New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1894-02-11

THE HOME LIFE OF THE ANCIENT CREEKS
Translated from me s,r Ggrmah " Win numerous
Illustrations. PIP. KY. JiS. The Casse'i PUB
fishing Company
Perhaps the title OF this book should have
been The Everyday Life OF the Ancient
Greeks" for 1t includes much that Is only re-
motley connected with the household IL en-
ables one TO restore. as far as may be" the ocHu-
nations of an Hellenic man woman as child
and adult and to follow each to the grave.
The Greek baby in the classic period although
that period was in general culture and activity
most like the present age-looked not unlike an
Indian pappoose. II was wrapped In swad-
ding bands that wound every limb. This wrap
ping was of soft woollen material. and II was
the proper covering OF the infant for months
for as much as two years. If Plato IL TO be
trusted. Uncomfortable a baby looks in
the pictures that have been preserved the
bands seem not TO have been tightly drawn.
Over this swathing a second garment put.
and thus protected the little Greek slept
through much of the first period OF his lie in
| oser basket. hung up like hammock. II the
child were a daughter weak or dcfOrmed or
burdensome to the fathers poverty. II might.
in the best ages OF Hellenic civilization. be
exposed to die or to be rescued by the tender
ness Of strangers There is still extant a famous
Greek novel Of very late period which turns
upon double incident Of this sort. But
the practice was rare among Ahenians
While there such variety Of toys
that known to modern times. the little Greeks
did no; lack such things altogether They had
their tiny wheeled carts. their ratles, their dolls.
their hoops, hobbyhorses kitss. whirliggs. balls.
seesaws and swings. They had toys by which
they could initiate the graver occupations Of their
elders. The little girl had beds for her dolls
and utensils with which she could play keeping
house. while her brother could be a soldier with
sword and shield and bow and wa.l-nlled culver.
But the girl grew up within the house, learning
nothing beyond her household duties. On the
other hand. the boy began at six years Of age the
outward life which he usually led TIL he died
An old slave. who was probably good for little
else and who had been much with the lad al
ready. on one eventfu day gathered up such
things needfu and followed his young
master TO school lie was always expected Is
carry the boys books and cithara and his play
things and to wait either In the schoolroom or
near 1t until lesson time was over. lie was not
always exemplary in his manners or his morals
but ne must have improved in Roman times
when slaves. being Greeks were apt to know far
more than their owners. for the name he went
by, that OF "pedagogue." has become quite re-
spectacle since his day. He was supposed to
have charge Of his young master until the latter
reached his eighteenth year. AS for the school
to which the lad went. it was simplicity Itself.
If he were the son OF poor parents he might
resort TO a teacher who merely gathered his
pupils about him In the open air. But even those
who taught In rooms had mcagrc quarters The
author of this book speaks OF benches for the
boys. but there Is passage in Aristophanes
which would indicate that the little fellows had
such comforts. A vase painting which he has
reproduced does indeed represent young lyr.st
sitting on a bench; but this may be a picture Of
just one Of those luxurious schools already men
toned. BE this as * may. elementary education
was practically universal In the Attica Of the
classic period People who could neither read
nor write were less common In ancient Greece
than they are at the present day in many parts
OF the civilized world.
When boys reached their sixteenth year school
life usually came to end But their education
was not supposed to be complete. They now