In ancient Greece, only portions of beards were removed as punishment. So what was the only socially acceptable reason that a beard could be fully removed? As a sign of mourning.
Such was the importance in which a full beard was held in this society, that this practice of shaving it off as a sign of mourning was quickly replaced. The beard remained intact on the face of the mourner – but it was left untrimmed, uncurled and unadorned instead. One of the main reasons for this was that a beardless face was associated with effeminacy.
Source: www.funtrivia.com
Image: Mike Klassen by Cara Robbins