tragedy--Lycon, Phormion, and Ariston, in comedy--exerted their utmost
skill, and contended for the prize of superior excellence. Phasimelus,
the dancer was also present.

It is yet undecided whether the Persians admitted their matrons to their
public banquets and private parties;--but if we can believe the positive
testimony of Herodotus, such was the case: and the summons of Vashti to
the annual festival, and the admission of Haman to the queen's table,
are facts which support the affirmation of that historian. The doubts
upon the subject appear to have arisen from confounding the manners of
Assyrians, Medes, and Parthians, with those of the more Scythian tribes
of Persis. We read in Xenophon that the Persian women were so well made
and beautiful, that their attractions might easily have seduced the
affections of the Ten Thousand, and have caused them, like the
lotus-eating companions of Ulysses, to forget their native land. Some
little hints as to the mode in which their beauty was enhanced and their
persons decorated, may be expected in the Life of Alexander, who,
victorious over their fathers and brothers, yet submitted to their
charms.

The Persian ladies wore the tiara or turban richly adorned with jewels.
They wore their hair long, and both plaited and curled it; nor, if the
natural failed, did they scruple to use false locks. They pencilled the
eyebrows, and tinged the eyelid, with a dye that was supposed to add a
peculiar brilliancy to the eyes. They were fond of perfumes, and their
delightful ottar was the principal favourite. Their tunic and drawers
were of fine linen, the robe or gown of silk--the train of this was
long, and on state occasions required a supporter. Round the waist they
wore a broad zone or cincture, flounced on both edges, and embroidered
and jewelled in the centre. They also wore stockings and gloves, but