Paphos. The pillar at the back of Charis indicates the partition wall
between this chamber and the one next to it on the left. We here see a
large basin filled with water, standing on a columnar base. The water is
perhaps that of the well Callirrhoe, fetched by the young girl standing
close by for the nuptial bath. The girl seems to look inquiringly at the
matronly figure approaching the basin on the other side, and putting her
fingers into the water as if to test its warmth. Her sublime form and
priestly dress, together with the leaf-shaped instrument in her hand
(probably the instrument used at lustrations), seem to portray her as
Hera Teleia, the protecting goddess of marriage, in the act of examining
and blessing the bridal bath. The third scene of the picture is placed
at the entrance of the bride's house. The bridegroom, crowned with vine
branches, is sitting on the threshold, as if listening impatiently for
the close of the ceremony inside the house. In front of him is a group
of three maidens, one of whom seems to be making an offering at a
portable altar, while the other two begin the hymenaeus to the
accompaniment of the cithara."

With the completion of the marriage ceremonies, the maiden has passed
from the _gynaeconitis_ of her father to that of her husband; but, though
still under masculine control, she is absolute mistress of her limited
sphere; yet she is expected to refrain from manifesting interest in the
public affairs of her husband and to confine her attention to her
domestic duties.

"Good women must abide within the house;
Those whom we meet abroad are nothing worth,"

writes the poet; and this couplet expresses the Athenian husband's idea
of the wife's proper sphere of activity. His life is essentially an
outdoor one. The market place, a the law courts, the numerous colonnades,
are the centres of his activity, where he passes his time in attending
to business, in discussing politics, in telling or hearing some new
thing. His recreations consist in visiting the _palaestrae_ or the
_gymnasia_, the clubhouses of ancient Greece, and in participating with
his chosen friends in banquets at which beautiful flute players and
cultivated hetaerae afford pastime and amusement. He passes but little
time at home.

Meanwhile, the wife superintends the slaves and assigns them their
several duties; she looks after the stores, utensils, and furnishings of
the household; she presides over the kitc