DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.4098#0159
GALAXIDI. . 133
seemed to consist in jumping heavily, first with one leg, then with
the other, and striking the ground violently with the feet. They at
first danced slowly, and moved round in a walking pace; but the
music becoming by degrees more animated, the dancers acquired
a proportionate spirit, and finished with a kind of convulsive velo-
city of motion ; when, being quite exhausted, a new party succeeded,
and so the entertainment was continued till the end of the day. The
Greeks pride themselves upon their good dancing; and they have a
proverb, which they apply to all undertakings, and which signifies,
dance well, or not at all.
rj %ppEU<reTe xctXcc, v\ cc<P'/;ts rov xopov.
The music was of the most discordant and unharmonious kind ;
consisting only of a large drum, and two loud and shrill pipes : but
the novelty of the dresses was to us not only lively and curious, but
highly interesting.
The fashions seldom or never vary in Greece; and it is probable,
that the ancient costume (most parts of which may be traced back
to the earliest ages of antiquity) is still retained, in a great degree, at
the present day. The common Greeks generally continue the prac-
tice of the Theseid tonsure. They shave the fore part of the head,
and consider it as irreligious to neglect doing so. Homer, according
to Plutarch,1 attributed the origin of this fashion to the Abantes;
and it was introduced that their enemies might not seize them by the
forelocks.2 Strabo3 tells us the Cureti had a similar custom. Homer4
calls the Abantes 07n9ev xopouvreg, with their hair behind. The same
is applicable to the modern Greeks of the lower orders, who are par-
ticularly careful to encourage long and flowing locks, falling on their
shoulders.
1 Life of Theseus. s Pokanius, Stratag. b. I.e. 4.
3 B. 10. p. 405. * Iliad, '2. v. 542.
seemed to consist in jumping heavily, first with one leg, then with
the other, and striking the ground violently with the feet. They at
first danced slowly, and moved round in a walking pace; but the
music becoming by degrees more animated, the dancers acquired
a proportionate spirit, and finished with a kind of convulsive velo-
city of motion ; when, being quite exhausted, a new party succeeded,
and so the entertainment was continued till the end of the day. The
Greeks pride themselves upon their good dancing; and they have a
proverb, which they apply to all undertakings, and which signifies,
dance well, or not at all.
rj %ppEU<reTe xctXcc, v\ cc<P'/;ts rov xopov.
The music was of the most discordant and unharmonious kind ;
consisting only of a large drum, and two loud and shrill pipes : but
the novelty of the dresses was to us not only lively and curious, but
highly interesting.
The fashions seldom or never vary in Greece; and it is probable,
that the ancient costume (most parts of which may be traced back
to the earliest ages of antiquity) is still retained, in a great degree, at
the present day. The common Greeks generally continue the prac-
tice of the Theseid tonsure. They shave the fore part of the head,
and consider it as irreligious to neglect doing so. Homer, according
to Plutarch,1 attributed the origin of this fashion to the Abantes;
and it was introduced that their enemies might not seize them by the
forelocks.2 Strabo3 tells us the Cureti had a similar custom. Homer4
calls the Abantes 07n9ev xopouvreg, with their hair behind. The same
is applicable to the modern Greeks of the lower orders, who are par-
ticularly careful to encourage long and flowing locks, falling on their
shoulders.
1 Life of Theseus. s Pokanius, Stratag. b. I.e. 4.
3 B. 10. p. 405. * Iliad, '2. v. 542.