When dressed, the Greek took a very slight meal, corresponding to the coffee now taken in Greece and elsewhere upon getting up, and merely intended to stave off hunger till late breakfast. It is said to have consisted of bread and wine. He then went to call on such friends as he wished to see on business, before they left their houses. The same fashion prevailed at Rome. When this was done, he went for a morning walk or ride, and if a townsman, to see his farms and crops, and give directions to his country steward. But if he lived in the country, he must start early to be in the city when the market place filled. For if there was important public business the assembly met very early, and in any case he there met all his friends, visited the markets and shops, and if a merchant, was practically on ’Change at this hour.
At noon all business stopped, and the public places were deserted, when he returned to his breakfast. The modern Greeks, in country parts, still spend half the day in this way before they breakfast. The poorer classes who dined early in the afternoon, and who probably had eaten something more at early breakfast, spent their midday hours, without going home, in barber’s shops, in porticoes, and other places of meeting, where they either slept or gossiped, as their fancy led them. Law-suits, at which speeches were made and evidence taken, must have been carried on during this part of the day also. The breakfast of the better classes was a substantial meal, probably serving as dinner for the children, and consisted, like the modern Greek breakfast, of hot dishes and wine. It was, however, thought luxurious to eat two heavy meals in the day, and much wine drinking before dinner was regarded with the same aversion as tippling is now-a-days. When the day became cooler, men went out again, partly to practice gymnastics, which ended in later times with a warm bath, partly to see others so occupied and talk to their friends. Toward sunset they returned home to their dinner, the principal meal of the day, and the only one at which the Greek entertained his friends. If not a very studious man, or a leading politician, he devoted the evening to conversation and music, either in his family circle, or among his friends. In the former case, he went to bed early; in the latter he was often up all night, and sometimes went from his first feast in company with his noisy friends to knock up other banqueters and enjoy their hospitality unasked. There were no clubs or public houses open at night in the old Greek towns. It should be added that the hours of meals got gradually later, as luxury advanced.
The dress of a Greek gentleman was simple both in form and color. He wore a shirt or under garment of wool called chiton, without sleeves, and drawn tight with a girdle round the waist. As luxury increased, the Athenians adopted linen instead of wool, the Ionians wore the chiton down to the feet, and sleeves were frequently added. Trousers were also considered a foreign dress. Over the chiton was thrown a large cloak shaped something like a Scotch shawl, but squarer, which was wrapped about the figure so as to have only the right shoulder and head free. This was regarded as the principal garment, for while it was not thought polite to throw it open, and a man without it, though in his chiton, was called stripped, on the other hand a man wrapped in his cloak without any under garment was thought perfectly dressed. Most of the portrait statues of celebrated men which have reached us are indeed represented in this very way. White was the full dress color for both garments, but other colors, especially various shades of red, dark blue, and green, were not unfrequently worn.
The cloak was also doubled, when men were actively employed, and fastened on the shoulder with a clasp or pin. This was done in imitation of the smaller but thicker cloaks, some of which were of semicircular shape, and borrowed from Macedonia. These were worn in war and on journeys. As to head dress, the Greeks seem to have usually gone about their cities bareheaded. In case of bad weather, they put on a fur or leather cap fitting closely to the head, and this was commonly worn by slaves. They also used in traveling, to keep off the sun’s heat, broad-brimmed felt hats, very like our “wide-awakes” in form. They were often barefooted, but also wore ornamented slippers at home, and in the streets sandals strapped with elegant thongs. In hunting or war, buskins of various kinds, reaching high on the leg, were adopted. If we add a walking stick, which up to the time of Demosthenes was even obligatory at Athens, and was always carried at Sparta, and a seal ring, we complete our picture of the Greek gentleman’s dress. In Socrates’ day a tunic cost ten drachmæ, a cloak sixteen to twenty, a pair of shoes eight. Lower class people, such as farm laborers and slaves, wore the inner garment alone, but with sleeves, or (in the country) clothed themselves in tanned skins. The general colors of a Greek crowd must have been a dull woollen white, relieved with patches of crimson and dark greens and blues.
GREEK MYTHOLOGY.
Before introducing, as is proposed, condensed excerpta from our available sources of information on Greek Mythology, it may be important for a large class of readers to define the term, and also to show some of the advantages arising from well directed mythological studies.
Mythology is a compound Greek word, meaning the science of—or, more literally, discourse respecting—myths. What is a myth? No exact definition of the word can be given, because there are many varieties of myths, and the term has been used in several distinct senses. In the New Testament it occurs five times, and is in every instance used in an evil, or severely disparaging sense. In our English version it is translated “fables,” not such as have been invented to convey and illustrate the truth, but cunningly devised fictions, used to convey ethical notions in themselves false. No such condemnation can be pronounced against the Grecian myths in general, many of which, like those of Plato, are charming figurative representations of important ideas, the splendidly imaginative embodiment of subjective truths, and, like the inimitable parables of our Lord, claim no credence for themselves, only as media for conveying the lessons taught. Such myths are not only free from any just reproach, but are commended, as a proper and effective method of teaching, analogous to allegories, fables and parables, and often found in the writings of the wisest and best of mankind. If in this way falsehood has been embellished, we may repudiate their false doctrines, though we admire the mythological dress in which they are presented.