From the barber shop your Athenian goes home to lunch. He has rip watch to tell him the time of day, but he was accustomed to gauge the time by the sun far better than we. Besides, there was no hurry, for a few minutes late or early made no difference. There was a public sun-dial; and in the better houses a large hour glass filled with water instead of sand. There was no formality about social intercourse. If an Athenian happened to meet a friend on his way home, he would extend an oral invitation to come to the dinner he pro posed to give that evening or the next; or he would send a slave to carry, not a written note, but a verbal invitation. His de jeuner was taken under the covered portico of the court Then he rested a while, and perhaps read a book; but he did not sleep. Refreshed, he would walk to one of the three public" gym nasia: The Lyceum, Cynosarges or Academy. The gymnasia were open only to men over 18. If he was too. old to engage in the exercises, he might look on, or devote himself to discus sion with his comrades. There was an abun dance of disputants, jests, sarcastic wit, story telling and sociable conversation. After spend ing a couple of hours here he would take a bath. Public baths were near every gymnasium. His slave would have his oil-flask and flesh scraper ready for him after the bath, for every Athenian anointed himself with olive oil, mixed with perfume, and scraped his body with a strigil. When he reached home, he finds that everything is ready for the dinner. His wife and daughters will not put in appear ance; they must remain in the gynaeconstis, or women's apartment, for the company is com posed of men, whose conversation is above the women's comprehension. The dinner is for social enjoyment —the food is a secondary consideration. The Athenian had a special abhorrence of "swinishness"; his dinner had to be replete with wit, wisdom, jest, anecdote; the main thing was lively society, conversation, mutual entertainment. Couches were brought in for the diners to recline on. These ordi narily accommodated two guests. No objec tions were raised by the host to a friend's bringing an intimate acquaintance along un invited. This practice, so impractical in mod ern times, brought no trouble or inconvenience to an Athenian host, for there was no long table with a limited supply of chairs, no knives and forks, and the quantity of food mattered little. When the guests entered, slaves removed their sandals and poured scented water or wine over their feet, whereupon the diners reclined on their left side. Then servants poured water over their hands. Small tables were brought in, one of which was placed before each couch. The food was taken up by the fingers, which were assisted by pieces of hollowed out bread when soft food or gravies had to be dealt with. There were no napkins, in lieu of which the fingers were wiped by pieces of soft bread. These scraps were then thrown to the dogs. There was no carpet on the floor. Shells, bones and peelings were thrown down and swept out by the servants later. The first half of the dinner consisted of substantials: fish, birds, eels, but very little meat (beef, lamb, pork) and vegetables. Water was then carried around for the guests to wash their hands, the tables taken out, the floor swept, and a song sung to the accompaniment of flutes. After a libation had been poured to the good genius the real symposium began. New tables were brought in. On these were fruits, salted almonds, cheese and salt. Another libation is now poured, after which the guests proceed to elect a symposiarch or president, who determines how much wine is to be drunk, and what the mixture shall be. Usually this was two parts water to one of wine. They had
no tea or coffee, only water and wine to drink. Decided disapproval was cast upon drunkenness. Moderation was the Greek motto. After the slaves mix the wine in a handsome bowl, they dip it out in beautiful jugs, or pitchers, and pour it out into handsome goblets with which each guest is supplied. Adventitious aids to the entertainment such as flute girls, dancing girls, buffoons and acrobats, were usually dis carded for conversation pure and simple. But the lyre would be passed around and each guest would be expected to sing some famous song from Euripides, or Simonides, or Anacreon. At the tables are keen wits, quick at repartee, eager for debate, always ready to support some thesis, even though it be a whimsical paradox. Riddles, conundrums and catch questions were always popular. There were no after dinner speeches.
The Athenian maintained, theoretically, that the place for. woman was inside the house; but in practice the matron enjoyed more liberty; she was not kept a prisoner. In her youth her training was directed toward domestic duties. She learned to spin, sew, weave and embroider, as well as cooking and the management of the household. As a child she had her toys, her dolls of painted clay or wax, with movable legs and arms. Her little brothers play with her till she is seven years old. She is not allowed to see men, even when she grows up. If she has no father, her nearest male kins man, if a bachelor and not a full brother, has the first claim to marry her. Equality of pecuniary position is sought on both sides. The men felt that marriage was a burden, so distasteful that they did not enter into it till after they were 30, whereas the girls usually married very young. But marriage was felt to be a duty, to himself that he might have children to bury him and to pay due honors to his body in the tomb, and a duty to the state, that he might leave children to support it and to worship the gods. The first ceremony of mar riage was the betrothal. The girl need not be present, for it was a contract pure and simple, with which she had nothing to do. As soon as a dowry was agreed upon, the girl was "given away" in the presence of witnesses. There was no church at all in our sense of the word. The only wedding ceremony was the ((bringing home" of the bride, which might be regarded as the actual wedding. If the wife was divorced, the dowry had to be given back. When she died, it reverted to her nearest of kin. Weddings were usually celebrated in the winter and the time of the full moon was pre ferred. As a token of farewell to the old life, the girl dedicated her girdle, her toys or a lock of hair to Artemis or to a local nymph. Both the bride and the bridegroom on their wedding day bathed in water brought from some spring of special sanctity. The bride's dress was of some light color. The guests re ceived a cake made of sesame seeds pounded and roasted and mixed with honey. The bride's father offered sacrifice, taking care to remove the gall of the victim, that no bitterness might enter the lives of the bride and groom. At the banquet the women were permitted to be pres ent, but they sat at separate tables. The bride was given to the groom by her mother, and she was led to the chariot to be taken to her new home. Relatives and guests followed in procession, accompanied by flute and lyre players. The mother followed the chariot, holding up the nuptial torches. The door of thegroom's house was specially decorated and on their arrival they were showered with con fetti by the groom's mother. The bride ate a quince at the threshold, and then she was led to the bridal chamber, while her friends sang epithalamia, or wedding-hymns, outside the door.