could not choose but hear, could not have been more objectionable than these intrusive "gynaikonomoi." When the feast was over, and the libation and prayers to the gods concluded, the bride was taken to her new house in a chariot, enveloped in a veil and carrying a vessel for roasting barley; her mother bore two torches lighted at the paternal hearth. The groom's mother, also carrying torches, met her at the door; a shower of fruit and sweetmeats greeted her as she entered her new home, and at her chamber door she ate a quince (according to Solonic law) to give sweetness to her breath, or because it was symbolic of fruitfulness. The hymeneal songs of her companions were her lullaby and her reveille. In some places on the morrow after the wedding the husband went and remained with his mother-in-law until his bride sent him an article of clothing, as a present, to induce him to return to her. Then came a feast given by the groom, or his father, at which the bride was presented to the members of her husband's clan. Marriage was compulsory under Solon, but this law fell into disuse and in later days bachelors were subject to no disadvantage in Athenian territories. In the days of Pericles a law was passed to the effect that no one could be a citizen unless both his parents were citizens; but at various times the right of intermarriage with citizens of other places was permitted. This law of Pericles was probably an old law of Solon's, revived. In Sparta women were brought up solely for the good of the State. There a woman had but two duties to perform : to sustain and incite the valor of the men, and to bring forth strong and healthy children. From early youth her frame was strengthened by athletic exercises, and, as the result, the Laconian women were universally acknowl edged to be the most healthy and beautiful women in Greece. Here the women were more respected than elsewhere. The domes
tic relations between husband and wife more closely resembled our own in Sparta, than elsewhere in Greece. A Spartan addressed his wife as " Mistress," she was his partner, not a mere housekeeper. The other Gre cians thought the Spartans henpecked, but it was not so. Plutarch says, " The Lacede monians always hearken to their wives, and the women are permitted to interfere more with public business, than the men are with domestic concerns." In fact women have rarely in modern days enjoyed an authority and distinction as great as they did in Sparta from its earliest history to the death of Cleomenes, B. C. 220. In Crete and Cryene they were almost equally well treated. The Greek paid little attention to individ ual wishes or individual freedom, the individ ual was for the State, not the State for the individual. It was necessary for the Spar tans to be a race of soldiers; and as women were an integral part of the State they had to contribute towards that result. The regulations for this purpose are ascribed to Lycurgus, and the one object of all legisla tion concerning women in the best days of Sparta was to procure a first-rate breed of men. The one function which woman had to discharge was that of motherhood. The Spartans wanted strong men, brave men, resolute men : the mothers must therefore be strong, brave and resolute. All the care and attention possible was devoted to the physical training of their women. From their earliest days the girls engaged in gymnastic exercises, and when beyond child hood, they entered into contest with each other in wrestling, racing and throwing the quoit and javelin; they engaged in similar contests with young men, stripping like them before the assembled multitudes. Thus no sickly maiden could pass herself off as healthy. These athletics gave mental tone as well as physical strength. The girls mingled freely with the young men, knew them well, and attachments were formed long before the time of marriage. All this
