The importance of the nurse in Greek life may be judged from the fact that to her as well as to the mother was entrusted the early education of the child. Quintilian quoting Chrysippus, whose treatise on Greek education has unfortunately been lost, says: “Those advise better who like Chrysippus think that no part of a child’s life should be exempt from education. For Chrysippus, though he has allowed three years to the nurses, yet is of the opinion that the minds of children may be imbued with excellent instruction even by them.”^[213] The same author wishes nurses to be women of some knowledge. At any rate, they should be the best circumstances allow.^[214] If we can judge from Republic, 343 a, the nurse taught the children to distinguish between ordinary words: e?p? ??, ?f?, ? S???ate?, t?t?? s?? ?st??;... ?t? t?? se, ?f?, ???????ta pe????? ?a? ??? ?p??tte? de?e???, ?? ?e a?t? ??d? p??ata ??d? p????a ?????s?e??.

The first lessons of the nurse were imparted by means of stories and songs, when children were not of an age to learn gymnastic. Of this Plato makes mention in the following passage: ?? a????e??, ?? d’ ???, ?t? p??t?? t??? pa?d???? ????? ?e??e???; t??t? d? p?? ?? t? ???? e?pe?? ?e?d??, ??? d? ?a? ?????. p??te??? d? ????? p??? t? pa?d?a ? ???as???? ???e?a.^[215] Furthermore, he would have mothers and nurses mould the minds of the children by means of these tales: pe?s?e? t?? t??f??? te ?a? ?t??a? p??tte?? t?? ????? a?t?? t??? ????? p??? ????? ? t? s?ata ta?? ?e?s??.^[216]

In ancient literature, however, we find only isolated traces of nursery tales which may perhaps be accounted for by the contempt with which the Greeks regarded this form of literature, an inference drawn from Socrates’ answer to Hippias: s?? ?a????s?? ?? ?a?eda??????, ?te p???? e?d?t?? ?a? ????ta? ?spe? ta?? p?es?t?s?? ?? pa?de? p??? t? ?d??? ???????sa?.^[217] More emphatic is his answer to Gorgias: t??a d’ ??? ta?ta ???? s?? d??e? ???es?a?, ?spe? ??a??? ?a? ?ataf???e?? a?t??.^[218] In a similar strain writes Lucian: ?t? s?? ??a?? ???? t? ?e??e?a ?st?.^[219] Disconnected as are the allusion to nursery tales and notwithstanding the contempt in which they were held, we have sufficient evidence to prove their existence and suggest their character.

Nurses had many ways of acting on the imaginations of their young charges in order to secure their obedience, to quiet them or put them in good humor. The choice of the tales depended on the nurse and on the intelligence of the children whom they nursed d?? ???????a?,^[220] and quieted again by tales after they had beaten them: ?a??pe? a? t?t?a? t? pa?d?a, ?pe?d?? a?t??? p????? ????s? pa?a????e?a? ?a? ?a????e?a? ???? a?t??? ?ste??? d????sa?t?.^[221] This recounting of tales is also mentioned by Philostratus: ?a? ?ata??????e? e ? t?t?? ?a????t??.^[222]

As a substitute for the sandal, which according to Lucian^[223] was energetically applied, they sometimes told the children stories of an awe-inspiring character. The time-honored bogey was always in requisition to frighten them into good behavior, while there were tales of a pleasing character for the good children. These two classes of tales which we may designate as protreptic and apotropaic are clearly defined by Strabo in the following passage: t??? te ??? pa?s? p??sf???e? t??? ?de?? ????? e?? p??t??p?? e?? ?p?t??p?? d? t??? f?e????.^[224]

We shall first consider the apotropaic tales, or bogeys. Of these, the most frequently mentioned is Lamia who is so intimately connected with the domain of fable that Plutarch called Demetrius ????? because the name of his mistress was Lamia: ???????? d? ? S????? t?? ???t???? ????e? ?????? e??a? ??? a?t? ?a? ?a?a? (???a?).^[225]

