[Illustration: FIG. 45.—Women’s Head-dress. _Face page_ 112.] 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_).