The Chautauquan, Vol. 03, December 1882: A Monthly Magazine Devoted to the Promotion of True Culture.; Organ of the Chautauqua Literary and Scientific CircleChautauqua Literary and Scientific Circle
Religion
The Chautauquan, Vol. 03, December 1882: A Monthly Magazine Devoted to the Promotion of True Culture.; Organ of the Chautauqua Literary and Scientific Circle
Chautauqua Literary and Scientific Circle
Chautauqua Institution -- Periodicals; Chautauqua Literary and Scientific Circle -- Periodicals
THE DOMESTIC ANIMALS.—These were first the horses and mules, which do
not seem to have been treated with any great familiarity, but were
carefully groomed, and after exercise were allowed to roll in sand
before being brought in—a treatment still common in southern Italy,
where the old Greek fashion of driving four-in-hand abreast also
prevails. The two center horses were yoked to the pole, the others were
fastened by loose traces, and called _paraseiroi_ (outriggers). The
commonest and most valued domestic animal was the dog, which maintains
a very important place in Greek society up to the present day. There
were various kinds of breeds for hunting, chosen both for nose and for
speed; there were watch-dogs; and also ornamental kinds, such as little
lap-dogs, which are represented in the sad scenes of leave-taking on
the tombs. Many anecdotes are told of their faithfulness, and we hear
of at least one case where a handsome dog, which belonged to Alcibiades
cost about 70_l._ Cats were also common, so common as to be charged
with the breaking of household ware by guilty servants, and they are
often described as wandering along the roofs of houses. Sundry birds
were kept in cages, and for ornament, such as pheasants and peacocks;
the quail was used for combats corresponding to English cock fights.
CUSTOMS OF BURIAL.—I will conclude our consideration of the Greek
household by describing the customs when death laid its hand upon one
of the inmates.
At the moment of the death struggle the face was veiled, that no man
might see it; then it was uncovered for a moment to close his eyes
and mouth. The body was then washed by female relatives, scented
with unguents, dressed in white and with a garland, and placed upon
a couch adorned with branches, and with an unguent bottle beside it.
This laying out was done in the entrance hall of the house and the
feet were turned to the door. Outside was a cypress branch and water
for sprinkling those who came out, as the dead defiled the house and
its inmates. The laying out was limited to one day, during which both
male and female relatives, together with hired mourners, stood round
the bier, and uttered laments in refrain very like the _Irish cry_ of
our day. This almost universal custom in Asia was discountenanced and
restricted by Greek law-givers, especially the tearing of the hair and
laceration of the face which accompanied it. Burial took place in the
morning dawn, before the sun could shine upon the corpse; in later days
a small coin was placed in his mouth to pay his passage in the nether
world—a custom which still survives in some parts of Greece. In the
funeral procession the male relatives went before, the female followed
after, and in Athens and other places where women lived secluded, only
aged women and near relatives were allowed to attend, as young men
took this opportunity of seeing the ladies, who were at other times
invisible. When the dead was laid in the tomb, he was called by name
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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