Part 8

The epithet ποικίλος, applied to dress, undoubtedly means “richly decorated,” and the ἀνθινά, “flowered garments,” frequently mentioned in inscriptions, presumably refers to garments ornamented with floral designs. In connection with the passage in Homer, the question has been raised as to whether these complex designs were woven into the material or embroidered afterwards. It seems hardly likely that they were woven in, unless the work were a heavy tapestry, such as would hardly be suitable for a costume; moreover, the word ἐμπάσσω means “to sprinkle on,” and is more easily applicable to the distribution of a design over a piece of material already woven than to the formation of a pattern in the course of the weaving. The words μέγαν, ἱστὸν, and ὔφαινεν would still be applicable, because when the garment was at this stage, it would still be regarded as incomplete, and the designs, however applied, would probably be at least sketched out while it was still on the loom.

Among the fragments of materials found at Kertch were some which were embroidered, others which had simple geometrical designs woven into the borders; in addition to these there were some considerable fragments of a large sarcophagus cover, the ornamentation of which is strongly reminiscent of Greek vase-painting of the fourth century. The ground is black and is covered with designs in red and light terra-cotta; the ornamentation is divided into bands, and consists of battle scenes with chariots, and birds and beasts scattered about the field of the design; the bands are separated by different patterns, many of which are frequently met with on vases. These include the egg and dart pattern, ivy and laurel wreaths, large palmettes, and many others.[157] Names are inscribed against some of the figures, among others ΝΙΚΗ, ΑΘΗΝΑΙΗ ΙΟΚΑΣΤΗ, (Ι)ΓΓΟΜΕΔΩΝ, etc.

[157] Figs. 39 and 41 _a_ and _b_.

These designs are not embroidered, nor are they produced in the course of weaving the cloth; they are apparently drawn out by means of some pigment applied after the material was woven. Herodotus tells us[158] that the people of the Caucasus used to paint animals on their clothes with some vegetable pigment which they mixed with water. Some such procedure, then, must have been practised by the Greeks of the fourth century, which is the date assignable to the fragment in question, on the evidence of the inscriptions.

[158] I., 203.

The designs applied to Greek dresses presented abundant variety, as is evidenced by extant monuments, especially by the vases; they may be roughly classed as geometric, floral, and those containing animal and human forms. Of the geometric designs some are rectilinear, others curvilinear. The favourite rectilinear borders are broad lines, parallel rows of zigzag lines, the mæander or key pattern in very many forms varying from the simple running mæander to a complicated double fret, broken at intervals by stars or chequers. In addition to these borders we frequently find a chequer pattern covering the whole surface of a garment. A kind of net pattern, often seen on vases, was very probably used in dresses also. Of the curvilinear designs the most common are the “guilloche” or plait-band, the simple spiral, and the κυμάτιον or wave pattern. On the black-figured vases a kind of scale pattern frequently occurs covering a wide surface.

A very great variety of floral designs was used by the Greeks for ornamentation of all kinds; they are very frequent as part of the scheme of decoration of vases, especially of those of Ionic origin. A favourite pattern is a simple laurel wreath like that depicted in Fig. 39; the ivy also forms the basis of more than design. Sometimes it takes the form of a row of leaves on either side of a straight line; more often the leaves alternate with tendrils and berries. By far the commonest and the most beautiful of floral designs are those made up of lotus buds and flowers and palmettes. Sometimes we find the lotus alone forming the motive of the design, sometimes it alternates with palmettes. A very graceful pattern is composed of oblique palmettes turned in opposite directions and connected by spirals.[159] That these designs so commonly used for the decoration of pottery were employed also in the textile arts is proved by some of the fragments found at Kertch. Quite considerable remains were found of a piece of woollen material elaborately embroidered with a large floral design (Fig. 40), the main motive of which is a graceful palmette, from the base of which spring spirals terminating in heart-shaped leaves and flowers. The design is executed in gold and green on a violet ground.[160]

[159] For patterns generally, see H. B. Walters, _History of Ancient Pottery_, ii., 209-235; Riegl, _Stilfragen_.

[160] For colouring, see _Comptes rendus_, 1878.

