Towards sunset, or in winter after sunset, they returned home for the principal meal, or else went to the house of some friend who had invited guests. In the latter case the meal was generally a good deal prolonged, and followed by drinking, which extended far into the night. Those who dined at home with their wives and children generally finished their meal very quickly, and as the custom of early rising prevailed, they were probably in the habit of retiring early, unless the cares of business, study, or other serious pursuits kept some of them awake by lamplight; for the quiet of the night was a propitious time for serious thought after the noise of the day, which was probably as great in ancient times in the busy south as it is to-day. It is well-known that Demosthenes prepared nearly all his speeches at night.

There were also many other occupations, partly serious, partly entertaining, which filled up the life of the Greek citizen. At the time of the highest political development of Athens, in the fifth and fourth centuries, the political and judicial duties occupied a considerable amount of a citizen’s time. Even if he did not fill any of the numerous unpaid posts, or sit in the Council of Five Hundred, the Boule, whose duty it was to hold preliminary discussions, he still had to devote about forty days of the year to the ordinary popular assemblies, in addition to which there were often extraordinary meetings. Supposing the lot should have appointed him to be one of the 6,000 jurymen (ἡλιασταί) annually chosen, this gave him plenty to do for his year of office, for, besides the meetings, he had to acquire information about various suits at which he had to give his opinion; and we know, chiefly from Aristophanes, how devoted many citizens were to their judicial duties, and how all their thoughts and actions were often centred in this activity, which by no means always exercised a good moral influence over them. Rich citizens also performed voluntary public services (λειτουργίαι), which consisted partly in entertaining the people by providing scenic or choric representations, gymnastic games, torchlight processions, etc., partly in important services to the State, such as equipping a man-of-war at their own expense. These voluntary services not only imposed on the rich citizens considerable money burdens, which in later times, when the Athenian wealth had diminished, could no longer be met by one individual, but also took up a great deal of their time, since they had not only to supply the necessary money, but also to superintend and arrange the work. Another change in the monotony of daily life was supplied by the religious festivals, in which the Attic calendar was unusually rich, and the theatrical and other performances connected with them, with which we shall deal later on.

Those who possessed estates in the country, even when they lived in town, often went out to them to look after the management; hunting and bird-catching were also very popular occupations. The former especially was a favourite amusement. Hunting in ancient times was very different from what it is at the present day; this is partly due to the great difference between our modern firearms and the hunting implements of the ancients, partly to their almost universal custom of using nets, into which they drove the game and there killed it. These nets were used for nearly all quadrupeds which they hunted, and the strength and density of the meshes differed according to the object hunted, as well as the method of arrangement. There were in particular bag nets, which were drawn together behind the game when it ran into it, and falling nets, which were hung loosely on forked sticks, and when the animal ran against them fell down from the sticks and entangled it. Snares were also used for catching not only hares and foxes, but also larger four-footed game, such as boars and stags. In consequence of this custom of driving the game, and bringing it to bay, bows which were calculated for longer distances were of very little use in hunting; the animals were either killed by a light javelin thrown from a small distance, or, if the game had turned to bay, with a hanger, which was especially useful in boar hunting. Dogs were used for starting the game and driving it into the nets at bay, and the ancients devoted a good deal of care to their training; indeed, the important part played by dogs in Greek hunting is expressed by the Greek name for huntsman, which means “dog leader” (κυνηγός). They used to hunt boars, stags, hares; beasts of prey, such as wolves and jackals, were only hunted when they were dangerous to the herds; and larger animals, such as lions and bears, did not exist at all in Greece in historic ages, although the numerous legends of lion hunts bear sufficient testimony to their existence in earlier times. Birds were caught with nets, snares, traps, and lime; and, since Greece was by no means rich in quadrupeds suitable for hunting, bird-catching was one of the most popular occupations, and also a lucrative one. On the other hand, fishing, which was carried on with both lines and nets, seems never to have become a regular sport.

We have already alluded to the practice of visiting the gymnasia, and the military duties of the citizens. There were also public houses and gaming houses, but these do not appear to have played a great part in the lives of the men. The drinking parties supplied sufficient opportunity for social meetings. Those who visited the public drinking bars usually did so for other purposes as well—to see pretty girls or to meet companions for dice, though both these purposes could be effected in special houses. It is natural, therefore, that it was not regarded as respectable to visit these wine taverns, and that grave men, as well as youths of good principle, avoided them. Still, even here the custom seems to have gradually relaxed, and though the Athenians were never as bad as the inhabitants of Byzantium, who were accused of spending the whole day at the bars, yet at the end of the fourth and in the third century B.C. it was very common for young men, or people of the lower classes, to dawdle about in the wine bars and gaming houses.

