hen; she nurses the sick; and,
above all, she devotes her attention to the careful rearing of the
children, whose prattle breaks the otherwise monotonous existence of the
women's apartments. Occasionally, she visits her friends, or receives
them in her house; but the gathering of women was discouraged by the
husbands, who believed the effect of gossip to be matrimonial
discontent.

Religious ceremonies occupied a large part of feminine life, and women
over sixty might attend any funerals to which inclination called them;
and funerals among the Greeks, save in isolated cases, were not
hopelessly solemn affairs. These elderly women were also privileged to
attend memorial exercises in honor of the distinguished dead, and it was
on an occasion such as this that Thucydides puts into the mouth of
Pericles the famous dictum, expressing so aptly the Athenian conception
of the ideal woman: "The best wife is the one of whom the least is said,
either of good or evil." The tortoise was the symbol of feminine
life--the creature that never goes out of her shell. Lycurgus draws a
dramatic picture of the receipt of the news at Athens of the fateful
day at Chaeronea, when the Athenian women stood in the doors of their
houses, making inquiries concerning husbands and brothers and fathers,
but not, as might have been expected, gathering in the streets to
discuss the terrible tidings.

Although their opportunities for social life were so limited, the
Athenian women devoted much time to their toilet. Bathing was a daily
habit, and was attended by anointing with oils and fragrant essences.
The dignity and grace of Athenian dress are admirably illustrated by the
drapery of the female forms which support the roof of the southern
portico of the Erechtheum. The tunic, with its overhanging _diplois_,
fastened round the hips by means of a girdle, was gracefully arranged in
symmetrical folds. Linen was usually the material employed, and white
was the favorite color among modest Greek women; yet particolored
Oriental garments were also worn. Dresses were frequently adorned with
inwoven patterns and attached borders and embroideries. The outer
garment was the mantle, or _peplos_, shaped like a shawl and capable of
a variety of picturesque drapings. The headdress of women was simple.
Hats were not worn, except on journeys, and, beyond the customary veil,
the chief ornament was a band for holding together the plentiful hair.
This was frequently knott