Delphi, the band does not pass under the arm, but from shoulder
to shoulder, and the cloak covers both arms symmetrically, being
fastened down both alike with a series of brooches. In these cases
the box-pleat falls in the middle, and the curve must necessarily
have been considerably smaller, since the upper edge lies much higher
up towards the neck. When the cloak was worn in this way, it was
probably sewn up down both sides, and the curves for the neck,
back and front, were naturally equidistant from the two side-seams.
The openings for the arms would come at the ends of the top edge, as
in the case of the Ionic chiton.
[Illustration: FIG. 35.—Vase-painting—British Museum.
_Face page_ 93.]
The style of dress represented by this set of monuments is certainly
the most luxurious which we find in Greek art at any period. Now the
date of the Acropolis maidens can be fixed at some period certainly
not later than the last quarter of the sixth century. Solon’s
sumptuary law regulating women’s dress must have been enacted during
the first years of the sixth century, so that we may conclude that
these dainty ladies with their chitons, cloaks, and scarfs represent
the height of luxury in dress which was possible after the passing of
that law: their self-satisfied smile seems to be inviting approval of
the degree of elegance to which their ingenuity could attain, even
though a stern law-giver had limited the number of their garments to
three.
This style of dress seems to have passed out of fashion at the end of
the sixth century, or in the early years of the fifth, for we find it
only in the early works of sculpture already mentioned. An attempt to
render it is frequently made by the artists of the early red-figured
vases—sometimes with some success; but more often the attempt results
in a confusion between this somewhat elaborate style of cloak and
the simpler development which it took later. Fig. 35 shows a fairly
successful attempt to represent the dress. Here we have the band
passing round the right shoulder and the vertical folds falling from
it, but the frill and the fastening down the right arm are omitted.
Possibly they taxed the artist’s skill too greatly; possibly the
style had already passed out of fashion in real life. But he would
be moderately familiar with the maidens on the Acropolis, although
perhaps not sufficiently so to be able to reproduce their costume
in detail. Working daily in his little shop down below in the
Cerameicus, perhaps he did not very frequently mount the citadel,
where he might study the art treasures that adorned it. Possibly
even the vase is not earlier than 480 B.C., and the picture is but a
reminiscence of the statues that the artist had seen on the Acropolis
previous to their burial at the coming of the Persians. Very often on
the vases we find the vertical folds represented falling from beneath
a series of horizontal folds obviously formed by turning over the
top of the cloak before fastening it on the shoulder. Here the band
and fastening down the arm are omitted.[138] The place of the frill
is taken by an overfold of the cloak before it is put on, and it is
fastened by a single brooch on the shoulder; the material is allowed
to hang in natural folds, and the necessity of cutting a curve in
the upper edge is obviated by the fact that no band is worn, and the
stuff is not arranged in artificial vertical folds. This style of
cloak appears already on the figure of Apollo, on the relief from
Thasos in the Louvre; it is seen most clearly in the Artemis
of Gabii.[139] It was probably developed from the earlier and more
elaborate form of cloak by gradual stages, first by omitting the
artificial folds and the band which held them in place, and then by
omitting the numerous fastenings on the arm. This would necessitate
an alteration in the shape of the cloak; it would naturally become
more square. Kalkmann, in the article already referred to, fig. 17,
represents an intermediate stage in this development, where a large
cloak is worn without band or frill, and is fastened by a series of
several brooches down one arm. Were it not for this representation
of the transition stage, we might be inclined to class the cloak of
the Artemis of Gabii as a development of the Doric peplos, which it
resembles in having an overfold and being fastened by a single large
brooch on the shoulder; and indeed these two elements are probably
due to the influence of the Doric dress, and we should therefore,
perhaps, more rightly call the final form of the cloak a blending of
the two styles rather than a development of either the one or the
other.
[138] Fig. 36.
[139] Fig. 37.
[Illustration: FIG. 36.—Vase-painting—Ionic Dress.
_Face page_ 94.]
[Illustration: _Photo by Mansell & Co._
FIG. 37.—The Artemis of Gabii—Louvre.
_Face page_ 95.]
As early as the beginning of the fifth century we find the two styles
becoming confused and mingled together. The Doric peplos is worn as
an over-dress over the Ionic chiton, even by one of the “Maidens”
of the Acropolis, and later on the commonest form of outdoor dress
for women was the Ionic chiton with the Doric himation over it. This
combination appears in the so-called Fates of the Parthenon pediment.