Animal and human forms are naturally less common than geometric and floral designs. Mention has already been made of the wonderful diplax woven by Helen, in which she represented scenes of battle between Trojans and Achæans. In art we find that goddesses are frequently depicted wearing garments covered with elaborate ornamentation of this kind. The François vase will afford several examples, and in later art the dress of Demeter on the Triptolemus vase by Hieron,[161] and the sculptured drapery from Damophon’s group at Lycosura, may be quoted. That mortals also indulged in such luxurious ornamentation is proved again by the Kertch fragments. One of the most charming pieces found there had a very naturalistic design of ducks embroidered in gold and green on a dark-brown ground (Fig. 41 _c_); another piece had a figure of an Amazon riding on horseback; and mention has already been made of the sarcophagus cloth covered with battle scenes.

[161] British Museum, E. 140. Fig. 14, above.

VII

HAIR AND HEAD-DRESS

The manner of wearing the hair seems to have varied considerably at different periods, both for men and women. In pre-Hellenic times it was, for the most part, if not invariably, allowed to grow long. On the frescoes from Knossos we find the cupbearer and other male figures represented wearing their hair in long, wavy tresses reaching to the waist or thereabouts. On Mycenæan gems and rings, where warriors are represented wearing helmets, the hair is frequently concealed, so that it is impossible to determine whether it was worn short or bound up in some manner, so as to be out of the way. The ivory statuettes of athletes from Knossos have long hair,[162] so that in all probability that was the prevailing fashion among men in Crete. Among women in pre-Hellenic times, the fashion was to wear the hair long; the snake goddess and her votary have hair that reaches far past the waist, and in almost all extant art of the period the hair of the women is represented as being abundant. It is frequently worn in long tresses down the back (compare the dancing girl, Fig. 4) and arranged rather elaborately in front in curls, which sometimes suggest artificial treatment; sometimes the hair is done up at the back or top of the head, in modern fashion.

[162] See _British School Annual_, 1901-2, VIII., 72, fig. 37.

In the Homeric poems we read of the “long-haired Achæans,”[163] so that the sight of men with long hair was obviously familiar to the poet. From the passage which describes Andromache’s swoon,[164] however, it is clear that the women of the poet’s day bound their hair up, using nets and kerchiefs and other appurtenances both useful and ornamental.

[163] _Iliad_, ii., 443, 472.

[164] _Ibid._, xxii., 468 f.

Coming down to historic times, we find that before the Persian wars both men and women wore their hair long. After the middle of the fifth century a change took place, the men cutting their hair short for the most part, the women binding it up. The story of the Lacedæmonians combing their long hair when the Persians were close upon them is familiar (Herodotus, VII., 208). Extant monuments show us that before the Persian wars the men adopted various methods of disposing of their long hair: sometimes we see it worn loose with a simple fillet tied round the head;[165] sometimes the long ends are turned up and tucked in under the fillet;[166] sometimes they are turned up and held together by an additional band. This is the case with a bronze head from Olympia,[167] where, however, some locks seem to have been left free on the neck. A relief in Athens, representing a Discobolus holding the “discus” behind his head,[168] shows the hair probably divided and twisted together in two coils fastened tightly at a little distance from the end by a ribbon, or possibly by a metal spiral.[169] The golden τέττιξ mentioned by Thucydides (I., 6) was obviously some kind of ornament inserted in the hair to hold the “chignon” in place. It has been shown by Helbig[170] that this was probably a metal spiral or series of rings used to bind together the ends of the long hair; such a style is frequently represented in the art of the end of the sixth century and beginning of the fifth. The bands represented in Fig. 42 (_c_) are possibly intended for such metal rings. Helbig’s view is supported and confirmed by Studniczka.[171]

[165] Fig. 42 (_a_).

[166] Fig. 42 (_b_).

[167] Fig. 42 (_c_).

[168] Fig. 42 (_d_).

[169] The hair of Euphorbus, described in _Iliad_, xvi., 52, was possibly dressed in this fashion.

[170] _Das Homerische Epos_, 166-170; cp. _Mittheilungen des Deutschen Instituts in Athen_, vi., pl. 7, p. 186.

