The Gavelyte, July 1915

6 THE GAVELYTE EXTRACTS FROM A T.RCTURE 0~ WmIEN. (By Logan Abner Waits.) More than the fortunes of war, the lu:~urics of peace, or the re- ligions of a nation, is t he inflµence ior goocl or bad that women ex- ~rcise over men. As t!re the wOllll:!n of a nat.ion, so will be the· men, but the reverse iB not true. That the· nature of women is vast.ly d iff- erent from that of men, has r cen ~n evident t ruth to all pe ople :fro m the earliest times. It is with a feeling· of awe that we venture into t.he subject at all. It js evident that at least scvcn-eLd1ts of the woe jn the world ii; cansed bv wtimen. while on the other hand. ::ili the . joys of t he world are directly o·r indirectly attributed to women. Away back in the early history of Greeee, Simonide2 of Amorgos, a satirical poet, divides women into ten cl:isr,cs, of which only one is good. He says: "Women are an eyil. but ne.,,·ertheless, () country- men, it is not p ossible t.o have a hou,:iehold without evil, fot· to :n1arry i;: an evil a.nd not to marrv is an evil." Much has been said con- <·etning an cient women. Many arc the d ream i; t.hat poet::i have h:..d of what t.hcy were like. From t he Illiad :i.nd Odyssey we ~et. a pic- ture of the Homeric women. None, it seem s, were vidous, but rather capric.lous at tima. · * * $ :~ .. :f, * g For about five hundred years, Sparta produced the stron"'ei,t race of men known to an.v ag-e pa.<;t or present. \Vhy w:ii; this true ? Because of the ideal life the women of Snartn led. From infam·v ·they enjoyed the utmost freedom. 'J:hev lived in the open a ir, per- formed gymnastic cxerciP.es, w0rc sensible ir.urmEcnts, and cn:::.we<l .ln no deadly rivah·y o:l' fashion or eustqm. * * * .. * * t The Greeks understood the value of co-ednca<::icn con! uric<; h.- - f01·c our modern Horace Mann tokl us anything about it.;; advant- ages. (True only of Sparta). W'i' are bcginnin;\' t o believe toda:i more and more in the Rimple faith of the Spartan concerninQ; m·orals. We are beginning to understand that morals are best taught by per- mitting boys and girls to have a comprehcn!'.ive knowledge•of them- selves. 'I'hc Spartan maiden and youth knew each other well lonv, before their marriage. The woman r.onsider!'d it her sacred du t y to bear children for the _s:('lory of Sparta. Herc, then, is the solu- tion for our prc~ent divo'l'cc evil and juvenile court affairs. * To pass from sobe1· earnestness to more tr.ivial thoughts, you wish to know how t he ancients made love to each other. Well. i·,, our Rense of the word " love," the Romans knew nothing abou t it be.fore the fourth century B. C. The early Rom~ms considered love a ;rort of stunnin~ process that ocr:urred a time or two in a lif P- time, and eYentually left the victimA in a better condition to· rnef't 'life's trial ;r. The above explanation, I know, . iS not very exciting, so let me quofo from Plautus: "Come 110\\·,_just call me your little s p.t.r- row, your chick, your quail, your lambkin. good little kid, or your little calf. Jmit seize me· by dear little ears, and put ·dear little lips on dear little lips." According to the qu0tation, it mu~t have been the hahit of lovers to sdze each other hy the ears, which, I dare say, would be rathe1· interesting to us. · · · * • * :t: ~ :ti : i:. * We shall now conclude with a brief view of the effect.G of early Chri~tian faith upon the women of Remc. By nature, women' are