Frequently we find this blending of the two styles in a single
garment; we find also on vases the overgirt Doric peplos with sleeves
formed by a number of brooches;[140] and again, with cross-bands,
which belong properly to the Ionic chiton.[141] Some authorities,
pinning their faith entirely to Herodotus, consider that the brooch
is an element which belongs strictly only to the Doric dress; they
therefore regard the chiton with pinned sleeves as a mixture of the
two. An over-garment not very simple in form, which can be regarded
as neither Doric nor Ionic, but a mixture of both, is illustrated by
Fig. 38. Kalkmann regards it as a number of overfolds or flounces
sewn separately on to the chiton. It seems more reasonable, however,
to regard the part of the dress which appears on the arms and at
the feet, and which is made of a plain material, as the chiton,
and the rest which is ornamented with a pattern, as a separate
over-garment. This garment has three edges, at the waist, hips, and
ankles, so that it is obviously not merely an ordinary rectangular
himation, nor a simple Doric peplos with overfold. It seems simplest
to explain it as a Doric peplos with deep overfold, ungirt, having a
short false overfold to the waist sewn on over the real one at the
neck. Such over-garments never occur in sculpture and only rarely
on the vases, and may possibly be an error or invention on the part
of the vase-painter; if commonly worn, they would probably be more
frequently represented in art.
[140] B.M., E. 336.
[141] Athens Central Museum, 1285.
[Illustration: FIG. 38.—Vase-painting—Dress with two Overfolds.
_Face page_ 96.]
VI
MATERIALS AND ORNAMENTATION
The fabrics in use for Greek dresses presented considerable variety.
The commonest materials were naturally woollen, but linen and silk
were used for more luxurious garments, and a kind of leather jerkin
known as διφθέρα[142] was sometimes worn by peasants.
[142] Aristophanes, _The Clouds_, 72; Plato, _Crito_, 53 D.
That the woollen materials used themselves varied considerably in
texture, is proved by some fragments actually found in a tomb at
Kertch in the Crimea, and published in the _Comptes rendus_ in 1878.
These date for the most part from the fourth century B.C., but one
at least probably goes back to the fifth century. They are in most
cases rather loosely woven, so that the separate threads are clearly
visible, and a bright object could be seen through the material.
The oldest piece is composed of such fine threads that it is almost
transparent; other pieces have a texture not unlike that of woollen
crêpe. A somewhat coarser piece, the threads of which are very
strong, has a portion of a seam remaining, which is oversewn with
strong woollen thread. In addition to very finely woven woollen
materials, the more luxurious of the Greeks wore also many varieties
of linen, and in some cases even silk. Pollux tells us that the
long linen chiton was worn by the Athenians and Ionians, and many
references are to be found in ancient literature to different kinds
of linen, coming from places usually in Asia or the more easterly of
the Ægean islands. Of these the most commonly mentioned are ἀμόργινα,
garments made of linen from the flax of Amorgos, and βύσσινα,
made of βύσσος, a yellowish kind of flax, coming especially from
India and Egypt. We learn from Aristophanes[143] that the χιτώνιον
ἀμόργινον was transparent, so that we may conclude that the linen
from which it was made was very fine indeed; perhaps it resembled
a very fine cambric. That βύσσος was a linen of some kind, we are
told by Pausanias,[144] and Pollux gives us the information that
it came from India. That it was known in Egypt also, is testified
by Herodotus,[145] who tells us of its use for mummy-cloths. It
was probably rather a mark of luxury when worn by the Greeks, for
Simætha[146] tells us that she wore a χιτών of it when going out on a
festive occasion.
[143] _Lys._, 150.
[144] VI., 21.
[145] II., 86.
[146] Theocritus, II., 73.
Of materials which come under the heading of silk, three kinds were
known to the ancients. We read in Latin authors of _vestes coæ_,
_bombycinæ_, and _sericæ_, and these were also known to the Greeks.
Aristotle[147] is the first of the ancient writers who tells us
anything of the production of silk. After describing the various
changes undergone by the worm before becoming a moth, he gives us the
following information:—
Ἐκ δὲ τούτου τοῦ ζῴου καὶ τὰ βουβύκια ἀναλύουσι τῶν
γυναικῶν τινές ἀναπηνιζόμεναι, κἄπειτα ὑφαίνουσιν· πρώτη δὲ
λέγεται ὑφῆναι ἐν Κῷ Παμφίλη Πλάτεω θυγάτηρ.
“Some women undo the cocoons of this creature, winding off the
silk, and then weave it; and Pamphile, daughter of Plateus, is said
to have been the first to weave it in Cos.” This implies that the
manufacture of silk was carried on in Cos, but no information is
given as to whether the worm was reared in that island or whether
the raw silk was imported. Pliny[148] tells us more on the subject;
he seems to distinguish the three kinds of silk mentioned above. Of
these three, only “sericum” is, strictly speaking, silk—that is to
say, a material made by unwinding the cocoon of the silkworm reared
on the mulberry tree. This worm is first mentioned by Pausanias.[149]
It was the Chinese who discovered this method of procuring the silk,
and it was apparently unknown to the Greeks and Romans. The “coa” and
“bombycina” were procured by piercing and carding the cocoon instead
of unwinding them entire; the result was a substance coarser and less
brilliant than silk. Pliny draws a distinction between “coa” and
“bombycina,” telling us that the latter was a product of Assyria and
came from the ordinary mulberry worm, whereas the worm from which
coan silk was procured was reared on other trees, notably the oak,
ash, and cypress.[150]
[147] _Hist. Anim._, v., 19.
