a public or private bath seems doubtful. The dressing after
the bath has also been frequently depicted.

We need not enter upon the subject here. We will mention the chief
utensils, as the comb, ointment-bottle, mirror, etc., on a following
page. The scenes thus depicted are undoubtedly borrowed from daily
life, although Aphrodite, with her attendance of Cupids and Graces,
has taken the place of mortal women.

For music, games, and dances, we mention only a game at ball, which
was played in a dancing measure, and, therefore, considered as a
practice of graceful movements. Homer mentions Nausikaa as a skilled
player of this game. It is remarkable that wherever women playing at
ball appear in pictures they are represented in a sitting posture.
(See cut, page 205.)

The swing was essentially a female amusement. In commemoration of the
fate of Erigone, daughter of Ikarios, a festival had been ordained at
Athens at which the maidens indulged in the joys of the swing.
Illustrations of this pastime occur frequently on vases, free from any
mythological symbolism, even in cases where Eros is made to move the
swing.

We now come to the point in the maiden's life when she is to preside
over her own household as the legitimate mate of her husband. In most
cases Greek marriage was a matter of convenience, a man considering it
his duty to provide for the legitimate continuation of his family. The
Doric tribe did not attempt to disguise this principle in its
plain-spoken laws; the rest of Greece acknowledged it but in silence,
owing to a more refined conception of the moral significance of
marriage.

The seclusion of female life, indeed, made the question of personal
charms appear of secondary importance. Equity of birth and wealth were
the chief considerations. The choice of the Athenian citizen was
limited to Athenian maidens; only in that case were the children
entitled to full birthright, the issue of a marriage of an Athenian
man or maiden with a stranger being considered illegitimate by the
law. Such a marriage was, indeed, nothing but a form of concubinage.
The laws referring to this point were, however, frequently evaded. At
the solemn betrothal, always preceding the actual marriage, the dowry
of the bride was settled; her position as a married woman greatly
depended upon its value. Frequently the daughter of poor, deserving
citizens were presented with a dowry by the state or by a number of
citizens.

In Homer's time