From Diodorus we learn that she was of Libya: t?? t????a ?p??e?d?st?? ??t??? ??? ??de ?a?a? t?? ???st???? ?????.^[226] The Scholiast on Aristophanes, Peace, 758, says that she was a Libyan woman with whom Zeus consorted, not without the knowledge of Hera, who being jealous, destroyed Lamia’s children. When they were killed and she was overburdened, Lamia killed the children of others.^[227] Therefore, nurses called Lamia to them to frighten children. And the story is told how she by the counsel of Hera passed her life sleepless, so that day and night she was in continual pain, until Zeus taking pity on her made her eyes removable.^[228] Plutarch thus speaks of her in De Curiositate: ??? d? ?spe? ?? t? ??? t?? ???a? ?????s??? ????? ?? ?de?? t?f???, ?? ???e?? t??? t??? ?f?a???? ????sa? ?p??e?????? ??? d? p?????sa? ?p?t??es?a? ?a? ??pe??. Her singing would attract children to her abode but they had a chance to escape when her eyes were ?? ???e??.^[229]

The fear which children had for the Lamia is referred to by Lucian in a passage where he is speaking of the stories told to children: ???d?a pa?d?? ????? ???e?? d???e?a ?t? t?? ???? ?a? t?? ???a? ded??t??.^[230] She was said to devour children alive. Whence Horace: “Neu pransae Lamia vivum puerum extrabat alvo.”^[231] Philostratus represents her as a monster, possessing the blood-sucking reputation of the vampire.^[232] Dionysius of Halicarnassus mentions her in a passage in which he is treating of the fables of earlier historians: ?a?a? t???? ?st?????te? ?? ??a?? ?a? ??pa?? ?? ??? ???e??a?, ?a? ?a?da? ?f????? ?? ta?t???? ?????sa? ?a? d?? pe?????? ??????a? ?a? ????e?a?, ?a? ta?ta? e?? ????a? ?????p??? s??e?????a?.^[233]

Lamia plays an important part in modern Greek nursery tales, where she is portrayed as a monster, hideous and deformed, hungry for human flesh, partaking of the nature of the Harpy, the Gorgon, and the Empusa.^[234] Belief in her is so common in Greece that Wachsmuth says when a child dies suddenly they say: t? pa?d? t? ?p???e ? ???a.^[235]

With Lamia, Strabo groups: G???? ?a? ? ?f???t?? ?a? ? ????????.^[236] That the hideous aspect of the Gorgon was used as a bugbear, may be gathered from Aristophanes, Acharnians, 582, where Lammachus is bidden to take away his shield which has the Gorgon for a device: ?p??e??e ?? t?? ????a. As if the speaker said: “Take away the representation of the Gorgon which strikes terror into me, as ??? does into children.” Mormolyke is called the nurse of Acheron, husband of Gorgyce by Sophron.^[237] The significance of the name is derived from ??????e?a, the general term for “bogey” of which Plato, speaking of the fear of death, says: ? ded???a? t?? ???at??, ?spe? t? ??????e?a.^[238]

To the apotropaic nursery tales belong also the stories of Acco and Alphito which are classed together by Plutarch: t?? ?????? ?a? t?? ??f?t??? d’ ?? t? pa?d???a t?? ?a??s???e?? a? ???a??e? ??e?????s??.^[239] According to Hesychius the word Acco is etymologically connected with ?s??? and ?????, so that by Acco was originally meant a bugbear which carried off naughty children in a bag. In a similar manner Alphito, from ??f?ta is explained.

Another favorite of the nurses was Gello: da??? ?? ???a??e? t? ?e???? pa?d?a fas?? ??p??e??. (Hesychius.) Zenobius, iii, 3, explaining the proverb, Ge??? pa?d?f???t??a, says of her: Ge??? ??? t?? ?? pa??????, ?a? ?pe?d? ????? ?te?e?t?se, fas?? ?? ??s??? a?t?? t? f??tasa ?p?f??t?? ?p? t? pa?d?a, ?a? t??? t?? ????? ?a??t??? a?t? ??at???as?. ????ta? ta?t?? Sapf?.^[240] Hesychius also styles her e?d???? ?p??s??. The Empusa here referred to is placed in the same category with Lamia and Mormolyke: ? ???st? ??f? ?a t?? ?p??s?? ?st??, ?? ?a?a? te ?a? ???????a? ?? p????? ?????ta?.^[241] She possessed the property of assuming any form she pleased: “For they were travelling by a bright moonlight when the figure of an empusa or hobgoblin appeared to them that changed from one form into another until finally it vanished into nothing.”^[242] According to the Scholiast on Apollonius Rhodius, iii, 860, Hecate often sends out ghosts, the so-called ??ata??a and often changes her form, wherefore she is called Empusa. Aeschines’ mother acquired the nickname Empusa ?? t?? p??ta p??e??,^[243] according to the Scholiast p??ta t? a?s??? ?a? ???s?a.

