ft., the dress is pinned on the shoulders at the points _e e′_ and
_f f′_; the part which covers the back is drawn slightly forward
over the front, so that there are four thicknesses of material where
the pins are inserted; the garment is then girded at the waist, the
position of which is indicated by the points _g_ and _h_, and any
superfluous length is drawn up over the girdle.
The distance between the points _a′ f_, _f e_, _e′ f′_, etc., varies
slightly, but is always approximately one-sixth of the whole width of
the material. In practice, a better effect is produced if the width
of stuff _e′ f′_, which covers the back of the neck, is shorter than
the other sections.
The garment is usually represented as being sewn up along the side,
sometimes along the whole length _ac_, _bd_, sometimes only along
the length from the waist to the feet—that is, along the edges _gc_,
_hd_; sometimes it is left open, being held in place only by the
girdle. On the black-figured vases it is usually the closed Doric
dress which is represented, probably because it offered the least
difficulty to a technique which necessarily imposed somewhat close
limitations on the artists who practised it. A good example is to be
found in the figures of the Fates from the François vase, which has
already been quoted in illustration of the Homeric peplos.
[Illustration: _Photo. by The English Photographic Co._
FIG. 10.—Metope from the Temple of Zeus, at Olympia.
_Face page_ 44.]
A freer and more realistic representation is to be found in the
sculptured metopes from the temple of Zeus, at Olympia. Athena in
the metope representing the cleaning of the Augean stables wears the
closed Doric dress; here the ἀπόπτυγμα, or overfold, falls slightly
below the waist, and below it the kolpos is clearly visible, the
slight pouch formed by drawing the superfluous length of the material
over the girdle.[81] On the vases the pouch is almost invariably
absent, and the girdle is always visible. This is also the case in
one of the archaic statues on the Acropolis at Athens, where the
Doric dress is worn over an Ionic chiton. A slight variation of the
dress is to be seen on the nymph of the Atlas metope at Olympia,
where the overfold hangs considerably below the waist and no girdle
or pouch is visible; here the additional length of the overfold
probably obviated the necessity of a pouch, and the girdle, which is
hidden, simply served to hold the dress in to the figure. A bronze
statuette from Herculaneum shows the dress sewn up only from the
waist downwards (Fig. 11).
[81] Fig. 10.
[Illustration: _Photo. by Brogi, Naples._
FIG. 11.—Bronze Statue from Herculaneum, Naples.
_Face page_ 45.]
As time went on, the dimensions of the Doric dress became more ample,
or at least were represented so in art; both pouch and overfold
become deeper and the folds of the garment generally grow fuller; the
distance of the shoulder pins from the points which hang immediately
under the arms becomes proportionately larger, no longer being
an exact sixth of the whole width of the dress. The most perfect
examples in art of the Doric dress in its full development are to
be found in the maidens of the Parthenon frieze and the Caryatids
of the Erechtheum. Here the pouch is emphasized, and its graceful
curve dipping over the hips, though idealized, is at the same
time perfectly naturalistic, as can be shown at once by practical
experiment.
The Munich copy of Cephisodotus’s Eirene holding the infant Plutus
presents a very good example of the closed Doric dress as it was worn
in the fourth century; it will be seen that the folds are more ample,
and the overfold and pouch fall to a distance considerably below the
waist, so that the garment must be larger than that originally worn,
if we are to accept early monuments as faithful representations of
the style of dress actually worn.
The simpler form of the Doric dress, namely, that which is unsewn
and left open down the side, is not found represented in art before
the fifth century; it becomes fairly common on red-figured vases,
where it is very frequently depicted ungirt.[82] Sometimes it is the
only garment worn; in other cases it is worn over an under-dress. A
sculptured example is to be found in an Artemis in Dresden,[83] for
the original of which Furtwängler claims Praxitelean authorship.
This was probably the dress worn by Laconian girls, to whom the
term φαινομηρίς, “showing the thigh,” was applied by some ancient
writers.[84]
[82] Fig. 12.
[83] Furtwängler, _Masterpieces_, p. 324.
[84] Pollux, II., 187.
[Illustration: FIG. 12.—Vase-painting—British Museum.
_Face page_ 46.]
