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
That Greek ladies wore abundant jewellery is proved by frequent
representations both in sculpture and vase-paintings, as also by
actual finds of jewellery, notably in the Greek graves of the fourth
century at Kertch. These objects have been described and discussed by
Mr A. B. Walters, in his book on _The Art of the Greeks_.[218] Rings,
bracelets, necklaces, brooches, and ear-rings, were commonly worn,
as well as ornamental hair-pins and metal diadems for the hair. Many
examples of goldsmith’s work are extant including some gold ornaments
set with precious stones.
[218] Page 259 ff.
* * * * *
In summing up the results of the foregoing enquiry, we find that
the nature and development of the costume of the Greeks is entirely
in accordance with what we know of the nature and development of
the national character. The chief characteristics of the Doric
dress, which was probably worn in early days by all the inhabitants
of the mainland alike, is a certain broad simplicity; that of
the Ionic dress, which was worn by the Asiatic Greeks, and for a
short period at least by the Athenians also, is graceful elegance.
These characteristics distinguish the Doric and Ionic temperaments
as exhibited in art also, notably in architecture, and to some
extent also in sculpture. Athens appears to have occupied a middle
position between the Peloponnese and Ionia. The Peloponnesians seem
to have clung throughout their history to the Dorian dress, as the
Ionians probably did to the Ionic; but in Athens we find change and
development most strongly marked. In very early days the Athenians
wore the Doric dress; then in the course of the seventh and sixth
centuries their intercourse with the East brought them into contact
with Eastern ideas and Eastern customs, and they appear to have
caught something of the luxury which was characteristic of the East.
At any rate, for a time at least they adopted the Ionic dress,
and carried it to a great degree of luxury and extravagance. Then
with the Persian wars came a reaction against anything savouring
of Orientalism, and a return to greater simplicity. This led to a
resumption of the Doric dress, with certain modifications and the
retention of some Ionic elements.
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