Another bogey was the Strigla, the Roman Strix (Mod. Greek st????a??), of which mention is made in a fragment of an ancient nursery song:

The wolf had also its place in this literature, since its name was used in the same manner as the bugbears mentioned above:

A good example of the way in which children were frightened by these bogeys is given in Theocritus, where Praxinoe who wants to go out to the Adonis festival says to the child who runs after her crying:

Another instance is given by Callimachus in the Hymn to Artemis, where he tells that when a mother in Olympus cannot get her daughter to obey her, she calls one of the Cyclopes, and the indefatigable Hermes appears immediately with his face smeared with soot to personate the Cyclops. Then the child hastens in fright to her mother and puts her head on her bosom:

The Scholion on this passage says: ?atap???t??? f?e??. ?? etaf???? t?? ????? t? ??f? f???s??.^[248] The ??? here spoken of was a woman of horrible and monstrous aspect which Hesychius calls t? f??t??? t??? pa?d????. Xenophon likens the fear of the allies to that which young children have for ???: ?? ?? ?a?eda?????? ?p?s??pte?? ?t???? ?? ?? s?a??? f????t? t??? pe?tast??, ?spe? ????a? pa?d???a.^[249] Aristophanes also makes use of this word:

Such were the tales told by nurses to frighten children into good behavior. We cannot but think that these stories, although they secured obedience for the time being, must have had a deleterious effect on the children. This view is substantiated by a passage of Lucian: “If you do not want to fill these boys’ heads with ghosts and hobgoblins, postpone your grotesque horrors for a more suitable occasion. Have some mercy on the lads: do not accustom them to listen to a tangle of superstitious stuff that will cling to them for the rest of their lives and make them start at their own shadow.”^[253]

What the children naturally preferred to these threats were the stories told to put them to sleep or to amuse them—the protreptic tales. The nurses had a store of such tales, and ??a?? or t?t??? ???? have grown into a proverb.^[254]

The subject matter of these tales was the actions of the gods and heroes of mythology: ?e????? a?t?? ?? ???? te ?a? t?? t?? d??? ??????t?? ???at???? ?pe? a? ??a?a? ?d??s?.^[255] Hence the telling of them might have the greatest influence on the moral education of the children. Plato, therefore, enlarges on the care to be taken in their selection, so that the children might not receive immoral impressions and false ideas: ??’ ??? ??d??? ??t? pa??s?e? t??? ?p?t????ta? ?p? t?? ?p?t????t?? ????? p?as???ta? ????e?? t??? pa?da? ?a? ?a??e?? ?? ta?? ???a?? ?? ?p? t? p??? ??a?t?a? d??a? ??e??a??, ?? ?pe?d?? te?e???s??, ??e?? ???s?e?a de?? a?t???;^[256] He therefore establishes a censorship of the writers of fiction, and rejects even Hesiod and Homer: p??t?? d? ???, ?? ????e?, ?p?stat?t??? t??? ???p?????, ?a? ?? ?? ?? ?a??? p???s?s??, ?????t???, ?? d’ ?? ?, ?p????t???. t??? d’ ????????ta? pe?s?e? t?? t??f??? te ?a? ?t??a? ???e?? t??? pa?s?.^[257] As a matter of fact, all sins that men could commit were imputed to the gods by these poets.^[258]

The story of Zeus who thrust his father from the throne would teach children disloyalty to parents,^[259] while his amorous connections with goddesses and mortals could not but have a pernicious effect on young minds. Plutarch thinks nurses should be restrained in the selection of these tales: ? t??? t????ta? ????? t??? pa?d???? ???e??, ??a ? t?? t??t?? ????? ?? ????? ????a? ?a? d?af????? ??ap?p?as?a? s?a???,^[260] and Aristotle wishes to place these matters under the supervision of the Paedonomoi: ?a? pe?? ????? te ?a? ???? p????? t???? ????e?? de? t??? t??????t??? ?p?e??? ?st? t??? ?????s??, ??? ?a???s? pa?d??????.^[261]

On the other hand, ancient mythology is so full of humor and imagination and so rich in amusing adventures, that many of these same stories might do excellent service to-day as nursery tales. For example, the story of the inventiveness of Hermes even in his cradle, the adventures of Odysseus, the labors of Hercules, and many others would furnish enjoyment to many a child.^[262]

Philostratus records that nurses made use of the tale of Theseus and Ariadne: ?t? t?? ????d??? ? T?se?? ?d??a d??? ?at???pe? ?? ??? t? ??s? ?a?e?d??sa t??a?, t?? ?a? t?t??? d????sa?, s?fa? ??? ??e??a? t? t??a?ta ?a? da?????se? ?p’ a?t??? ?ta? ??e??s??.^[263]