A variety of this dress appears in art about the middle of the
fifth century; it is sometimes known as the “peplos of Athena,”
because Pheidias chose it as the style in which to drape his statue
of the Athena Parthenos. The word “peplos” is usually reserved for
the Doric dress whether open or closed, the word “chiton” for the
Ionic, though the latter is frequently applied to the Doric, and
is invariably used of the under-dress, when the two styles became
confused. The “peplos of Athena” is similar to the ordinary open
Doric dress, except that the overfold is longer and reaches to the
thighs and the girdle is worn over it.[85] The material is pulled up
very slightly over the girdle, but not sufficiently to hide it in
front, the purpose of the slight pouch being merely to prevent the
dress from dragging under the arms, and from trailing on the ground
at the sides. The girdle is at first worn round the waist, but
later it is put on higher, until, on the Athena from the frieze of
the altar at Pergamon, it is worn immediately under the breasts. The
clearest representation in art is to be found in the Varvakeion copy
of the Athena Parthenos, and it occurs also in many representations
of Athena which were obviously influenced by Pheidias. In the Dresden
“Lemnia,”[86] the girdle is passed not only over the overfold, but
also round the ægis; in the “torso Medici”[87] this overgirt peplos
is worn over an under-dress of the Ionic type. The date of the
introduction of this style of wearing the Doric dress is a point of
some uncertainty. The question arises as to whether it was invented
by Pheidias or was already commonly worn and adopted by him as being
most appropriate for his great representation of the maiden goddess.
Certainly, in sculpture we have no example of it before the time
of Pheidias, unless we assign an earlier date to the little relief
of the “mourning Athena,” which seems improbable; the Iris of the
Parthenon frieze wears it; and among slightly later works the Victory
of Pæonius at Olympia is a good example, though here the dress is
slightly varied by being fastened only on one shoulder. Further
evidence is afforded by the vases, but even these do not give any
certain proof; the dress does not appear before the middle of the
fifth century, but after that date it becomes fairly frequent, and
is given not only to Athena but to other divine or mythological
personages, such as Persephone,[88] Nike, Cassandra, and also to
hand-maids attending on ladies in more elaborate costume. In some of
these vases the work is obviously post-Pheidian, but many of them
were probably made before the completion of the Athena Parthenos,
and the fact that the overgirt dress is so frequently represented on
slaves renders it likely that it was a style of dress actually worn,
and not merely the invention of the great sculptor’s imagination; it
was probably selected by him for the Parthenos because of its extreme
simplicity and the possibilities of statuesque dignity which it
contained.
[85] Fig. 13.
[86] Furtwängler, pl. ii.
[87] _Ibid._, fig. 6.
[88] B.M., E. 183.
[Illustration: FIG. 13.—Vase-painting in the Polygnotan Style—Louvre.
_Face page_ 47.]
It has been mentioned incidentally that the Doric peplos is sometimes
found worn over another garment, but it is ordinarily the only
garment worn indoors, and for outdoor wear another is sometimes put
on over it. The overfold of the peplos could itself be used as a veil
by drawing the back part up over the head; it is so used by a woman
on a red-figured vase in the British Museum.[89]
[89] E. 307.
[Illustration: FIG. 14.—Vase-painting by Hieron—British Museum.
_Face page_ 49.]
The outer garment worn by women in classical times corresponds to
the Homeric κρήδεμνον and is called the ἱματίον, although this term
is applied by Herodotus to the Doric peplos. By derivation the word
simply means “a piece of clothing,” being connected with εἷμα and
ἕννυμι. It consisted of a large oblong piece of material about 7 or
8 feet in length, and in breadth about equal to the wearer’s height.
Considerable variety was possible in the arrangement of it. It
could be worn both as head covering and cloak, by placing the middle
of the upper edge over the head and letting the two sides fall down
over the shoulders like a shawl; it is often so depicted on the vases
both black- and red-figured; the figure of Eleusis wears it so on
the Triptolemus vase by Hieron in the British Museum.[90] It was
frequently worn over the shoulders in this fashion without covering
the head, and could easily be pushed back or drawn up over the head
at will. A second very common way of arranging the himation was to
draw one end over the left shoulder from the back towards the front,
so that it hung down in a point in front, then to pass the mass of
material across the back and under the right arm and throw the other
end over the left shoulder again, so that the second point hung
down towards the back: this was a very common style both for men
and women.[91] If additional warmth were required, it could easily
be obtained by drawing the cloak up over the right shoulder, so as
not to leave the right arm and chest exposed. A combination of these
two styles is seen in some of the Tanagra statuettes, where the
himation is put on over the head. Both shoulders are covered; but
instead of the two ends being allowed to hang down symmetrically one
on each side of the front, one is taken up and thrown over the other
shoulder, so that the whole figure is covered in the ample folds of
the cloak.[92]
[90] Fig. 14, the figure to the right in the upper band.