[171] _Jahrbuch des kaiserlich Deutschen Instituts_, xi., 1896, pp. 284-291.

Probably the knot of hair bound up on the nape of the neck, as in the above examples, represents the κρωβύλος or κόρυμβος mentioned in Thucydides and elsewhere in literature. In later times this name was applied to the knot of hair on the top of the head which occurs so frequently in statues of Apollo; but there is no evidence to show that it was worn in this position before the fourth century at the earliest.

A style very commonly exemplified by extant statues of Apollo, dating from the early part of the fifth century, is to tie a fillet round the head and roll the long hair tightly over it, tucking the ends in usually behind the ears.[172] These ends are, however, sometimes allowed to hang down on the neck. Athletes very frequently disposed of their long hair by braiding it into two plaits from behind; these they crossed or brought round the head, fastening the two ends together in front.[173] Sometimes the short hair in front was combed down over the plaits, so as to conceal their union.

[172] Fig. 43 (_a_).

[173] Fig. 43 (_b_). It is interesting to note that little Athenian schoolgirls of to-day wear their hair in this fashion.

The date of the change of fashion is impossible to fix. We find the athletes of Myron and Polycleitus represented with short hair, but long-haired Apollos are found considerably after their date. The change took place, in all probability, shortly after the Persian wars; it then became the fashion for Ephebi to cut off their long hair, which they consecrated to Apollo and Artemis or to a river god.[174] When once the change had come about, long hair was considered, in Athens at least, as a mark of affectation or effeminacy. In _The Wasps_ of Aristophanes,[175] Amynias, the typical fop, is designated by the name of οὑκ τῶν Κρωβύλου, “he of the ‘chignon,’” and in _The Clouds_ the wearing of the τέττιξ is spoken of as a fashion quite out of date, or, as we might say, antediluvian. There is some uncertainty as to whether the Lacedæmonians wore their hair short or long; some authorities state that even in the fourth century they still wore it long as a mark of freedom, and since they were more conservative than the rest of the Greeks, it is quite possible that this was the case. With this possible exception, the custom of wearing the hair short continued, though Alexander probably set the fashion of wearing rather long and mane-like hair.

[174] Pausanias, I., xxxvii., 2; _Æsch. Choeph._, 6.

[175] 1267.

A covering for the head was rarely worn by men, except when riding or travelling long distances; in these cases the πέτασος was worn as a protection against sun and rain. This consisted of a felt hat with broad brim, which could be turned up or down. Figs. 44, 22, and 23 represent its various shapes, Fig. 44 being the earliest form. The πέτασος, like the χλάμυς, which it almost invariably accompanies, probably came originally from Northern Greece, Thrace, or Thessaly, where more protection was needed against cold and inclement weather. Another head-covering, worn by sailors and by the god Hephaistos, is the πῖλος, a felt cap of conical shape resembling the modern fez.[176]

[176] Fig. 19.

