The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1907-11-17

are lacking. Girls 40 well as boys would
listen to their fathers stories, but it was
chiefly from their mothers at home while
they were busy with weaving Or spinning
that the former would learn the customs
which served as laws. .
-. vi.
The formal. education Of the HOmsrio
child. was exceedingly limited and con-
sisted almost entirely of the observation
and imitation OF his elders. In instructive
imitation OF their mothers the. girls learned
to card; to spin. to weave. to embrOider,
and TO make bread. while the boys learned
from their fathers and from each other
to shoot the bow. TO harl the iaveIin. to put
the shot. TO. hunt. to ash, and to swim. No
time was then set apart for the study and
practise OF reading. writing. arithmetic
geography. foreign languages, &c. Some
form Of writing seems. as We have said, to
have been known, but the art was little
used. The memories OF the Homeric'
Greeks we're not yet impaired by note
books. The application of the principle
OF Imitation sufticed. and therefore parents
we're not obliged to have recourse 20
teachers for the instruction oftheir children.
The children learned how to bind ND a
and TO use healing herba by notIc-
ing what was done for their own ailments
and how their own hurts were tended,
I'm 'precisefy the same way even now does.
a FARMERS boy learn TO milk a COW, ohaEness
a horse. 70 plant corn and roe potatoes,
TO shoot. 60 fab. to wrestIe. 20 swim, and
to dance without formal lessons. In these
arts he no more needs instruction than. in
his speaking. The centadr Cheiron on
Mount PeiiOn had the only boarding school.
or educational establishment Of remote
Greek antiquity, and according TO the
story developed after Homer he had most
OF h Achssan warriors in his care during.
their youth. In h HOmerio poems. how
ever. Asclepius and Achilles alone are
named as his pupils. and that in medicine
only. Doubtless a son woul generally
follow his fathers craft, as the surgeon
Asclepius was succeeded by his son. whom
he taught the lessons which he himself
had learned from Cheiron.
To ask when q son came Of age would be
idle. Our author reminds us that the
power OF the father Over his children, "a
over his servants, was in the HOmeric age
unlimited theoretically; he was a deepot.
thOugh'the word Is not used by the poet; in
practice, however, his owe seems TO nave
been used mildly. The horrible sacrifice Of
Iphigenia by Agamemnon INT the exposure
Of the infant Edipus by his parents are
pronounced by Prof. Seymour un-HOmeric.
Youths might be sent on important erRands
IL they were thought Trustworthy. Thus
Odysseus while still a boy was sent to Mes
sene TO complain Of a raid on which Mes
senians had taken 300 sheep and their shep-
herds from ithaca. In theory a father chose
wife for his son, just az he dida husband for
his daughter. That marriages were sup
posed to be made in heaven" is indicated
by an expression used by one Of Penolope's
suitors: She would we'd him who should
bring the most gifts, and who should be &c
cording to fate; and perhaps by Aphro-
dite's making a special petition 70 Zeus for
the marriage OF the daughters OF Pam
dareus. a,
What were the degrees OF kinship within
which marriages were prohibited in Home
rio timesp In the Had Iphipimas is re-
lated TO have married his mothers sister. |
The only polygamist Of the poem Is Priam
Of Troy. Hecuba has borne him nineteen
sons. and LaothOo two. In all, when the |
sons Of the Acheans came" he had afty sons
and twelve daughters. With the exception
Of Hector and Paris all his children seem to
have lived with him in p~atriarchal FASH
ion, bringing their wives and husbands into
the great household. For a marriage the
Homerio Greeks had no formal ceremony
Of words; the feast and the sacrifice which
accompanied every feast were the only
OF which We learn. The feast
the marriage, just as the funeral feast
was the funeral. As a rule il was held At
he home OF the brides father and the
bride was then conducted to her husbands
The brides family was expected to
the wedding garments for the young
men who escorted her, who served a. a
lind Of ushers or grOomsmen.
In HOmerio times, as in. those OF the Old
h husband was bound with
0oaer tie han tho wife.
Uv,
Large families were desired in Homerio
ines. Priam was counted peculiarly happy
n hrs wealth Of sOns. and the man was
tilted who had no sons to inherit his pos
Like the ancient Hebrews, the
aomerio Greeks had a strong desire for the
OF their names. The curse Of
hildlessness is grievous and is pronounced
My In bitter anger. Az a matter OF fact,
IOwever. the Homeric families were small.
had only one brother and one