milesian wool, a brilliant scarlet himation, sandals with blue thongs and clasps of gold, and a chaple

the mirror of the body

les T

nts of a non-committal brown, or, more probably, l

emy of the Hellene,-Old Age. Athenian women especially (though the men are not without their follies) are sometimes fond of rouge, false hair, and the like. Auburn hair is especially admired, and many fine dames bleach their tresses in a caustic wash to obtain it. The styles of feminine hair dressing seem to chang

, ridicule the foibl

s o

n hair Ni

o would hav

is hers, and

where she

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hes dye

nd washes b

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can contri

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otations probably date from a time considerably later than the hypothetical perio

s on these follies. Let us think of the simple, dignified, and ?sthetically no