[91] See Fig. 20.
[92] Fig. 15.
[Illustration: FIG. 15.—Terra-cotta Statuette—British Museum.
_Face page_ 49.]
A rather exceptional variant of the second style of wearing the
himation is to be seen on a vase of Euxitheos in the British
Museum,[93] where Briseis is represented wearing it with one end
placed on the left shoulder, the mass of the cloak being drawn across
the back; the other end is passed under the right arm, but instead of
being thrown over the left shoulder again, is turned back over the
right shoulder, and so leaves the front of the figure exposed.
[93] E. 258, fig. 16.
[Illustration: FIG. 16.—Vase-painting by Euxitheos—British Museum.
_Face page_ 50.]
[Illustration: FIG. 17.—Vase-painting by Falerii—Rome, Villa Giulia.
Furtwängler and Reichhold, _Griechische Vasenmalerei_, 17 and 18.
_Face page_ 50.]
A third fashion is somewhat similar to the second, except that it
leaves the front of the figure exposed to the waist or a little
below. Instead of being drawn across the chest and thrown over the
left shoulder, the second end is simply thrown over the forearm and
held in place by the bend of the elbow.[94] A cloak worn in this
style would be very likely to slip, so another fashion was adopted,
which produced approximately the same effect, but which prevented
the possibility of slipping. Instead of throwing the end over the
left arm, the wearer secured it at the waist under the arm either
by a brooch or more probably by simply tucking it under the girdle.
To prevent the garment from hanging down too low and dragging on
the ground, a large corner was usually doubled over before it was
secured at the waist. The part thus fastened was sometimes passed
over the end which hung down from the left shoulder, sometimes under
it. The himation is so worn by Mausolus and Artemisia in their
portrait statues from the Mausoleum. A very good example is the
Athena of Velletri published by Furtwängler.[95]
[94] Fig. 17.
[95] _Masterpieces_, p. 142, fig. 18.
[Illustration: _Photo. by A. Giraudon._
FIG. 18.—Athena of Velletri.
_Face page_ 51.]
On many of the monuments of the Pheidian period and the time
immediately preceding it, we find that the Doric peplos is worn alone
or with a small cloak or shawl laid on the shoulders and hanging down
the back, as in the case of the maidens carrying sacrificial vessels
on the Parthenon frieze. This small shawl was perhaps worn more for
ornament than for the sake of warmth, and an ample peplos of warm
woollen material might be found sufficient protection.
It may be objected that in the majority of the examples chosen as
illustrations the himation is worn not over the Doric peplos, but
over the Ionic chiton, and it has indeed been sometimes regarded as
an element of the Ionic dress rather than of the Doric.
It does, however, appear over the Doric peplos, _e.g._, in Fig. 18
and on many black-figured Attic vases,[96] and it is not difficult to
trace its development from the Homeric κρήδεμνον worn symmetrically
over the head and shoulders. It is an easy step in advance to throw
one end of the cloak over the opposite shoulder, push it back off
the head, and bring one arm out free instead of letting it remain
covered. Fig. 15 might serve to illustrate an intermediate stage
between those represented in Figs. 14 and 17.
[96] B.M., B. 331.
An attempt will be made later to show that the Ionic himation was
fastened with brooches, and had a different development. The wearing
of the unpinned himation over the Ionic chiton is an instance of the
blending of Doric and Ionic dress.
The Doric dress of men was similar to that of women, both with regard
to under-dress and cloak. The name χιτών is used for the under-dress,
as it was in Homer, the word peplos being restricted to women’s
garments. The outer garment of men as well as of women is called the
himation.
