Fig. 70.
They were also acquainted with the little wheels, turned by means of a string which is wound and unwound, that are still popular among the children of our day, and about a hundred years ago were fashionable toys known as “incroyables.” What we see in the boy’s hand in Fig. [70] can hardly be anything else. This was a game in which even grown-up people seem to have taken pleasure. On the vases of Lower Italy we often see in the hands of Eros, or women, a little wheel, with daintily jagged edge and spokes, fastened to a long string in such a way that, when this is first drawn tight by both hands and then let go, the wheel is set revolving. (Compare Fig. [71].) Probably this was not a mere toy when used by grown up people, but rather the magic wheel so often mentioned as playing a part in love charms; but about this we have no exact information.
Fig. 71.
Swings must also be mentioned as popular with both young and old. These were exactly like ours: either the rope itself was used as a seat and held fast with both hands, or else a comfortable seat was suspended from the cords. (Compare Fig. [72].) This was a merry game, in which grown-up women sometimes liked to take part; and so was the see-saw, of which even big girls made use. (Compare Fig. [73].) Sometimes the mother or older sister took the little boy by the arm and balanced him on her foot, as the girl in Fig. [74] does with Eros, and, as in the well-known beautiful statue, “The Little Dionysus,” is carried on the shoulders of a powerful satyr. Many a Greek father probably gave his son a ride on his shoulders.
Fig. 72.