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Girlhood In Ancient Greece

Girlhood In Ancient Greece image
Parent Issue
Day
19
Month
May
Year
1893
Copyright
Public Domain
OCR Text

It would seem, judging from Miss Emily Penrose's lectiires on early Athenian customs, that the women of ancient Greece, though they were fair to look upon and inspired the sculptured ideáis that have ever since set the standard of ■womanly loveliness, really had a very prosaic and stupid time of it among all the old poets and philosophers. And that it is a great deal nicer to live now, even with a hoop in your skirt and a stiff derby on yonr head, than in those days of poetry and high art, when a woman had no clubs or leagues, no social science sisterhoods, no sewing co;eries with nice men drif ting in at the ;ea hour, no literary guilda or sanitar}' classes, no street cleaning organizations or hygienie fraternities, no nervous prosTation, no crinoline, no careers and no stockings. Little Atlienian vnaids were kept closey in the women'a apartments until they were married and very rarely appeared n public. They were taught reading. writing and dancing as accomplishments, but their real education consisted m learning to spin, to weave, to emjroiáer and the treatment of simple illnesses among their slaves. They must also learn a great deal of elabórate ritual, as women took a prominent part in the family worship. In the courtyard garden in the center of the women's apartments the girls played among the flowers with their pet animáis, the live playthings taking the place of the mechanical toys andtalking dollsand small flirtations of today. At 7 years old a girl rnight become an Arrephoros - a most envied post - and take part in the festivals of Athens. At 10 she might engage in the exciting operation of grind ing the corn to make votive cakes for Artemis; af ter that take part in certain high festivals and sions. Girls were frequently married at 15, the lmsband being chosen by the mother. Marriage was looked upon as both a civil and religious duty, and it was thought desirable that the husband hould be much older than the wife, but there conld be little suspense or romance in so prosaic a wooiug, and after the wedding a wife never went out unattended, but spent her time in looking after the house, superintending the slaves and preventing waste. She was responsable for everything in her house, where all the food was prepared and all the clothing worn and made up. Her chief recreations were religious festivals and weddings, her only outside duties taking part in funeral ceremonies. Possibly this is the source of the inherent love of women for the mysticism of religión, the joy of weddings and the tragedy in death, for some women seem to en joy the harrowing details of deatn's ceremonies as well as the melody of wedding bells. Still those unemancipated women inspired the poets to glad bursts of songs and gave to the artist exquisito models of womanly grace and 10 the historian examples of heroism and self sacrifice which justified by facts the noble conceptiona of the great poets who wing the channs of woman's virtue and beauty. And they didn't have to fret because men wonldn't let them vote or worry because their last season"s skirts would barely m:;ke sleeves for this season's gowns. So perhaps they were happier after all, and happiness is, next to Oeauty, the chief virtue of womanhood. - New York Sun. Sonie persous profess to be able to guess approximately froin what part of Italy a miman comes by the length of her earrings. Italian earrings lengthen as one goes southward, and in the extreme south of Italy the earrings of the women reacli alniost to the shonlders. - Exchnnge. A manifest bit of wisdom is to refrain froin criticisni of food. The sauce may not be (luite liquant enough, the salad may be willed, but in the name of decency say nothing about it in either cuse. A member of the diplomatic corps apparently helas an opinión of Americana which will haxdly be iudorsed by the mo.: insigiiHcant of this great nation. When asked by a newly arrived foreigner, anxious to gauge the social status of sonie one to whoni he had been introduced, if there was any difference in Americans, the diplomat replied, "Oh, ves - some are rich and some are not." -

Article

Subjects
Ann Arbor Argus
Old News