Some notes on ancient garmentMany
ancient coins show richly draped male and female figures. We have already discussed some of these clothes before. But I think it is interesting to know more about it: what are these clothes, how are they named and which functions have they
had.
But there are some basic problems. The ancient literary sources often are not clear, and the presentation in the ancient art underlies its own laws which often don't match the literary sources. The study of ancient garment is a science. That I can't reproduce here. So it is only a short overview. And please remember: the ancient garment has developed in more than thousand years! In these times the clothes have changed naturally. But for our reasons we can reduce the greek garment to three basic forms. These are
1. The
Chiton (m.)
2. The
Peplos (m.)
3. The
Himation (n.)
And we can add too
4. The
Chlamys (f.)
The ChitonThe
Chiton is the actual main garb of the Greek. It is known from the 4th century BC and was worn by
men and women. It could be short, to the knees, or it could be long, fallen to the feet. It was made from linen and
had the shape of a rectangle in which one slipped in. So it
had not to be fixed on the shoulders by clambs. Mostly it was without sleeves. It could be worn without belt or belted so that there was a plaid, called Ampechonin or Diploidion, which could hide the belt. Often another cloth was worn over the
Chiton (see below).
Pics:
1) Priestress of Demeter with belted
Chiton2)
Dionysos in short
Chiton, belted, long-sleeved (Mesambria
AMNG 4018)
3)
Artemis with
Chlamys over long belted
chiton (
Hadrianopolis Jurokova 591)
(will be continued)