a rival.
Whereupon, none of the things, at first by us done,
Now is allowed us: Such stuff against us
Does he in the men's heads stick, that, if a woman
Is weaving a garland, she is held to be in love; or when,
While hustling the household to keep, something drops,
Forthwith the husband inquires: "Whom are those fragments meant for?
Plainly, they are meant for the guest from Corinthos."

We can understand that this ready-tongued Greek woman should serve the
assailer of her sex in such manner; nevertheless, Euripides could not
very well have made these accusations, nor could he have found credence
with the men, if they knew not but too well that the accusations were
justified. To judge by the concluding sentences of this address, the
custom--met later in Germany and many other countries--had not yet been
naturalized in Greece, that the host placed his own wife or daughter at
the disposal of his guest for the night. Murner writes on this custom,
prevalent in Holland as late as the fifteenth century, in these words:
"It is the custom in the Netherlands, when the host has a dear guest,
that he lets his wife sleep with him on faith."[11]

The increasing struggles between the classes in the several states of
Greece, and the sad state of many of the smaller communities, gave
occasion for Plato to inquire into the best constitution and the best
institutions for the State. In his "Republic," set up by him as ideal,
he demands, at least for the first class of his citizens, the watchers,
the complete equality of woman. Women are to participate in the
exercises of arms, the same as the men, and are to fill the same duties
as these, only they are to attend to the lighter ones, "owing to the
weakness of the sex." He maintains that the natural inclinations are
equally distributed among the two sexes, only that woman is in all
matters weaker than man. Furthermore, the women are to be common to the
men, and vice versa; likewise are the children to be common, "so that
neither the father may know his child, nor the child his father."[12]

Aristotle, in his "Politics," is satisfied with less. Woman should have
a free hand in the selection of her husband, but she is to be
subordinate to him; nevertheless, she should have the right "to give
good advice." Thucydides expresses an opinion that meets with the
applause of all modern Philistines. He says: "That wife deserves the
highest praise of whom, outside of