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A Day in Old Athens; a Picture of Athenian Life by William Stearns Davis
page 67 of 279 (24%)
are not without their follies) are sometimes fond of rouge, false
hair, and the like. Auburn hair is especially admired, and many
fine dames bleach their tresses in a caustic wash to obtain it.
The styles of feminine hair dressing seem to change from decade to
decade much more than the arrangements of the garments. Now it is
plaited and crimped hair that is in vogue, now the more beautiful
"Psyche-knots"; yet even in their worst moods the Athenian women
exhibit a sweet reasonableness. They have not yet fallen into the
clutches of the Parisian hairdresser.

The poets, of course, ridicule the foibles of the fair sex.[*]
Says one:--


The golden hair Nikylla wears
Is hers, who would have thought it?
She swears 'tis hers, and true she swears
For I know where she bought it!


And again:--


You give your cheeks a rosy stain,
With washes dye your hair;
But paint and washes both are vain
To give a youthful air.
An art so fruitless then forsake,
Which, though you much excel in,
You never can contrive to make
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