Travelling played a far less important part in the life of the Greeks than it does at the present day. In ancient times almost the only inducement for travelling was business. The merchant plied his trade chiefly as a sailor, the small shopkeeper travelled about the country as a pedlar. In the heroic period we also find artisans and travelling singers on their wanderings, and in the first centuries of the development of art, and to some extent even afterwards, sculptors and architects were summoned from a distance to execute commissions under the orders of the State, or some special board of officials. But those who were neither merchants nor artisans had less inducement to travel; for military expeditions, which of course were numerous, can hardly be included among journeys. There were also official embassies and pilgrimages to celebrated shrines, or visits to the great national festivals. Again, Solon, Herodotus, and others travelled for political or scientific purposes, with a view to study history or ethnography, that they might learn to know foreign nations, their manners and customs, countries and buildings. In the Alexandrine period, journeys were also undertaken for purposes of natural science. Our modern custom of visiting foreign lands for the sake of their natural beauty was unknown in Greek antiquity, but we must not on that account suppose that the ancients had no feeling for natural beauty. The Odyssey gives a picture of travel in heroic times; the common man trudges along on foot, while the rich man goes in his carriage, drawn by horses or mules, and the fact that the latter was possible even in the mountainous Peloponnesus, proves that even at that period good roads must have existed there. The Greeks never attained as great perfection in road-making as the Romans; apparently those roads were kept in best condition which led to the national sanctuaries, and here regular tracks were cut out of the rocky ground, and there were places for passing other carriages, halting places, etc. This was not, however, the case with all the roads, and we must not assume that ancient Greece possessed a well-kept complicated network of streets, such as the practical Romans constructed at every place to which their legions came; indeed, in historic times it appears that people travelled very little in carriages. Of course these had to be used on long journeys, especially when women were travelling; then they used four-wheeled carriages, which were sometimes used for sleeping in; and they also had smaller two-wheeled carts. But as a rule men travelled on horse-back or mule-back, and very often merely on foot, followed by one or many slaves, who carried the baggage required for the journey, in particular bed-coverings, clothes, utensils, etc.

If it was necessary to spend the night anywhere on a journey of several days, the widespread beautiful custom of hospitality which prevailed in ancient times, and made men regard every stranger as under the protection of Zeus, enabled them to find shelter; and, though this custom could not maintain itself in later times in its full extent, yet the effects of it still remained, and many people entered into a sort of treaty of hospitality with men in other towns, which was usually handed on to the descendants. By this they pledged themselves on the occasion of visits from members of one or the other family, to receive them in their houses and afford them the rights of hospitality; some little token of recognition previously agreed on—such as a little tablet, a ring broken into two halves, or something else of the sort—was used in such cases to legitimise the stranger. Sometimes whole districts entered into a league of this kind with one another, or one single rich man became the “guest-friend” of some foreign community, and entertained them when they came to his home. The service of the “guest-friend” was not always extended so far as to supply complete entertainment to the stranger as well as lodging; often he only supplied the lodging, the necessary coverings for the bed, and the use of the fire, which could not easily be procured, but in other respects left the guest, if he had brought servants with him, to provide for himself; some additional gifts of hospitality were usually sent him. Still this custom of “guest-friendship” was not sufficient to supply shelter for all travellers; therefore inns were opened in large trading cities, near harbours, and places of pilgrimage, such as Delos, Delphi, Olympia, etc., where strangers were entertained for payment. These inns were of very various character—some of them apparently supplied only rooms and a little furniture, especially bedsteads, while the stranger brought his own bed and coverlets, and had to provide his own food; others supplied food and drink, and were often houses of ill-fame, and in consequence it is natural that the position of inn-keeper should have been generally looked down upon in Greek antiquity. Probably these inns were not particularly pleasant places to stay in; very often the landlord cheated the travellers, and it was customary to arrange the price of everything beforehand; there were also inns which were used as hiding-places by robbers and thieves, and thus might prove dangerous quarters for the guests. Another disagreeable accompaniment of southern inns, even in the present day, is hinted at by Aristophanes in the “Frogs,” when Dionysus, on his journey to Hades, inquires for the inns in which there are fewest fleas. Travellers do not seem to have troubled themselves about passports; a legitimation was only necessary when the town to which they were going was engaged in war, or when they went into a hostile country in time of war. But to travel at all at such times was not advisable, for the roads, which at no time were specially safe, were then infested by travelling mercenaries or marauders. Sometimes travellers had to submit to an examination of their luggage. Officials generally farmed out the tolls to private undertakers, and these therefore had, or at any rate took, the right, if they suspected travellers of trying to smuggle dutiable articles, to stop them and examine their luggage, and sometimes even to open letters which they had by them.

CHAPTER VI.
MEALS AND SOCIAL ENTERTAINMENTS.

Banquets—The Various Courses—The Symposium—Its Character—Conversation—Music—Entertainments—Jugglers—Flute-Girls—Riddles—Games—Excessive Drinking.

At Athens, and probably throughout Greece—except, perhaps, at Sparta—the chief meal of the day was taken in the evening. This was not, however, the case in the Homeric period, when it was taken at mid-day, and the evening meal was of less importance. The customs of the heroic age differed in many respects from those of later times. In particular, the practice of sitting on chairs at meals then prevailed, and, in fact, there was no large common table used by all, but each guest had his own little table before him, on which the attendants placed the food which had been carved at a special board used for the purpose. Another difference is that, though the Homeric heroes, in accordance with the condition of their times, which laid special stress on the pleasures of the senses, cared a good deal for plentiful food and drink, and though full cups were continually circling at the meals, still the regular drinking parties which were common in later times, and which followed the meal itself, were quite unknown in the heroic age.

In considering the meals of the historical period, particularly at Athens, we must remember that we are dealing specially with large common banquets, which were very frequent among men, and not with the usual family meal, which the master of the house took in the circle of his family. We know very little of the proceedings at these family dinners, and that only from works of art. On Greek reliefs on tombstones we often find, from the classical to the Imperial period, representations of the family meal, where the master of the house lies on his couch, his wife sitting on it at his feet, for it was not considered correct for women to lie down at meals as the men did, and when we see on works of art women lying down along with the men, we may be certain that these are hetaerae, who were not bound by the same rules of custom. The children of the house sat round the table on chairs. But as a rule, the wife and children only dined in the most intimate family circle; when guests were invited they dined alone in the women’s apartments, and only on some few occasions, especially weddings and family festivals, were the women allowed to appear before the men.