[148] _Hist. Nat._, xi.
[149] VI., xxvi., 6.
[150] For silk generally, see Daremberg and Saglio, _s.v._ “coa”;
Smith, _Dictionary of Antiquities_, _s.v._ “sericum”; Yates,
_Textrinum Antiquorum_, pp. 160 f.; Pariset, _Histoire de la
Soie_, Part I., chap. i.
_Coæ vestes_ are frequently mentioned by the Latin poets, chiefly
Horace, Tibullus, and Propertius, and from them we learn that
they were chiefly worn by _Hetairæ_ and were of a transparent
texture;[151] sometimes they were purple and had gold threads
interwoven or embroidered.[152] One piece of silk was found amongst
other materials at Kertch. In colour it is a bronze-gold, and is
woven in a lozenge pattern.
[151] Propertius, I., 2; Horace, _Satires_, I., ii., 101.
[152] Horace, _Odes_, IV., xiii.; Tibullus, II., 6.
If Greek dress lacked variety of cut and material, the deficiency
was to some extent made up by considerable gaiety of colour and
ornamentation. Probably none but slaves and artisans would wear
garments of one colour without pattern or ornamentation of any kind,
and even they would sometimes have their dresses adorned with a
simple border, such as a broad stripe. From the numerous references
scattered up and down through extant literature, it appears that the
favourite colours were purple, red, and yellow. Pollux[153] gives
us a list of the colours most commonly used. This list includes
green (βατραχίς) and gray (κίλλιον, ὀνάγρινον), in addition to those
mentioned above, but strangely enough no mention is made of blue. The
word κυάνεος, “dark blue,” is seldom if ever applied to garments,
yet it is scarcely likely that the colour was unknown to the Greeks.
Possibly some shades described as πορφύρεος approached a violet,
or blue, as distinguished from ἁλοῦργος, “true purple.” For red we
find the word φοινίκεος, “dark red,” used especially of the military
cloak of the Lacedæmonians,[154] and κοκκοβαφής, “scarlet”; for
yellow κροκωτός and θάψινος. Βατραχίς, “frog-coloured,” is the word
applied to a green garment, and this is probably the colour described
as ὀμφάνικος, “like unripe grapes.” Pollux[155] tells us that for
mourning the Greeks wore φαιὸν καὶ μέλαν ἀλλήλοις ἔγγυς, “gray and
black, very like each other.” From this we learn that φαιός was a
very dark colour, probably gray or dun.
[153] Chap. lviii.
[154] Aristophanes, _Pax_, 1173; _Lys._, 1140.
[155] 58.
The ornamentation applied to dress by the Greeks was very varied in
character; it is comparatively rare to find on Greek vases a dress
that is entirely free from decorations, and the patterns represented
are very numerous. Sometimes the ornament consists of a simple
border, often of a pattern distributed all over the dress, and these
designs are frequently of a very elaborate character, including
animal and even human forms. In sculpture, too, this feature was
not neglected; the maidens of the Acropolis at Athens all have some
pattern on their draperies added in colour, and one of them has no
less than seven different designs distributed over her costume. We
know that the himation of the Olympian Zeus by Pheidias was richly
decorated, and the fragment from Damophon’s great group at Lycosura
will serve as a later example of sculptured drapery highly ornamented
with patterns in relief. This has not only geometric and floral
designs as borders, but the whole surface is covered with fantastic
dancing figures of human and hybrid forms.
References in literature are not very frequent; the most noteworthy
occurs in the _Iliad_,[156] where Helen is described as working at a
great loom:
ἣ δὲ μέγαν ἱστὸν ὕφαινεν
δίπλακα πορφυρέην, πολέας δ᾽ ἐνέπασσεν ἀέθλους
Τρώων θ᾽ ἱπποδάμων καὶ Ἀχαιῶν χαλκοχιτώνων.
“She was weaving a great purple web of double fold, and over it she
spread many battles of horse-taming Trojans and bronze-clad Achæans.”
[156] iii., 125.
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.
[Illustration: FIG. 39.—Fragments of a Sarcophagus Cover from Kertch.
_Face page_ 103.]
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.
[Illustration: FIG. 40.—Embroidered Fragment from Kertch.
_Face page_ 105.]
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.
[Illustration: FIG. 41.—(_a_ and _b_) Fragments of a Sarcophagus
Cover from Kertch. (_c_) Embroidered Fragment from Kertch.
_Face page_ 106.]
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.
[Illustration: FIG. 42.—Men’s Head-dress—Archaic.
_Face page_ 108.]