one cubit, or more food than could be purchased for an obolus ;* or travel in the night-time without a lighted torch carried before her chariot. Lest pride should seek to exhibit itself in a pompous retinue, he ordered that no woman should appear attended by more than one servant, except when she was drunk! On the death of a husband, the oldest son became the guardian of his mother. A woman was incapable of appearing in court without her guardian; therefore the words of the proclamation always were, "We cite and her guardian." No property could be disposed of, either by will or otherwise, without the consent of guardians. Female captives taken in war were not usually treated with any degree of respect or tenderness: thus we find Hecuba complaining that she was chained, like a dog, at the gate of Agamemnon. Alexander the Great formed an honorable exception to this rule, and in his treatment of the royal Persian prisoners imitated the noble example of Cyrus. Women were not allowed to attend the Olympic games; but this prohibition could not have existed at all periods; for we are told that Cyniscá, daughter of Archidamus, king of Sparta, was the first woman who won the prize in the chariot-race at Olympia. Perhaps the Spartan women alone partook of these masculine diversions; those of more feminine habits would probably perceive the propriety of not attending games, where the combatants wrestled * A small coin, about the value of a penny. without clothing. In commemoration of her victory, Cynisca sent a chariot and four brazen horses, to be dedicated to Olympian Jupiter. In the earliest ages, Greek women had a right to vote in the public assemblies; but this privilege was taken away from them. They were never allowed to be present at banquets, and it is not supposed that they ever ate in the same apartment with the men. The restraint of female influence being thus removed, it may be presumed that the outward forms of decency were less scrupulously observed than they would have been under a different system. A fine of one thousand drachmas was imposed upon every woman who appeared in public without clothing; and the necessity of making such a law does not speak well for purity of manners. That women were not always entirely passive and subservient, appears by the example of Xantippe, so famous for her household eloquence; and by the dispute between Agamemnon and his wife, concerning his wish that she should absent herself from the wedding of her daughter Iphigenia : Agamemnon. "Without more reasonings, my demands obey! "Sooner would wretched Clytemnestra bleed, "Than give consent to so unjust a deed. ""Tis fit that I should manage things at home." Themistocles used to say, "My little boy rules Athens; for he governs his mother, and his mother governs me." The women of Lemnos, finding themselves slighted for the sake of certain Thracian captives, whose charms conquered their conquerors, resolved upon indiscriminate revenge. They unanimously agreed to put all their male relations to death; and this barbarous plan was carried into execution, with the solitary exception of Hypsipyle, the queen, who spared the life of her father. In consequence of this, the women conspired against her, and soon after drove her from the kingdom. The most common employments of Grecian women were spinning, weaving, embroidery, making garments, and attending to household avocations. V Their embroidery often represented battle-scenes and historical events, which must have required a great deal of time and patience. During the early ages, there seems to have been no difference whatever between the occupations of princesses and women of common rank. Before marriage, Penelope tended her father's flocks on the mountains of Arcadia; and when she was queen of Ithaca, her son bids her attend to the spindle and the loom, and leave the affairs of the palace to his direction. During the absence of her husband, she was troubled with numerous powerful suitors, whose enmity was greatly to be feared in those turbulent times. She promised to choose one from among them, when she had finished weaving a certain web; but she continually baffled them, by unravelling in the night what she had woven in the day: hence "Penelope's web" became a proverbial expression for works that were never likely to be finished. We are told that Nausicaa, daughter of king Alcinous, who met Ulysses shipwrecked on her father's coast, went down to the shore, accompanied by her maidens, to wash clothes; and princess as she was, she carried her dinner with her. Women grinding corn, after the manner of the Israelites, are alluded to by old Greek authors; and that they were in the habit of spinning with a distaff as they walked, is to be inferred from the fact that it was considered a bad omen to meet a woman working at her spindle. As luxury increased, the lines of demarkation between different ranks no doubt became more obvious, and laborious occupations were relinquished by the wealthy. It is likewise probable that restraints became less and less rigid. Women, in later times, certainly joined the men in entertainments at Aspasia's house, and the remains of an ancient picture leads to the conjecture that at some period they attended the theatres. It is recorded that certain women disguised themselves in male attire, and went to Academus to listen to the philosophy of Plato; and when this desire for knowledge began to prevail, it could not be long before it manifested itself in casting off the fetters prescribed by custom. Individuals there were, as there ever will be, of both sexes, who were in advance of the people among whom they lived. Beside the farfamed Sappho and Aspasia, there was Corinna, the Theban poetess, who is said to have five times carried the prize from Pindar; and there was Arete, daughter of Aristippus, who taught philosophy and the sciences to her son: from this circumstance the young man was called Metrodidactos, i. e. Taughtby-his-mother. Increasing luxury evidently did not produce universal corruption; for the wife of Phocion was a model of prudence, simplicity, and domestic virtue. When one of the actors, who was to represent a queen, demanded a more pompous retinue, Melanthius, who was at the charge of the exhibition, said: "Phocion's wife appears in public with a single maid-servant; and dost thou come here to show thy pride, and corrupt our women?" The audience received this remark with a thunder of applause. This same modest matron, when a lady exhibited many jewels in her presence, replied: "Phocion is my greatest ornament, who is now called for the twentieth time to command the armies of Athens." Plutarch, who lived as late as the time of Trajan, bears testimony that his wife Timoxena was far above the frivolity and affectation, which characterized many of her sex; that she cared little for dress or parade; and was chiefly desirous to perform all the duties, and observe all the proprieties of life. Of the amusements of the Grecian women we know little. Religious festivals no doubt constituted a large portion of their recreations. Many dances were used on these occasions; among which was the Caryatides, a Spartan dance, in honor of Diana. Theseus, who invented a circular dance called the Crane, is said to have been the first who introduced |