Editing Beard (section)

====Greece====
[[File:Aristotle Altemps Inv8575.jpg|thumb|right|upright|[[Aristotle]] with a beard]]
The [[ancient Greeks]] regarded the beard as a badge or sign of virility; in the [[Homeric epics]] it had almost sanctified significance, so that a common form of entreaty was to touch the beard of the person addressed.<ref>See, for example, Homer ''Iliad'' 1:500–1 and 8:371.</ref> According to [[William Smith (lexicographer)|William Smith]] in these ancient times the moustache was shaven, leaving clear the space around the lips.<ref name=smith/> It was only shaven as a sign of mourning, though in this case it was instead often left untrimmed.<ref name=smith>{{cite book|last=Smith |first=W. |date=1890 |title= A Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities |publisher=William Wayte |url=http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:1999.04.0063:entry=barba-cn}}</ref> A smooth face was regarded as a sign of effeminacy.<ref>{{harvnb|Peck|1898}} cites Athen. xiii. 565</ref> The [[Sparta]]ns punished cowards by shaving off a portion of their beards.<ref>{{cite book| last=Ephraim |first=D. |author-link= |date=1989 |title=Classical Sparta. Techniques behind her success |location=London |publisher=Routledge |page=14 |isbn=0-415-00339-3}}</ref> Greek beards were also frequently curled with [[tongs]]. Youngsters usually did not grow a beard, moreover wearing a beard became optional for adults in the {{BCE|5th and 4th century}}.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Adkins |first1=L. |last2=Adkins |first2=Roy A. |author-link= |date=2005 |title=Handbook to Life in Ancient Greece |location=New York |publisher=Facts on file |page=453 |isbn=0-8160-5659-5}}</ref>