Hair Cut Off

It was said by the Greeks and Romans that life would not quit the body of a devoted victim till a lock of hair had first been cut from the head of the victim and given to Proser pine. Thus, when Alcestis was about to die as a voluntary sacrifice for the life of her husband, Than´atos first cut off a lock of her hair for the queen of the infernals. When Dido immolated herself, she could not die till Iris had cut off one of her yellow locks for the same purpose.—Virgil, Æneid , iv. 693-705. Iris cut the yellow hair of unhappy Dido, and broke the charm.—O. W. Holmes, Autocrat of the Breakfast Table .