720 



M O R E A. 



Mor. forms a principal article of Grecian commerce, is the 

 s V^ ancient Pelasgic bonnet, shaped like a scalp, which 

 the natives of Greece are said to have worn ever since 

 they were known as a people. The Greeks wear it 

 simply as a hat ; the Turks surround it with a turban ; 

 and the women adorn it with a handkerchief, tassels, 

 and fringes. 



Diet. The diet of the modem Greeks, even in the higher 



ranks of society, is very poor and comfortless. Fowls 

 newly killed, and therefore tough, though boiled down 

 to rags, heaped together in a large plate, form a prin- 

 cipal dish at dinner. The table is a low stool, and the 

 guests are seated round it on cushions. A long, coarse, 

 narrow towel, is spread over the knees of the party at 

 table; and the master of the house, stripping his arms 

 bare, by turning up the sleeves of his tunic, serves out 

 the soup and meat, tearing the poultry and butcher- 

 meat into pieces with his fingers, which the guests eat 

 in the same style. If knives and spoons are used, they 

 are never changed, and one dish only is placed on the 

 table at the same time. Brandy is handed to the com- 

 pany before they sit down to table, and a single glass of 

 wine is presented to each along with the desert. Dur- 

 ing the time of dinner the room is filled with a multi- 

 tude of visitors, meaner dependants, and even slaves, 

 who do not partake of the repast, but sit and converse 

 together behind the party at table ; and after dinner an 

 itinerant songster pushes through the crowd to a con- 

 spicuous place in the apartment, and accompanies with 

 his lyre some miserable recitative suited to the occasion, 

 or some common love-ditty, repeated again and again 

 with little melody or expression. When the meal is 

 concluded, a maid-servant sweeps the carpet ; and the 

 master and mistress of the house, seating themselves at 

 the upper end of the divan or couch (which is univer- 

 sally placed in the form of the Greek letter H,) the rest 

 of the company are marshalled on either side in two 

 lines according to the rules of precedence. When all 

 are thus seated cross-legged, a little pewter bason is 

 placed before each person who had partaken of the meal, 

 and all wash their hands and mouth with a lather of 

 soap ; the same having been done also before eating. 

 T bacco-pipes are then brought in, and female visitants 

 arriving, the mistress of the house retires with the wo- 

 men who are present, to receive these new guests in 

 another apartment. 



Women. In the inland towns, the women live in a separate 

 part of the house, and are nearly as much confined as 

 those of the Turks. Before marriage, they are rarely 

 seen by any male person, except those of their own fa- 

 mily ; but, afterwards, they are introduced to people 

 of their own nation, or to travellers. They can seldom 

 read or write, but are all able to embroider, and gene- 

 rally to play on the lute. Dancing is an universal ac- 

 complishment, and is learned from one another here in 

 a style which displays neither elegance nor liveliness, 

 and which chiefly consists in a solemn poising of the 

 body on one foot, then on the other, accompanied by 

 various elevations and depressions of the arms. But 

 notwithstanding their want of education, most of them 

 are acquainted with a number of songs or recitations, 

 accompanied with tales, which are taken up and conti- 

 nued, apparently without end, by different individuals 

 of the party for hours together. Whenever they have 

 an opportunity of making farther attainments, they 

 discover great quickness of understanding, and readily 

 acquire the modern languages, and the elements of ge- 

 neral literature. Their character is described as ami. 



able, and they make assiduous housewives and tender M 

 mothers. l<< ^~; 



The dances of the young women, particularly those Dances. 

 called Romaica, consists in slow movements, in which 

 they hold by each other's handkerchiefs, while one of 

 them, as a leader, sets the step and the time. In their 

 mixed dances, a male and female are alternately linked 

 together, holding their handkerchiefs high over their 

 heads, while the leader dances through them ; and va- 

 rious figures are performed as well as single hornpipes. 

 Single performers among the men exhibit frequently 

 a rapid and fantastic step, which is considered as the 

 ancient pyrrhic dance. To such amusements the na- 

 tives are greatly devoted; and, "amidst all their poverty 

 and oppression," says Sandys, "they will dance whilst 

 their legs will bear them, and sing till they grow 

 hoarse." There is an ancient dance, much in request, 

 performed by boys or by girls in the harems for the 

 entertainment of the Turks, and which is wholly of a 

 lascivious tendency. Nay, in most parts of modern 

 Greece, these indecent attitudes, which are esteemed 

 as the highest accomplishment of the art, are practised 

 by the most discreet females, without any appear- 

 ance of depraved feelings on their part. 



In the marriage ceremony, which is considered as Marriages, 

 still resembling the ancient usages, the bride and bride- 

 groom stand near the altar, holding a lighted candle in 

 their hands, while the priest, facing them, reads and 

 sings a service, during the progress of which he takes 

 two rings, which he puts upon their fingers, and two 

 garlands, which he places on their heads, changing them 

 several times with great rapidity, gabbling and sing- 

 ing all the time, till at last the rings are left on the 

 proper fingers, and the garlands laid aside altogether. 

 Some bread, which has been blessed and marked with 

 the sign of the cross, is then broken and eaten by the 

 bride and bridegroom, and a cup of wine is presented 

 to them successively ; after which the woman hands 

 round the cake and liquor to the persons present, from 

 whom, if she is not of high rank, she receives a piece 

 of money, and kisses their hands in return. On the 

 same, or sometimes the following day, she is carried 

 in procession to her husband's house, and the evening 

 is concluded with music, dancing, and a feast chiefly of 

 fruits, and particularly nuts. 



The Greeks are remarkable for th formality and te- 

 diousness of their salutations. When two of them meet, 

 however casually, they stand with their hands on their 

 hearts, bowing gently for five minutes together, in- 

 quiring after each others healths, their wives, daugh- 

 ters, sons, family, and affairs, twenty times over, be- 

 fore they begin to converse : or even when they are 

 intending to separate immediately. 



The modern Greeks are full of superstitious prac- Supersti- 

 tices, and unmeaning usages, many of which they have tiolis cus- 

 communicated to their Turkish conquerors. During toms - 

 the birth of a child, the lamp burns before the picture 

 of the virgin, and the cradle is adorned with handker- 

 chiefs and trinkets, as presents to the fairies. As soon 

 as the infant is laid in the cradle, it is loaded with 

 amulets ; and a bit of soft mud, particularly prepared 

 by various charms, is stuck upon the forehead to pre- 

 vent the effects of the evil eye. When a stranger looks 

 intensely upon a child, the mother spits in its face, or 

 in her own bosom if he look at herself; but the sove- 

 reign remedy against the evil eye is the use of garlic, 

 or even the pronouncing of the name of it, and bunches 

 of it are attached to new built houses and vessels. 



