this manner, and dressed for the harem' in their light flowered sandals and semi-transparent robes already described, they were scarcely farther removed from the state of nature than the Spartan maids themselves. Contrary to the fashion prevalent in modern times the bosom, however, was always closely covered, because being extremely full shaped it began very early to lose its firmness and beauty. Earrings, set with Red-Sea pearls of great price, depended from their ears, and an orbicular crown studded with Indian jewels surmounted and contrasted strikingly with their dark locks. Add to these the jewelled throat bands, and costly and glittering necklaces. Their cheeks though sometimes pale by nature, blushed with rouge,' 1 A taste not greatly dissimilar presides over the in-door dress of the modern Greek women. "In "the gynecæum," says Chandler, "the girl, like Thetis, treading on a soft carpet, has her white and "delicate feet naked; the nails I tinged with red. Her trowsers, "which in winter are of red cloth, " and in summer of fine calico or "thin gauze, descend from the hip "to the ankle, hanging loosely "about her limbs, the lower por"tion embroidered with flowers, " and appearing beneath the shift, "which has the sleeves wide and 66 open, and the seams and edges curiously adorned with needle"work. Her vest is of silk, ex 66 gilded, or of gold, set with pre"cious stones. Over the vest is "a robe, in summer lined with "ermine, and in cold weather "with fur. The head-dress is a skull-cap, red or green, with pearls; a stay under the chin, "and a yellow fore-head cloth. "She has bracelets of gold on "her wrists; and, like Aurora, "is rosy-fingered, the tips being "stained. Her necklace is a string of zechins, a species of gold coin, or of the pieces called "Byzantines. At her cheeks is "a lock of hair made to curl to"ward the face; and down her "back falls a profusion of tresses, "spreading over her shoulders." -ii. 140. 66 and they even possessed the art to superinduce over this artificial complexion that peach-like purple bloom which belongs to the very earliest, dewiest dawn of beauty. To the tint of the rose they could likewise add that of the lily. White paint was in common use,' not merely among unmarried women, and ladies of equivocal reputation, but with matrons the chastest and most prudent in Athens, for we find that pattern of an Attic gentlewoman, the wife of Ischomachos, practising after marriage every delusive art of the toilette. 3 It by no means follows that all this attention to dress had any other object than to please their husbands; for the Turkish Sultanas who pass their lives in the most rigid seclusion are no less sumptuous in their apparel; but we know that at Athens, as in London, much of this care was designed to excite admiration out of doors. For it is highly erroneous to transfer to Athens the ideas of female seclusion acquired from travellers in the East, where no such rigid seclusion was ever known. Husbands, indeed, who had cause, or supposed they had, to be jealous, might be put on the rack by beholding the crowds of admirers who flocked around their wives the moment they issued into the streets. But there was no remedy. The laws and customs of the country often forced the women abroad to assist at processions and perform their devotions at the shrines of various goddesses.* Muret. i. 262. Poll. vii. 95. Aristoph. 1 Poll. v. 101, vii. 95. 4 Luc. Amor. § 41, seq. Cf. Casaub. ad Theoph. Char. p. 339. Aristoph. Plut. 1015, et schol. Plut. Vit. x. Orat. Lycurg. In the country, too, women went often abroad, and evidently led a very comfortable life; their habits, in fact, greatly resembled those of English country ladies; the wives of men whose estates lay contiguous freely visiting and gossiping with each other. Thus in the action on the damage caused by the torrent, we find the wife of Tisias and the mother of Callicles discussing the spoiling of the barley and the The dress of men included many of the garments worn by women; for example, the chiton of which there were several kinds, some with and some without sleeves. Among the latter was the Exomis,1 a short tunic worn by aged men and slaves, but the name was sometimes applied to a garment thrown loosely round the body, and to the chiton with one sleeve. Over this in Homeric times was worn as a defence against the cold, the Chlaina 3 cloak strongly resembling a highlander's tartan, or the burnoose of the Bedouin Arab. It was, in fact, a square piece of