"Of all things upon earth that breathe and grow A herb most bruised is woman. We must pay Our store of gold, hoarded for that one day To buy us some man's love, and lo, they bring A master of our flesh. There comes the sting Of the whole shame, and then the jeopardy For good or ill, what shall that master be? Reject she cannot, and if she but stays His suit, 'tis shame on all that woman's days. So thrown amid new laws, new places, why, 'Tis magic she must have to prophesy. Home never taught her that--how best to guide Towards peace this thing that sleepeth at her side, And she, who, labouring long, shall find some way Whereby her lord may bear with her, nor fray His yoke too fiercely, blessed is the breath That woman draws! Else let her pray for death. Her lord, if he be wearied of her face Within doors, gets him forth; some merrier place Will ease his heart; but she waits on, her whole Vision enchained on a single soul. And then, forsooth, 'tis they that face the call Of war, while we sit sheltered, hid from all Peril. False mocking. Sooner would I stand Three times to face their battles, shield in hand, Than bear our child."--EURIPIDES. If we turn now from eastern civilisation to ancient Greece, the picture there presented to us is in many ways in sharp contrast to anything we have yet examined. The Greeks founded western civilisation, but their rapid advance in general culture was by no means accompanied by a corresponding improvement in the position of women. The fineness of their civilisation and their exquisite achievement in so many directions makes it the more necessary to remember this. At one time there would seem to have been in prehistoric Greece a period of fully developed mother-rights, as is proved by numerous survivals of the older system so frequently met with in Greek literature and history. This was at an earlier stage of civilisation, before the establishment of the patriarchal system. There is little doubt, however, that the influence of mother-right remained as a tradition for long after the actual rights had been lost by women.[253] It will be remembered how great was the astonishment of the Greek travellers at the free position of the Egyptian women, in particular the apparent subjection of the husband to his wife. Now, such surprise is in itself sufficient to prove a different conception of the relation of the sexes. The patriarchal view whereby the woman is placed under the protection and authority of the man was already clearly established in the Hellenic belief. Yet, in spite of this fact, the position of the woman was striking and peculiar, and in some directions remarkably free, and thus offering many points of interest not less important in their significance to us than what we have seen already in Egypt and in Babylon.