of NOBLE WOMANHOOD a great deal. By a hundred tokens, delightful
vase paintings, noble monuments, poetic myths, tribute is paid to
the self-mastery, the self-forgetfulness, the courage, the gentleness "of
the wives and mothers who have made Athens the beacon of Hellas";
and there is one witness better than all the rest. Along the
"Street of Tombs," by the gate of the city, runs the long row of
stele (funeral monuments), inimitable and chaste memorials to the
beloved dead; and here we meet, many times over, the portrayal of
a sorrow too deep for common lament, the sorrow for the lovely and
gracious figures who have passed into the great Mystery. Along
the Street of the Tombs the wives and mothers of Athens are honored
not less than the wealthy, the warriors, or the statesmen.


32. The Sphere of Action of Athenian Women.--Assuredly the Athenian
house mother cannot match her husband in discussing philosophy or
foreign politics, but she has her own home problems and confronts
them well. A dozen or twenty servants must be kept busy. From
her, all the young children must get their first education, and the
girls probably everything they are taught until they are married.
Even if she does not meet many men, she will strive valiantly to
keep the good opinion of her husband. If she has shapely feet and
hands (whereupon great stress is laid in Hellas), she will do her
utmost to display them to the greatest advantage[*]; and she has,
naturally, plenty of other vanities (see section 38). Her husband has
turned over to her the entire management of the household. This
means that if he is an easy-going man, she soon understands his
home business far better than he does himself, and really has him
quite at her mercy. Between caring for her husband's wants, nursing
the sick slaves, acting as arbitress in their inevitable disputes,