(Compare Fig. 5.) Workmen, countrymen, sailors, and
others whose occupation required free movement of the right arm, used
only to fasten the two pieces of the chiton on the left shoulder, then
the points of the other side hung down in front and behind, and left
the
[Illustration: FIG. 5.]
right breast, shoulder, and arm exposed. This costume, of which the
relief in Fig. 6 gives a representation, was called _exomis_. Strictly
speaking, it is no actual garment, but only a particular way of wearing
the chiton; but special tunics for labourers were made in
[Illustration: FIG. 6.]
this fashion. Besides this, chitons were afterwards made with the upper
part also sewn together, and with armholes or short sleeves, which,
however, never covered more than a part of the upper arm. Long sleeves
falling to the hand belong exclusively to barbarian costume. Yet the
bib, which as late as the first half of the fifth century was worn with
the male chiton also, is not a part of later costume.
From this time onward the name “himation” was used for the cloak worn
with the chiton, while “chlaina” was only retained for a special kind,
distinct rather by its material than by its shape. The himation was
often worn in the oldest period in the way described above, that is,
with two points falling on the two sides in front. (Compare the Hermes
in Fig. 4.) But it became more and more common, and from the classic
period onwards quite universal, to fold the cloak tightly round, and
this was done as follows. One point was drawn from the back over the
left shoulder and held fast here between the chest and arm, then the
cloak was drawn round over the back in wide folds reaching to the shins,
and from there back again to the front on the right side. This was done
in two ways. If the right arm was to be kept free the himation was drawn
through under the right shoulder and in front folded across the body and
chest, while the last piece was thrown back across the left shoulder
(compare the Paris in Fig. 4 on the left), or else over the left arm
(compare the man on the right in Fig. 4). The other mode, and the one
common in the dress of an ordinary citizen, was to draw the cloak over
the right arm and shoulder, so that at most the right hand was exposed,
and then to throw it back again over the left shoulder. This arrangement
was facilitated by small weights of clay or lead sewn on
[Illustration: FIG. 7.
Statue of Sophocles in the Lateran. From a Photograph.]
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