Extant monuments show that before the Persian wars women for the most part wore their hair down, although instances occur where it is fastened up with bands or fillets. When worn down it was usually held in place by a fillet, and frequently a metal ornament, rather high in front and narrowing towards the back, was added. This was known as the ἄμπυξ, or στεφάνη, and was probably made of gold; almost all the “Maidens” of the Acropolis wear it, and in several instances it is adorned with floral patterns.[177] The high πόλος or crown worn by Hera (Fig. 45 (_a_)) was probably also made of metal. Sometimes when the hair was worn down, the ends were prevented from flying in the wind by being tied together in a kind of little bag,[178] which reminds one of the many fashions adopted by men in the Georgian period in England. Sometimes, like the men, the women tucked the long ends up under the fillet, and let them hang out over it at the back. The fillet itself frequently assumed the dimensions of a scarf, the ends of which were tucked up at the sides and allowed to hang down behind the ears. When the hair was done up, the “chignon” was at first worn low on the nape of the neck and held in place by bands variously arranged.[179] Sometimes the στεφάνη alone was worn,[180] and very often the hair was held up by a kerchief or snood (μίτρα, σάκκος). The styles in which it was worn present abundant variety: sometimes it covered the hair completely,[181] except for a curl or two allowed to escape in front of the ears; sometimes it left the hair visible over the forehead only;[182] sometimes over the forehead and on the crown of the head, and the ends of the kerchief might be tucked through at the side and allowed to hang down in front of the ears.[183] Fig. 45 (_f_) gives an example of the στεφάνη worn in addition to the snood. In the fourth century fashion seems to have dictated that the “chignon” should be worn higher up at the back of the head, and a small kerchief was used to hold it up, folded in such a way that it narrowed almost to a point over the forehead.[184] Apparently a net was sometimes worn over the back of the hair. Fig. 45 (_l_), from the Meidias vase, furnishes an illustration of this. In Hellenistic and Roman times the styles of dressing the hair became very numerous. The snood seems to have been discarded altogether, and adornment by means of artificial waving and curling apparently took its place. The modes of “coiffure” of the Alexandrian Greeks are as varied as those of modern Europe. Probably cosmetics were used for the hair and paint and powder for the face; for we learn from Xenophon’s _Œconomicus_ that as far back as his date, not only hetairæ but married women resorted to artificial means of beautifying the complexion.

[177] Fig. 32.

[178] Fig. 45 (_b_).

[179] Fig. 45 (_c_ and _d_).

[180] Fig. 45 (_e_).

[181] Fig. 45 (_g_).

[182] Fig. 45 (_h_).

[183] Fig. 45 (_i_ and _j_).

[184] Fig. 45 (_k_).

More than one allusion is made in literature to some kind of hat worn by women; in Theocritus (_Idyll_, xv., 39), Praxinoa, when going out to the festival of Adonis, asks her maid for her wrap and hat (θολία).

In the _Œdipus Coloneus_[185] Antigone recognises Ismene from a distance by the Thessalian hat which she wears as a protection against the heat of the sun. The words used are κυνῆ Θεσσαλίς, which seem to imply that the hat was made of some kind of skin, probably felt, and resembled the men’s “petasos,” which originated in Thessaly or Thrace; its shape may have been slightly different. The Tanagra statuettes frequently represent women wearing a broad-brimmed hat with high pointed crown.[186]

[185] 313.

[186] Fig. 15.

VIII

FOOTGEAR

The practice of covering the feet seems to have varied somewhat among the Greeks. In all probability it was the custom to go barefoot indoors, and the habit prevailed among certain classes of going always unshod in the street also. It was a mark of hardihood in the Spartan youths always to go barefoot, and at Athens, in addition to the lower orders, who probably never wore shoes, philosophers and those who affected a simple life were in the habit of going unshod. That Socrates rarely covered his feet is proved by more than one reference in Plato’s Dialogues;—Phædrus[187] speaks of him as ἀεὶ ἀνυπόδητος, “always unshod,” and in the _Symposium_[188] we learn that for the occasion of Agathon’s banquet Socrates has washed and put on his shoes, ἃ ὀλιγάκις ἐποίει, “which he seldom did.”

[187] Plato, _Phædrus_, 229 A.

[188] 174 A.

Other references in literature show that he was not the only philosopher who preferred to have his feet untrammelled.[189]

[189] Aristophanes, _The Clouds_, 103; Theocritus, XIV., 6.

The normal fashion, however, for people of good breeding was to wear sandals or shoes out of doors, and we learn from Aristophanes[190] that the Athenians at least were particular about the fit;—to “swim about” in large boots was a mark of boorishness. Xenophon[191] notices the division of labour in the shoemakers’ trade, where he mentions at least four different hands employed in making a pair of shoes.

[190] _Knights_, 321.

[191] _Cyropædia_, xviii., 2, 5.

