168 is offering to the warrior putting on his armour. Below the cuirass they wore a short chiton woven of especially strong threads, and frequently mentioned by Homer as twisted or woven; the sleeves were usually cut short, falling a little way below the shoulders, and it only descended over part of the thighs. (Compare the pictures.) Homer also makes mention of a broad girdle (μίτρα), plated with brass, worn immediately over the chiton in such a manner that the upper part of the girdle was covered by the cuirass, while the lower was exposed. This girdle seems to have fallen into disuse soon after the Homeric age, for we can find no trace of it on any works of art. The linen tunics mentioned in Homer, which became commoner in later times, were probably woven of strong thread, and covered with brass at the most exposed places. [Illustration: FIG. 173.] [Illustration: FIG. 174.] [Illustration: FIG. 175.] The helmet, which, even in the earliest ages, took [Illustration: FIG. 176.] the place of the original head-covering of skin, was usually of bronze, and, according to the statements of Homer and originals still existing, was of three thicknesses, strongest in the middle, with a thinner layer above and below. The chief part of the helmet fitted close to the head like a cap, and covered forehead and temples; in front it hung down in two separate pieces over the cheeks; there were two openings for the eyes between the nose-piece and cheek-pieces. In ancient times the skull cap and cheek-pieces were made of a single piece, as we see on the ancient Greek helmets from Olympia and Sardinia, represented in Figs. 173 to 175; these are also provided with nose-pieces, so that not much could be recognised of the warrior who was covered in this way. The helmet acquired an additional protection by a ridge extending over the middle of the skull cap from the back of the head to the forehead, in which the crest was fastened; there were also helmets with two ridges to increase the resisting power, and this then had two crests. Very often the crest, which was of great size, was not fastened directly into the ridge, but connected with it by means of a tall, narrow elevation, so that it towered high above the helmet. The vase painting represented in Fig. 176 shows helmets of this kind belonging to two warriors who are playing draughts; one of them has taken off his helmet and placed it on the shield beside him; the other keeps his on, but has raised the part over the forehead; the shape resembles the originals represented in Figs. 173 to 175. Sometimes the crest was fastened straight into the skullcap without any ridge, as on Fig. 166, in the helmet belonging to the warrior on the right. In later times, many changes took place in the shape of helmets; the nose-piece and cheek-pieces were sometimes flexible and sometimes stiff, but of a different shape; thus the helmet of Achilles, in Fig. 170, has the stiff forehead and nose-piece, but the