entrance to a temple. Here it will soon die of mere hunger and
neglect unless rescued. If the reasons for exposure are evident
physical defects, no one will touch it. Death is certain. If,
however, it seems healthy and well formed, it is likely to be
taken up and cared for. Not out of pure compassion, however. The
harpies who raise slaves and especially slave girls, for no honest
purposes, are prompt to pounce upon any promising looking infant.
They will rear it as a speculation; if it is a girl, they will
teach it to sing, dance, play. The race of light women in Athens
is thus really recruited from the very best families. The fact
is well known, but it is constantly winked at. Aristophanes, the
comic poet, speaks of this exposure of children as a common feature
of Athenian life. Socrates declares his hearers are vexed when
he robs them of pet ideas, "like women who have had their children
taken from them." There is little or nothing for men of a later
day to say of this custom save condemnation.[+]

[*]The idea of giving a lad a "schooling" and then turning him loose
to earn his own living in the world was contrary to all Athenian
theory and practice.

[+]About the only boon gained by this foul usage was the fact that,
thanks to it, the number of physically unfit persons in Athens
was probably pretty small, for no one would think of bringing up
a child which, in its first babyhood, promised to be a cripple.


46. The Celebration of a Birth.--But assuredly in a majority
of cases, the coming of a child is more than welcome. If a girl,
tufts of wool are hung before the door of the happy home; if a boy,