ld. The daughters
of Celeus, like Rebecca of old, went to the well to draw water for
household use; and the clothes washing of the Princess Nausicaa and her
maidens has been already mentioned. So, by the side of the refinement
and elegance of the Homeric Age we have a simplicity of manners that but
adds to the charm.

In spite of these beautiful instances of domestic harmony and affection,
the women of Homer had really no rights, in the modern sense of the
term. Throughout the whole of life their position was subject to the
will or the whims of men. At marriage, woman merely passed from the
tutelage of her father to that of her husband, who had absolute power
over her. But though the power of the husband was absolute, yet he was
generally deferential toward the wife he loved, and was frequently
guided by her opinions. Thus, the Phaeacians say of Queen Arete:
"Friends, this speech of our wise queen is not wide of the mark, nor far
from our deeming, so hearken thereto. But on Alcinous here both word and
work depend." With Arete lay the real seat of authority, though she
could claim no rights, and doubtless the tactful and clever Homeric
woman was, as a rule, the dominating influence in the palace.

When the husband died, the grown-up son succeeded to his rights, and it
was in his power, if he saw fit, to give his widowed mother again in
marriage. Penelope's obedience to her son Telemachus is one of the
striking features of the Odyssey. He had it in his power to give her in
marriage to any of the suitors, but he refrained, from filial affection
and mercenary motives. "It can in no wise be that I thrust forth from
the house, against her will, the woman that bare me and reared me," says
Telemachus; and he continues: "Moreover, it is hard for me to make heavy
restitution to Icarius, as needs I must if, of my own will, I send my
mother away."

Far worse, however, was the lot of the widow whose husband had been
slain in battle. She became at once the slave of the conqueror, to be
dealt with as he wished. Hector draws a gloomy picture of the fate of
Andromache in case he should be slain: "Yea, of a surety I know this in
heart and soul; the day shall come for holy Ilium to be laid low, and
Priam and the folk of Priam of the good ashen spear. Yet doth the
anguish of the Trojans hereafter not so much trouble me, neither
Hecuba's own, neither King Priam's, neither my brethren's, the many and
brave that shall fall in the dust befo