Home life in Hellas, Greece and the Greeks - eBooks4Greeks.gr

238 HOME LIFE IN HELLASbirds. The Syrtos is the most popular dance.The leader holds with the left hand the right handof the next dancer, and so along the line, whichwinds slowly round, now one foot lifted and thenthe other, the bodies swaying inwards and outwardswith the steps. This is Byron's ' ' Romaika'sheavy round." The Clistos, closed, is so calledfrom the method of linking hands across eachalternate dancer. The Tsiamikos is danced by theleader only, who is an expert and displays hisagility, varying the steps by improvised feats.The rest of the line linked by handkerchiefs onlykeep time, singing the while. The Leventikos isperformed by two people only who dance apart.Among beliefs which are purely pagan survivalsis that relating to the Fates, Moirai, whichis not extinct in the rural districts, and not evenamong some sections of the population of Athens.They are represented as wrinkled old women cladin black and dwelling on the tops of highmountains. They come soon after the birth of achild, some say on the third night and othersthe seventh. Their visit must be prepared for.Dogs must be tied up and a table spread for them.It is considered well not toonspeak of them, but ifthey are alluded to it is in laudatory terms, as inJava the natives speak of the tiger as "thegentleman."In Epirus, one is said to bring fortune,another misfortune, whilst the third spinsthe thread which determines the length of life.Formerly girls offered honey cakes to them, and