Greek dress : $b a study of the costumes worn in ancient Greece, from pre-Hellenic times to the Hellenistic ageAbrahams, Ethel Beatrice
History
Greek dress : $b a study of the costumes worn in ancient Greece, from pre-Hellenic times to the Hellenistic age
Abrahams, Ethel Beatrice
Clothing and dress -- Greece
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.]
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