Peplos
A peplos (Ancient Greek: πέπλος) is a body-length garment established as typical attire for women in ancient Greece by c. 500 BC, during the late Archaic and Classical period. The peplos was a rectangular piece of woollen cloth that was folded loosely down one side (leaving the garment open down the other side) and pinned at both shoulders, then allowed to drape down around the body.[2][3] The top third of the cloth could also be folded over to create an over-fold, called the apoptygma (ἀπόπτυγμα),[4][3] with the shoulder fastenings at the top of this fold. A girdle or belt was used to fasten the garment at the waist and create another fold, to adjust its length for the height of the wearer.[5][2] Variations of the peplos were worn by women in many periods such as the archaic, early classical, and classical periods of ancient Greece.[6]
It may be compared with the Ionic chiton, which was a piece of fabric folded over and sewn together along the longer side to form a tube.
Spartan women continued to wear the peplos much later in history than other Greek cultures. Theirs was shorter than fashionable in the rest of Greece and with slits on the side.[7]
Rituals
[edit]On the last day of the month Pyanepsion, the priestess of Athena Polias and the Arrephoroi, a group of girls chosen to help in the making of the sacred peplos, set up the loom on which the enormous peplos was to be woven by the Ergastinai, another group of girls chosen to spend about nine months making the sacred peplos. They had to weave a theme of Athena's defeat of Enkelados and the Olympian's defeat of the Giants. The peplos of the statue was changed each year during the Plynteria.
The peplos played a role in the Athenian festival of the Great Panathenaea. Nine months before the festival, at the arts and crafts festival titled Chalkeia, a special peplos would begin to be woven by young women. During the Panathenaea, the peplos was taken up to the Acropolis of Athens to be presented to the wooden statue of Athena Polias in the Erechtheion, opposite the Parthenon.[8] The main scene of the Parthenon frieze is believed, although not without disagreement, to represent this peplos scene during the Panathenaea.[8][9] The peplos had images of the mythic battle between gods and giants woven into its material and usually consisted of purple and saffron yellow cloth.
Gallery
[edit]-
The Panathenaea peplos, from the Parthenon frieze -
The Peplos Kore, colour reconstruction of statue of c. 530 BC -
Athena wearing a luxurious peplos, one that uses a lot of fabric, fifth century BC -
A wide peplos with the width gathered at the side to be used as sleeves -
Nike wearing a peplos on top of a chiton, second quarter of fifth century BC -
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Wearing a peplos over a chiton, (fifth century BC) -
Woman wearing the fold of her peplos over her head, second century BC -
"Exaltation de la Fleur" (exaltation of the flower), fragments from a secondary grave stele: two women wearing a peplos and kekryphalos (hairnet), hold poppy or pomegranate flowers, and maybe a small bag of seeds. Parian marble, c. 470–460 BC. From Pharsalos, Thessaly. -
![Vase showing young woman in a peplos (centre), accompanied on either side by women wearing chitons and himations, c. 450 BC.[2]](https://en.wikipedia.org//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/6f/Red-figure_stamnos_by_the_Chicago_Painter_%28Chicago_Art_Institute_1889.22%29_side_A.jpg/500px-Red-figure_stamnos_by_the_Chicago_Painter_%28Chicago_Art_Institute_1889.22%29_side_A.jpg)
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The Hestia Giustiniani, a Roman probable copy in marble of Greeek bronze of c. 450 BC, wearing a peplos and a veil
_in_the_National_Archaeological_Museum_of_Athens_on_28_September_2018.jpg)
![Vase showing young woman in a peplos (centre), accompanied on either side by women wearing chitons and himations, c. 450 BC.[2]](/newspapers?url=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Red-figure_stamnos_by_the_Chicago_Painter_(Chicago_Art_Institute_1889.22)_side_A.jpg)
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Fastening a peplos -
Detail of fastening mechanism -
Side view -
Rear view, showing the apoptygma -
Fastened -
Pulling it over the head. Remnants of a red border may be visible.
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See also
[edit]- Clothing in ancient Greece
- Clothing in the ancient world
- Delphos gown – Type of pleated woman's dress designed 1907
References
[edit]- ^ "Relief of the "Pensive Athena"". The Acropolis Museum. Retrieved May 11, 2025.
- ^ a b c Nigro, Jeff (2022-02-01). "Ancient Greek Dress: The Classic Look". Art Institute of Chicago.
- ^ a b "Ancient Greek Dress". The Metropolitan Museum of Art. October 2003. Retrieved 2023-05-20.
- ^ "Apoptygma". Perseus Encyclopedia. Tufts University.
- ^ Lee, Mireille M. (2015). Body, dress, and identity in ancient Greece. New York: Cambridge University Press. pp. 158–159. ISBN 978-1-107-05536-0.
- ^ Department of Greek and Roman Art (2003-10-01). "Ancient Greek Dress - The Metropolitan Museum of Art". The Metropolitan Museum of Art. Retrieved 2025-06-13.
- ^ Pomeroy, Sarah B. (1994). Goddesses, Whores, Wives and Slaves: Women in Classical Antiquity. London: Pimlico. p. 36. ISBN 978-0-712-66054-9.
- ^ a b Titi, Catharine (2023). The Parthenon Marbles and International Law. Springer. pp. 44, 46. doi:10.1007/978-3-031-26357-6. ISBN 978-3-031-26356-9.
- ^ Neils, Jenifer (2001). "6". The Parthenon Frieze. Cambridge University Press.
External links
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