The Charleston daily news. [volume] (Charleston, S.C.) 1865-1873, 1869-10-23
GRECIaN HIYEs.
IFrom Appleton,s Journal

From Appletons .Tourna!.]
The wives Of the Greeks lived in almost alb
solutc scclIsion. They were usually married
when very young. Their occupations r'.re ~
weave, to spin, to embroidcr, To ,.,s,t1 ,into "
the household, to care fo" rnar sIc, sioves
They lived in spc.cc.u: and retired mart of the
mousse. re more wealthy seldom went abroad,
and never except when accompanied by n fe-
male slave; never attended the public spccta-
clcs; received no male visitors except In the
presence OF their husbands, and had not even
seat at thcir,owR tables when male guests
were there. Their pre-cmincnt virtue was
fidelity, and 1t is probable that this WAS very
strictly and very generally observed. Their
remarkable freedom from temptations, the
public opinionSSw strongly discouraged
any attempt TO scducc them, and the ample
sphere for Illicit pleasures that was accorded
to the other sex, all contributed to protect 1t.
On the other hand, living as they did, almost
exclusively among their female slaves, de-
prived Of oil the educating influence of male
society, and having no place at those public
spectacles which were the chief means of
hthenian culture, their minds must nccessa-
rily have been exceedingly contracted. THU
cytlides doubtless expressed the prevailing
sentiment of his countrymen when lie said
that the highest merit Of woman is not to be
spoken Of either for good or for evil, and
Phidias Illustrated the same theory when he
represented the heavenly Aphrodite standing
on tortoise, typifying thereby the secluded
life of virtuons woman.
were probably not unhappy. Education and
ttustom rendered the purely domestic life that
was assigned to them second nature, and II
| must, In most instances, have reconciled them
TO tho extra matrimonial connections in which
their husbands too frequently indulged. The
| prevailing manners were very gentle. Domcs-
| tic oppression is hardly ever spoken of; the
| husband lived chiefly In the public place; cuus-
es OF Jealousy and OF discussion could seldom
occur, and feeling OF warm affection, though
not feeling OF equality, must doubtless have
In most cases spontaneously nriscn.- In the
writings OF Xenophon we have n charming
picture of n husband who had received into
his arms his young wife Of fifteen, absolutely
Ignorant of the world and its ways. He speaks
to her with extreme kindness, but in the
Language that would be used to little
child. Her task, he tells her, is to bc like a
queen bee, dwelling continually at home and
super3ntending the work Of her slaves. She
must distribute 10 each their tasks, must econo-
miZc the family income, and must take espc-
cial care tint the house Is strictly orderly
the shoes, the pots and the clothes, always in
their. places. It is also, lie tells her, part OF
her duty to tend her sick slaves; but here his
wife interrupted him, eSclaiming ''Nay, but
that will indeed be the most agreeable Of my
offices, If such as I treat with kindness are
| likely TO DO grateful, and to love me more
than before" With very tender and delicate
proach, the husband persuades his Wife TO
give up the habit Of wearing high-heeled
boots, in order to appear tall, and of coloring
her face with vermilion and white lead. He
promises her that, If she faithfully performs
her duties, he will himself be the FIRST and
most devoted of her slaves. He assured So
crates that, when any domestic dispute arose,
he could extricate himself admirably, If he was
In the right; but that whenever he was In tho
wrong, he found 1t impossible to convince
his wife that 1t was otherwise.