The Doric men’s chiton is fastened by brooches on the shoulders and
girt in at the waist. It was a short garment reaching midway down the
thighs, or to a distance just above the knees, had no overfold, and
was narrower than the women’s peplos. No kolpos was worn, there being
no superfluous length to dispose of. The side was sewn up so that the
garment before being pinned was cylindrical in shape. This somewhat
scanty garment was the only one worn by slaves, and men engaged in
active pursuits and workmen frequently wore it fastened only on
one shoulder, leaving the other bare and the arm quite free. When
worn in this way it was called the χιτὼν ἔξωμις or ἑτερομάσχαλος;
the god Hephaistos is usually represented wearing it in this way
in his capacity as craftsman. We learn from Pollux, vii., 47, that
the ἔξωμις was a περιβλῆμα as well as an ἔνδυμα, from which we may
gather that a small cloak was sometimes worn fastened on one shoulder
and girt round the waist, but left unsewn down the side. Fig. 19
represents the χιτὼν ἔξωμις.
Representations of Amazons and of Artemis the huntress are frequent,
wearing the χιτὼν ἔξωμις; but in these cases it is usually a longer
garment than that worn by men, and its superfluous length is drawn
up over the girdle, forming a pouch; and then a second girdle is
worn over this to prevent it from flapping in the wind. The Amazons
of the Mausoleum frieze wear the short Doric dress without overfold
and unsewn down the side; this, however, is perhaps merely a device
on the part of the sculptor to afford an opportunity of displaying
the physical forms, as well as the drapery. Various references in
literature show that the Spartan women wore more scanty clothing than
the Athenians; they are described as μονοχίτων, “wearing a single
garment,” and we learn from Pausanias that the girls who competed
in the running races at Olympia wore the short χιτὼν ἔξωμις. As
monumental testimony to the truth of this statement, we have the
statue of a girl runner in the Vatican Museum.
[Illustration: FIG. 19.—Bronze Statuette—British Museum.
_Face page_ 53.]
The τρίβων worn by Spartans and people of austere or Laconizing
tendencies, like Socrates and the Cynic philosophers, was probably
a scanty Doric chiton made in some coarse homespun material; men
of leisure and elderly men preferred to wear a longer chiton with
sleeves either sewn or fastened with brooches; this was the case even
after the reaction against anything savouring of Orientalism which
followed the Persian wars. If we are to consider the monuments, both
sculpture and vases, as giving a realistic picture of Greek life,
we shall see that men frequently wore only the himation; but it is
difficult to believe that this was so, except, perhaps, in the height
of summer.
The methods of draping the himation were the same for men as for
women, except that after the period of the early black-figured vases
we do not find men represented wearing it laid on both shoulders like
a shawl; nor do they ever wear it drawn up over the head, although
in the sunshine of a southern summer some such protection against
the heat might be considered indispensable. The favourite style for
men was that of laying the one end on the left shoulder and drawing
the rest round the body from the back and throwing the other end
either across the left forearm or over the shoulder.[97] This was
called wearing the himation ἐπὶ δεξιὰ, presumably because it was
drawn closely round the right side of the body. It was considered a
mark of good breeding to throw it over the shoulder and let it hang
down in such a way as to cover the left arm completely.[98] To wear
it ἐπ᾽ ἀριστέρα, “over the left side,” was a mark of boorishness, as
we gather from Aristophanes _Birds_,[99] where Poseidon taunts the
barbarian Triballus for wearing it so.
[97] Figs. 20 and 21.
[98] Fig. 20.
[99] i., 1567.
[Illustration: FIG. 20.—Vase-painting—British Museum.
_Face page_ 54.]
[Illustration: FIG. 21.—The Doric Himation.
_Face page_ 54.]
[Illustration: FIG. 22.—Vase-painting by Euphronios—Munich.
Furtwängler and Reichhold, _Griechische Vasenmalerei_, 22.
_Face page_ 55.]
[Illustration: FIG. 23.—The Chlamys and Petasos.
_Face page_ 55.]
