Page:General History of Europe 1921.djvu/127

 Athens in the Age of Pericles 79 The city was about a mile wide and somewhat more in length. The streets were merely lanes or alleys, narrow and crooked, winding between the bare mud-brick walls of the low houses. There was neither pavement nor sidewalk, and a stroll through the town after a rain meant wading through the mud. All the household rubbish and garbage were thrown directly into the street, and there was no system of street-cleaning or of sewerage. 117. Costume. The gorgeous oriental raiment of earlier days had now largely disappeared in Greece, as bright colors for men did among us in the days of our great-great-grandfathers. The women were less inclined to give up the old finery ; unhappily they had little to think about but clothes and housekeeping. For Greek citizens still kept their wives in the background ; they were mere housekeepers, and it was not deemed necessary to provide schools for the girls. 118. Schools. When a boy was old enough he was sent to school in charge of an old slave called a pedagogue (a Greek word meaning "leader of a child"). There were no schools maintained by the State. School was conducted in his own house by some poor citizen, who was much looked down upon. He received his pay from the parents. Besides studying music and learning to read and write, the pupil memorized many passages from the old poets, and here and there a boy with a good memory could repeat the entire Iliad and Odyssey. On the other hand, there was no instruction in mathematics, geography, or natural science. 119. Athletics. If the wealth and station of his family per- mitted, the Athenian youth spent much of his time on the new athletic fields. On the north of Athens was the field known as the Academy. There was a similar athletic ground, called the Lyceum, on the east of the city. The later custom of holding courses of lectures in these places resulted in giving the words "academy" and "lyceum" the associations they now possess for us. The chief events in the famous athletic contests at Olympia (97) were boxing, wrestling, running, jumping, casting the javelin, and throwing the disk. To these, other contests were afterward added, especially chariot and horseback races.