THE POSITION OF WOMEN IN ANCIENT GREECE. 



333 



Origin in the resolution of the Greeks to recover 

 Helen, and the central point in the *' Iliad " is the 

 wrath of Achilles because Agamemnon has taken 

 away from him his captive Briseis. Ulysses and 

 Penelope, as every one knows, are the subject of 

 the " Odyssey." The husband consulted his wife 

 in all important concerns, though it was her special 

 work to look after the affairs of the house. Arete 

 is a powerful peace-maker in the kingdom of her 

 husband Alcinous, and it is to her that Nausi- 

 caa advises Ulysses to go if he wishes to obtain 

 his return. All the people worship her as a god 

 when she walks through the streets. Penelope 

 and Clytemnestra are left practically in charge 

 of the realms of their husbands during their ab- 

 sence at Troy, each with a wise man as counselor 

 and protector. And the very beautiful Chloris 

 acted as queen in Pylos. 1 Altogether, the influ- 

 ence of Homeric women must be reckoned great 

 and their condition happy. 



For this result two special causes may be 

 adduced — the freedom which the women enjoyed, 

 and their healthiness, possibly also their scarce- 

 ness. 



The freedom was very great. They might go 

 where they liked, and they might do what they 

 liked. There was, indeed, one danger which 

 threatened them continually. If they wandered 

 far from the usual haunts of their fellow-citizens, 

 strangers might fall upon them and carry them 

 off into slavery. Such incidents were not un- 

 common. But, apart from this danger, they 

 might roam unrestricted. They were not con- 

 fined to any particular chamber. They had their 

 own rooms, just as the men had theirs ; but they 

 issued forth from these, and sat down in the 

 common chamber, when there was anything 

 worth seeing or hearing. Especially they gath- 

 ered round the bard who related the deeds of 

 famous heroes or the histories of famous women. 

 They also frequented the wide dancing-place 

 which every town possessed, and with their 

 brothers and friends joined in the dance. Homer 

 pictures the young men and the maidens press- 

 ing the vines together. They mingled together 

 at marriage-feasts and at religious festivals. In 

 fact, there was free and easy intercourse between 

 the sexes. They thus came to know each other 

 well, and, as the daughters were greatly beloved 

 by their fathers, we cannot doubt that their par- 

 ents would consult them as to the men whom 

 they might wish for husbands. Even after mar- 

 riage they continued to have the same liberty. 



1 See Mr. Gladstone's "Homeric Studies," vol. ii., 

 p. 507. 



Helen appears on the battlements of Troy, watch- 

 ing the conflict, accompanied only by female 

 attendants. And Arete, as we have seen, mixed 

 freely with all classes of Phceacians. 



Along with this freedom, and partly in conse- 

 quence of it, there appears to have been an ex- 

 ceedingly fine development of the body. The 

 education of both boys and girls consisted in lis- 

 tening to their elders, in attending the chants of 

 the bards, and in dancing at the public dancing- 

 place of the town. There was no great strain 

 on their intellectual powers. There was no forc- 

 ing. And they were continually in the open air. 

 All the men learned the art of war and of agri- 

 culture, and all the women to do household work. 

 The women made all the clothes which their rela- 

 tives wore, and were skilled in the art of em- 

 broidery. But they not merely made the clothes, 

 but regularly washed them, and saw that their 

 friends were always nicely and beautifully clad. 

 These occupations did not fall to the lot of meni- 

 als merely. The highest lady in the land had her 

 share of them, and none was better at plying the 

 loom and the distaff than the beautiful Helen. 

 We have in the sixth book of the "Odyssey " a 

 charming picture of a young princess, Nausicaa. 

 Nowhere are portrayed more exquisitely the 

 thoughts and feelings and ways of a young girl 

 who is true to her own best nature, who is re- 

 served when reserve is proper, and speaks when 

 a true impulse moves her, who is guileless, grace- 

 ful, leal-hearted, and tender. Happily I have not 

 here to exhibit her character, for to do anything 

 but quote the exact words of Homer would be 

 inevitably to mar its beauty ; but I have to ad- 

 duce some of those traits which show how the 

 Homeric girls grew. Nausicaa is approaching 

 the time when she ought to be married, and in 

 preparation for this event would like to have all 

 her clothes clean and in nice condition. She goes 

 to her father, and tells him that she wishes to 

 wash his clothes and the clothes of her brothers, 

 that he may be well clad in the senate, and they 

 may go neat to the dance. The father at once 

 perceives what desire the daughter cherishes in 

 her heart, and permission is granted, the mules 

 are yoked to the car, the clothes are collected, 

 and the princess mounts the seat, whip in hand, 

 and drives off with a number of maid attendants. 

 They reach the river where are the washing- 

 trenches. The clothes are handed out of the 

 car, the mules are sent to feed on the grass, and 

 princess and maids wash away at the clothes, 

 treading them with their feet in the trenches. 

 They then lay out the clothes to dry. While the 



