The seclusion of female life, indeed, made the question of personal charms appear of secondary importance. Equity of birth and wealth were the chief considerations. The choice of the Athenian citizen was limited to Athenian maidens; only in that case were the children entitled to full birthright, the issue of a marriage of an Athenian man or maiden with a stranger being considered illegitimate by the law. Such a marriage was, indeed, nothing but a form of concubinage. The laws referring to this point were, however, frequently evaded. At the solemn betrothal, always preceding the actual marriage, the dowry of the bride was settled; her position as a married woman greatly depended upon its value. Frequently the daughter of poor, deserving citizens were presented with a dowry by the state or by a number of citizens.
In Homer's time the bridegroom wooed the bride with rich gifts; Iphidamas, for instance, offers a hundred heifers and a thousand goats as a nuptial present. But afterwards this was entirely reversed, the father of the bride having to provide the dowry, consisting partly in cash, partly in clothes, jewelry, and slaves. In cases of separation the dowry had, in most cases, to be returned to the wife's parents. The most appropriate age for contracting a marriage, Plato in his Republic fixes, for girls, at twenty, for men, at thirty. There was, however, no rule to this effect. Parents were naturally anxious to dispose of their daughters as early as possible, without taking objection to the advanced years of the wooer, as is tersely pointed out by Aristophanes.
The actual marriage ceremony, or leading home, was preceded by offerings to Zeus Teleios, Hera Teleia, Artemis Eukleia and other deities protecting marriage. The bridal bath was the second ceremony, which both bride and bridegroom had to go through previous to their union.
On the wedding day, towards dark, after the meal at her parental home was over,21 the bride left the festively adorned house, and was conducted by the bridegroom in a chariot to his dwelling. She sat between the bridegroom and the best man chosen from among his relatives or intimate friends. Accompanied by the sounds of the hymenæos, and the festive sounds of flutes and friendly acclamations from all passers-by, the procession moved slowly towards the bridegroom's house, also adorned with wreaths of foliage. The mother of the bride walked behind the chariot, with the wedding torches, kindled at the parental hearth, according to custom immemorial. At the door of the bridegroom his mother was awaiting the young couple with burning torches in her hand. In case no wedding meal had been served at the bride's house, the company now sat down to it. To prognosticate the desired fertility of the union, cakes of sesame were distributed. The same symbolic meaning attached to the quince, which, according to Solon's law, the bride had to eat. After the meal the couple retired to the thalamos, where for the first time the bride unveiled herself to her husband. Before the door of the bridal chamber epithalamia were sung, a charming specimen of which we possess in the bridal hymn of Helena by Theokritos. On the two first days after the wedding, wedding-presents were received by the pair. Not till after these days did the bride appear without her veil.
Very different from the social position of chaste women was that of the hetairai. We are not speaking of the lowest class of unfortunates, worshiping Aphrodite Pandemos, but of those women who, owing to their beauty and grace of conversation, exerted great influence even over superior men. We only remind the reader of Aspasia. In the graces of society the hetairai were naturally superior to respectable women, owing to their free intercourse with men. For the hetairai did not shun the light of day, and were not restrained by the law. Only the house of the married man was closed to them.
Before passing from private to public life, we must cast a glance at the early education of the child by the mother. We begin with the earliest days of infancy. After the first bath the new-born child was put into swaddling-clothes, a custom not permitted by the rougher habits of Sparta. On the fifth or seventh day the infant had to go through the ceremony of purification; the midwife, holding him in her arms, walked several times round the burning altar. A festive meal on this day was given to the family, the doors being decorated with an olive crown for a boy, with wool for a girl. On the tenth day after its birth, when the child was named, another feast took place. This ceremony implied the acknowledgment, on the part of the father, of the child's legitimacy. The name of the child was chosen by both parents, generally after the name of either of the grandparents, sometimes, also, after the name or attributes of a deity, under whose particular protection the child was thus placed. A sacrifice, offered chiefly to the goddess of child-bearing, Here Ilithyia, and a meal, concluded the ceremony. At the latter, friends and relatives presented the infant with toys of metal or clay, while the mother received painted vases. The antique cradle consisted of a flat swing of basket work, such as appears in a terra-cotta relief in the British Museum, of the infant Bacchus being carried by a satyr brandishing a thyrsus, and a torch-bearing bacchante. Another kind of cradle, in the form of a shoe, is shown containing the infant Hermes, recognizable by his petasos. It also is made of basket-work. The advantage of this cradle consists in its having handles, and, therefore, being easily portable. It also might be suspended on ropes, and rocked without difficulty. Other cradles, similar to our modern ones, belong to a later period. The singing of lullabies, and the rocking of children to sleep, were common amongst the ancients. Wet-nurses were commonly employed amongst Ionian tribes; wealthy Athenians chose Spartan nurses in preference, as being generally strong and healthy. After the child had been weaned it was fed by the dry nurse and the mother with pap, made chiefly of honey.
The rattle, said to be invented by Archytas, was the first toy of the infant. Other toys of various kinds were partly bought, partly made by the children themselves on growing older. We mention painted clay puppets, representing human beings or animals, such as tortoises, hares, ducks, and mother apes with their offspring. Small stones were put inside, so as to produce a rattling noise; which circumstance, together with the fact of small figures of this kind being frequently found on children's graves, proves their being toys. Small wooden carts, houses and ships made of leather, and many other toys, made by the children themselves, might be instanced. Up to their sixth year boys and girls were brought up together under their mother's care; from that point their education became separate. The education proper of the boy became a more public one, while the girl was brought up by the mother at home, in a most simple way, according to their notions. From amongst the domestic slaves a trustworthy companion was chosen for the boy. He was, however, not a tutor in our sense, but rather a faithful servant, who had to take care of the boy in his walks, particularly on his way to and from school. He also had to instruct his pupil in certain rules of good behavior. The boy had, for instance, to walk in the street with his head bent, as a sign of modesty, and to make room for his elders meeting him. In the presence of the latter he had to preserve a respectful silence. Proper behavior at table, a graceful way of wearing his garments, etc., might be mentioned as kindred subjects of education. Boys were accompanied by pedagogues up to their sixteenth year. The latter appear frequently in vase-paintings, and are easily recognizable by their dress, consisting of chiton and cloak, with high-laced boots; they also carry sticks with crooked handles, and their hair and beards give them a venerable aspect; while their pupils, according to Athenian custom, are clad more lightly and gracefully. The pedagogue of the group of the Niobides is well known.
Education was, at Athens, a matter of private enterprise. Schools were kept by private teachers, the government supervision extending only to the moral not to the scientific qualification of the schoolmaster. Grammar, music and gymnastics, to which Aristotle adds drawing, as a means of æsthetic cultivation, were the common subjects of education at schools and gymnasia; also reading, writing and arithmetic. The method of teaching how to write consisted in the master's forming the letters, which the pupils had to imitate on their tablets, sometimes with the master's assistance. The writing materials were small tablets covered with wax, into which the letters were scratched by means of a pencil made of metal or ivory. It was pointed at one end, and flattened or bent at the other, so as to extinguish the writing, if required, and, at the same