cloth, occasionally with the corners rounded off, which, passing over the left shoulder, and under the right arm, was again thrown over the left shoulder, leaving the spear arm free. This is what the poet means where he terms the Chlaina double. It was wrapped twice round the breast, and fastened over the left shoulder by a brooch. Even this, however, was not deemed sufficient in very cold weather, and a cloak of skins sown together with thongs was wrapped about the body as a defence against the rain or snow. Some persons appear to have worn skin-cloaks all the year round, for we find Anaxagoras, in the midst of summer at Olympia, putting on his when he foresaw there would be rain. Rustics also appear to have considered a tunic and skin-cloak necessary to complete their costume." The Dorian style of dress formed the point of transition from the simple elegance of the Homeric period to the elaborate splendour of the historic age at Athens. In this mode of clothing, a modern author remarks, a peculiar taste was displayed, an antique simplicity "equally removed from the splen"dour of Asiatics, and the uncleanliness of barba"rians." They preserved the use of the Homeric chiton, or woollen shirt, and over this wore also the Chlaina or Himation, in the manner described above. To these was added the Chlamys, which, as the Spartan laws prohibited dyeing, was universally white, and denominated Hololeukos.2 1 3 It was of Thessalian or Macedonian origin, of an oblong form, the points meeting on the right shoulder, where they were fastened with a clasp. This garment was not in use in the heroic ages, and the earliest mention of it occurs in Sappho; but when once introduced, it quickly grew fashionable, at first among the young men, afterwards as a military cloak. At Athens it was regarded as a mark of effeminacy, and was fastened with a gold or jewelled brooch on the breast.* 5 The men of Sparta, though less thinly clad than the women, still went abroad very scantily covered. Their Tribon, a variety of the himation, like the cloak of the poor Spanish gentleman, was clipped so close that it would barely enclose their persons, like a case, but was thick and heavy, and calculated to last. Accordingly, the youth were allowed only one of these per annum, so that, in warm weather, it is probable that, with an eye to saving it for winter, they exchanged it for that more lasting coat with Müller. Hist. Dor. ii. 277. See the picturesque description which Hesiod gives of the rustic winter costume of Boeotia. Opp. et Dies, 534, sqq. Goettl. 2 Poll. vii. 46. 3 Σαπφὼ πρώτη γὰρ μέμνηται τῆς χλαμύδος.—Ammonius, p. 147. Valcken. Heliodor. i. and ii. 5 Sch. Aristoph. Nub. 415. Cf. Vesp. 116, 475. which nature had furnished them. In the towns, however, and as often as they thought proper to put on the appearance of extreme modesty, the young Spartans drew close their cloaks around them so as to conceal their hands, the exhibiting of which has always been regarded as a mark of vulgarity. Hence the use of gloves, and the affectation of soft white hands in modern times. The same notions prevail even among the Turks, who, like Laertes in Homer, wear long sleeves to their pelisses for the purpose of defending the hand, to have which white and well-shaped is among them a mark of noble blood. The Spartans had the good taste to suffer their beards and hair to grow long, and were at much pains to render them glossy and shining. Even in the field, contrary to the practice at Athens, they preserved this natural ornament of their heads, and we find them busy in combing and putting it in order on the very eve of battle. It was usually parted at the top, and was, in fact, the most becoming covering imaginable. But they set little value on cleanliness, and bathed and perfumed themselves seldom, being evidently of opinion, that a brave man ought not to be too spruce. However, having no object to gain by aping the exterior of mendicants, they eschewed the wearing of ragged cloaks, which, indeed, was forbidden by law. But the Athenians ran into the opposite extreme, Wealthy, and fond of show, they delighted in a style of dress in the highest degree curious and magnificent, appearing abroad in flowing robes of the finest linen, dyed with purple and other bril 1 Plut. Lyc. § 16. Inst. Lac. § 5. 2 Xenoph. de Rep. Laced. iii. 4. Of Phocion, an imitator of Spartan manners, the same thing is related.-Plut Phoc. § 4. 3 Herod. vii. 208, with the notes of Valckenaar and Wesseling. 4 Plut. Instit. Lacon. § 5. |