Another variety of over-garment worn by men is the χλάμυς, a cloak
used for riding or travelling. It is considered to be of Macedonian
origin,[100] another form of it being the ζειρά, a rough Thracian
riding-cloak sometimes depicted on Greek vases.[101] It
was probably brought into Greece from the north by the Dorian
invaders when they came down, and in its origin may have been no
different from the Homeric χλαῖνα. In classical times it was always
worn over the short chiton by travellers and riders, and was the
characteristic dress of Ephebi.[102] The Parthenon frieze affords
abundant illustration of the way in which it was worn. Like the
himation, it consisted of a rectangular piece of material, but was of
a slightly different shape, being rather more oblong; in fact, when
doubled it would form almost a perfect square. Its normal dimensions
would be about 6 to 7 feet long by 3½ feet wide. In putting it on,
the wearer would double it round him and stand inside it, so that
the middle line came along the back of the left arm and shoulder;
he would then fasten the two sides together with a brooch on the
right shoulder, close to the neck, at the points _e_ and _f_ in the
accompanying diagram; the corners _d_ and _b_ would hang down in
front and behind respectively at a distance of about 1 foot from the
ground, and the corners _a_ and _c_ would hang down together along
the right side; the left arm which held the reins in riding would
thus be covered, while the right would be free to hold spear or whip.
The left could easily be freed also by swinging the cloak round so
that the brooch came under the chin instead of on the shoulder; the
two corners _a_ and _c_ could then be thrown back over the arms. The
χλάμυς is frequently represented in art worn in this way, especially
in cases where the wearer is occupied in vigorous action.
[100] Pauly-Wissowa, _Real Encyclopädie_.
[101] Fig. 22.
[102] Fig. 23.
[Illustration: FIG. 24.]
IV
IONIC
We must now turn to a consideration of the Ionic dress, which
Herodotus tells us was adopted by the Athenian women in the sixth
century B.C. According to his account, it was Carian in its origin;
our knowledge of the Carians is somewhat vague and indefinite.
We learn from Thucydides[103] that they originally inhabited the
Cyclades, but were driven out by Minos of Crete; and a little
later on[104] he speaks of them, together with the Phœnicians, as
islanders who practised piracy. Herodotus[105] gives a slightly
different account, saying that the Carian inhabitants of the islands
were subjected by Minos and used by him to man his ships, and were
not driven out until later by the Dorian and Ionian immigrants. He
also mentions the belief of the Carians themselves that they were
autochthonous in Caria, and attributes to them various inventions
afterwards adopted by the Greeks. According to Thucydides, their
method of burying the dead seems to have differed from that of the
Greeks; and from the various accounts of the two historians, we may
gather that their race was different, although possibly they were
soon hellenized by their Ionian neighbours. If, as Herodotus tells
us, the Greeks adopted some Carian inventions, it is not unlikely
that they may also have adopted the Carian dress, or at least may
have modified their own by assuming some Carian elements.[106]
[103] i., 4.
[104] i., 8.
[105] i., 171.
[106] According to Ridgeway, _Early Age of Greece_, the Carians,
like the Leleges, were a Pelasgian people.
In his account of the assumption of the Ionic dress by the Athenians,
Herodotus speaks only of the women; but we know that it was worn by
men also, partly from the evidence of the monuments and partly from
Thucydides, who tells us[107] that not long previously to the time
at which he is writing the elder men of the wealthy classes gave
up wearing linen chitons and fastening their hair with the τέττιξ,
“cicala,” a luxurious mode of dress common to them and their kinsfolk
the Ionians. The Ionic dress was probably discarded by the Athenians
shortly after the outbreak of the Persian war, when a reaction set in
against Orientalism and a tendency towards greater simplicity began
to manifest itself; Thucydides is writing more than a generation
after the Persian wars, but his expression, οὐ πολὺς χρόνος, “no
great length of time,” is sufficiently vague, and he probably
recollected the change which took place in his youthful days;
moreover, he speaks only of the elder men of the wealthy classes,
who would naturally be of conservative tendencies and the last to
adopt any change in their mode of life or dress. The exact period at
which the Athenians adopted the Ionic dress is unknown; the Æginetan
expedition of 568 B.C., of which Herodotus makes use in dating the
change, is too late, for we know that already in Solon’s days luxury
in dress had reached such a pitch as to necessitate the passing of a
sumptuary law to regulate it, and such luxury could hardly have been
reached so long as the simple Doric dress was retained. It may not
be unreasonable to assume, then, that constant intercourse with the
Ionians in the islands on the coast of Asia Minor led the Athenians
to adopt their dress at some time towards the end of the seventh
century.
[107] i., 6.
[Illustration: FIG. 25.—Vase-painting from Lucania—British Museum.
_Face page_ 61.]