I looked up ancient Greek
culture and several of the first few things that I found mentioned slaves, social cues, fashion, and games.
Of course, that made me think of the 1860s and of my role as a “Southern Belle” at the Civil War
reenactments back home. For several summers, I played the role of a southern
slave-owning lady with the intricate outfits. There were a lot of social,
fashion, and cultural cues that were strictly held to (in both the 1860s and in
ancient Greece) that I got to abide by as a re-enactor.
It's interesting to note that until lately, having several levels of social status was a key factor to a society-one of these being the slave class. We certainly have fashioned the majority of our culture and government after the Greek tradition. Man, Rick Riordan wasn't kidding when he wrote that Greek culture is everywhere in the west!
ReplyDeleteDo you think the Southern Belle women of the 1860s ever felt enslaved by those strict social and fashion cues? Dressing up and going to parties is fun, but I think it would be hard to wear that kind of dress and be sweet and dainty all day every day!
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