The simplest form of footgear was the sandal, the πέδιλον of Homer, the ὑπόδημα of later times; this consisted of a leather sole cut to the shape of the foot and fastened on by means of straps or thongs, passing sometimes round the instep, sometimes between the toes and round the heel and ankle.[192] At times a piece of skin was attached to the sandal at the back, so as to cover the back of the heel, or even to wrap round the instep entirely, leaving only the toes bare;[193] from this form of sandal the ἔμβας, or slipper, was probably developed. This is described by Pollux[194] as εὐτελὲς μὲν ὑπόδεμα, Θράκιον δὲ τὸ εὕρημα, “a cheap shoe, of Thracian invention.” Its name suffices to show that the foot was inserted into the ἔμβας, in contradistinction to the sandal, which was bound under the foot; and the epithet signifies that it covered the foot completely. This description could be applied to many varieties of shoes and boots represented in extant art. Fig. 46 (_e_ and _f_) gives two examples of shoes—_e_ being an ordinary soft shoe covering the foot completely to the ankle, _f_ is turned up at the toes, like a modern Greek shoe, and reaches above the ankle at the back. A vase at the British Museum represents a woman cleaning a shoe of this shape. We learn from Aristophanes[195] that shoes were cleaned with blacking made of pitch and applied with a sponge; they were usually black, except when the leather was allowed to retain its natural colour. The word ἔμβας seems to have been used for various kinds of foot-covering; in Aristophanes it refers sometimes to a kind of easy slipper worn by old men,[196] and in other instances it is used of any ordinary shoe or boot. The mention by Pollux of its Thracian origin perhaps refers to the high boot turned over at the top, frequently represented on vase-paintings as being worn by horsemen with the Thracian cloak and petasos.[197] Different varieties of this kind of boot are to be seen in Fig. 46 (_g_, _h_, _i_, and _j_).

[192] Fig. 46 (_a_ and _b_); Fig. 48 (_c_).

[193] Fig. 46 (_c_ and _d_).

[194] VII., 85.

[195] _The Wasps_, 600.

[196] _The Wasps_, 274; _The Clouds_, 719.

[197] Fig. 22.

An article in Daremberg and Saglio’s _Dictionnaire_ suggests an Asiatic origin, and indeed the resemblance between Greek boots and those represented on Assyrian monuments is striking. A comparison is actually made by Herodotus[198] between Assyrian boots and Bœotian ἐμβάδες.

[198] I., 195.

It is quite possible that boots of this kind may have come to Greece from the East by way of Thrace, and the fact that Dionysus is very frequently represented wearing them seems to add confirmation to this conjecture.

A variety of the ἐμβάδες is to be found in the ἐνδρομίδες, a kind of boot worn by runners, as also by Hermes, Artemis, and the Amazons. They seem to have had no flap at the top, and to have been laced over a tongue either through holes or round buttons.[199] Another kind seems to have consisted of strips of cloth or leather, or possibly felt, wound round the legs like the modern puttees.

[199] Figs. 47 and 48 (_a_).

The word κρηπίδες is frequently used of some kind of foot-covering, and we learn from Theocritus[200] and from Pollux[201] that these were worn by soldiers. The κρῆπις was probably some kind of sandal with a thick sole and stout straps interlacing one another in such a way as to form a protection for the heel and instep.[202] Pliny[203] tells us that sometimes they had nails in them.

[200] XV., 6.

[201] VII., 85.

[202] Figs. 48 (_b_) and 49 (_a_ and _b_).

[203] XXXV., 25.

Many varieties of shoes or boots are mentioned by Pollux[204] and other ancient writers. We read of ἀρβύλαι, ἀρβυλίδες, a cheap kind of boot worn on journeys; βλαυταί, light sandals with latchets, called also κονιπόδες, from the fact that they allowed the feet to get covered with dust; εὐμάριδες, Persian slippers of yellow kid; Περσικαί, cheap white shoes worn by women, especially by hetairæ; Λακωνικαί, distinguished by their red colour—these were probably the same as the Ἁμυκλαί mentioned by Theocritus. One of the archaic female statues in the Acropolis Museum at Athens wears red shoes. Wood was sometimes used for sandals. Pollux tells us that κρουπέζια were a special kind of wooden sandal used for dancing, and that Pheidias represented Athene Parthenos wearing Τυρρηνικά, sandals with high rectangular wooden soles and gold latchets.

[204] VII., 84-93.

Other shoes are too numerous to mention, and cannot be identified with certainty.

IX

THE TOILET

CONCLUSION