The magic rings which Timolous wishes for in Lucian, seem to have been borrowed from a nursery tale,^[264] and the story of the ring of Gyges, which rendered its wearer invisible, contains elements of the nursery tale.^[265] Stories told for comfort and consolation are alluded to by Euripides, where Amphitryon counsels Megara to tell tales to the children disturbed over their father’s absence:

At the festival of the Oschophoria, the telling of old fables and tales to children was part of the ritual.^[267]

The style characteristic of modern nursery tales was in vogue in classical times, as we learn from Aristophanes where the first words of a tale correspond to our well-known “Once upon a time.”

The Scholiast commenting on this line says: p??? t?? s????e?a?, ?t? t?? ???? p???tatt?? ??t??, ????, ?? ??t? ????? ?a? ??a??. ?a? ???t?? ?? Fa?d?? (237 B) ?? ??t? d? pa?? ????? d? e??a??s???? t??t? d’ ?sa? ???sta? p??? p?????. There is another instance in Lysistrata, where the semi-choruses, telling each other a little nursery tale begin:

The purpose of all these tales is training to virtue, and is well expressed by the Scholiast on Hermogenes, Progymnasmata, i.e.: t?? ???? ?????s? p??s??e?? t??? ?e??? ?t? t?? ????? a?t?? p??? t? ??t??? ?????e?? d??ata?.

We conclude that there was at Athens a store of popular tales for the amusement of children, many of which were attributed to Aesop whom Herodotus calls ????p????.^[270] The word ????p???? seems to indicate that a prose version of his fables may have circulated in Athens in the time of Socrates.^[271] What is certain, however, is that these tales were very much enjoyed and that Socrates himself versified some of them.^[272] The so-called Aesopic tales began “Aesop said.”^[273] Other tales were classified as Libyan, Cyprian and Sybaritic, distinguishable by the opening words: “A man (or a woman) of Sybaris (or of Libya or of Cypris) said.”^[274] A further distinction between the fables of Aesop and those of Sybaris is that the latter were political and about men; the former, ethical and about animals.^[275] A ?????? ???? is mentioned by Dion Chrysostom employed to calm children after they had been chastised.^[276]

LULLABIES

Allied to the nursery tales are the lullabies of the nurses “aussi vieux que le monde et qui dureront autant que lui,”^[277] which Athenaeus calls ?ataa??a??se??: a? d? t?? t?t?e???s?? ?da? ?ataa??a??se?? ???????ta?.^[278] They are also called a??a??ata^[279] from a??a??? “to lull to sleep” onomatopoetically formed from the nurse’s song. Plato refers to them in the Laws where he says that when mothers and nurses are desirous to put their children to sleep, they do not bring them to a state of quiet, but on the contrary of motion, ?a? ?? s????, ???? t??a e??d?a?.^[280]

The following passage from Aristotle seems to indicate that they were simple melodies without words, sung to a certain rhythm: d?? t? ???? ?a? ??e? ?a? ???? ta?? s?f???a?? ?a????s? p??te?; ? ?t? ta?? ?at? f?s?? ????ses? ?a???e? ?at? f?s??; s?e??? d? t? t? pa?d?a e???? ?e??e?a ?a??e?? a?t???.^[281]

Chrysippus assigns a peculiar tune for the lullabies of nurses.^[282] Sextus Empiricus very appropriately styles them a metrical humming (????? ?????sa).^[283] It is probable also that to these melodies, the nurses adapted improvised words, as we do. This view is borne out by the fact that certain specimens exist which are imitations or elaborations of those really in use at the time they were written. The Lullaby of Alcmena in Theocritus is an instance:

The melody of these lines is beautiful; the crooning sound of the open vowels in the first two, the rounded refrain of the last, with its repeated ????? and rhyming halves give it all the characteristics of a lullaby.^[285]

Not less beautiful are Simonides’ lines in the fragment called “The Lament of Danae.” While tossed about by the waves, she sings her child to sleep with these words:

The spirit of rest which pervades the song of the chorus to the sorely-suffering Philoctetes suggests the lullaby:

Finally, we have another recollection of the nurse’s song in Orestes:

These are but the traces of a class of songs, which without doubt were employed by the Greek mothers and nurses to lull the children to sleep. From the very nature of these songs, it is highly improbable that any lullaby should survive in the literature.