like a high leather boot,[*] though doubtless these are counted
uncomfortable for ordinary wear. As for the sandals, simple as
they are, the Attic touch of elegance is often upon them. Upon the
thongs of the sandals there is usually worked a choice pattern, in
some brilliant color or even gilt.

[*]Actors, too, wore a leather boot with high soles to give them
extra height--the COTHURNUS.

The Athenians need head coverings even less than footgear. Most of
them have thick hair; baldness is an uncommon affliction; everybody
is trained to walk under the full glare of Helios with little
discomfort. Of course certain trades require hats, e.g. sailors
who can be almost identified by their rimless felt caps. Genteel
travelers will wear wide-brimmed hats; but the ladies, as a rule,
have no headgear besides their tastefully arranged hair, although
they will partly atone for the lack, by having a maid walk just
behind them with a gorgeously variegated parasol.


37. The Beauty of the Greek Dress.--Greek Costume, then, is
something fully sharing in the national characteristics of harmony,
simplicity, individuality. It is easy to see how admirably this
style of dress is adapted to furnish over ready models and inspiration
for the sculptor.[*] Unconventional in its arrangement, it is
also unconventional in its color. A masculine crowd is not one
unmitigated swarm of black and dark grays or browns, as with the
multitude of a later age. On the contrary, white is counted as
theoretically the most becoming color on any common occasion for
either sex;[+] and on festival days even grave and elderly men