When dinner was ready the family came together but the
meal was a very simple one and did not take much time. The
Greeks seem to have regarded eating as an unavoidable evil
and not a pastime, which kills many dreary hours and eventually
kills many dreary people. They lived on bread and on
wine, with a little meat and some green vegetables. They
drank water only when nothing else was available because
they did not think it very healthy. They loved to call on each
other for dinner, but our idea of a festive meal, where everybody
is supposed to eat much more than is good for him, would
have disgusted them. They came together at the table for
the purpose of a good talk and a good glass of wine and water,
but as they were moderate people they despised those who
drank too much.
The same simplicity which prevailed in the dining room
also dominated their choice of clothes. They liked to be clean
and well groomed, to have their hair and beards neatly cut,
to feel their bodies strong with the exercise and the swimming
of the gymnasium, but they never followed the Asiatic fashion
which prescribed loud colours and strange patterns. They
wore a long white coat and they managed to look as smart as
a modern Italian officer in his long blue cape.
They loved to see their wives wear ornaments but they
thought it very vulgar to display their wealth (or their wives)
in public and whenever the women left their home they were as
inconspicuous as possible.
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