DUTIES TO THE CHILD _Bathing_ Among the principal duties incumbent on the nurse of an infant was the giving of the bath. That it was given immediately after birth, we infer from Lycophron’s Alexandra, 309, where a child dies πρὶν ἐκ λοχείας γυῖα χυτλῶσαι δρόσῳ, and also from Plautus, Amphitryo, 1103: “Postquam peperit pueros lavere iussit nos.” The heroine nymphs of Libya, acting as nurses, bathed Athena when she leaped in gleaming armor from the head of Zeus.[58] Some nurses preferred pure water;[59] others, like the Spartans, bathed the child in wine as a test of its strength, they being of the opinion that the weakly ones would faint, but the more vigorous would acquire firmness and hardness after a bath of this kind.[60] On a vase portraying the life of Achilles one of the scenes shows the nurse giving the infant son of Thetis his first bath.[61] The vessel in which this bath is given is mentioned by Pindar: ἐπεί νιν καθαροῦ λέβητος ἔξελε Κλωθώ.[62] _Swaddling Clothes_ Attic nurses wrapped the infant in swaddling clothes (σπάργανα).[63] As far as we can gather from the grave-reliefs these seem to have been long narrow strips of cloth bound like bandages around the child’s body, which they completely covered from head to foot, leaving nothing but the face uncovered.[64] White,[65] purple,[66] and saffron[67] are mentioned as colors of these bands. The practice of swaddling children is alluded to by Hesiod,[68] and frequent reference is made to it by the Tragedians.[69] The Theban children given over to the state were swaddled.[70] The nurse in the Amphitryo complained that Hercules was so large she could not swathe him.[71] How long the children were kept thus bound we do not know; but we can hardly suppose that it was until they had reached the age of two years, as Plato advises.[72] The Spartan nurses dispensed with these bands, allowing the children to grow up unrestrained in limb and form.[73] Exposed children were sometimes recognized by the swaddling clothes.[74] _Food_