Peplos
Encyclopedia
A peplos is a body-length
Greek
garment worn by women before 500 BC. The peplos is a tubular cloth folded inside-out from the top about halfway down, altering what was the top of the tube to the waist and the bottom of the tube to ankle-length. The garment is then gathered about the waist and the open top (at the fold) pinned over the shoulders. The top of the tube (now inside-out) drapes over the waist, providing the appearance of a second piece of clothing (an exception is the statues of the Caryatid
).
(The peplos was, like the doric chiton, draped clothing open on one side of the body, and should not be confused with the ionic chiton, which was a piece of fabric that was folded over and then sewed together along the longer side to form a tube of fabric.)
This Classical period garment is represented in the vase painting since the 5th century BC and in the metope
s of the temple
s in Doric order
.
On the last day of the Pyanopsion, the priest
ess of Athena Polias and the Arrephoroi
, a troop 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 troop of girls chosen to spend approximately 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 Panathenaia. Nine months before the festival, at the arts and crafts festival titled Chalkeia, a special peplos would begin to be woven by young women. This peplos was placed on the statue of Athena during the festival procession. The peplos had myths and stories woven within its material and usually consisted of purple and saffron yellow cloth.
Greek
Ancient Greece
Ancient Greece is a civilization belonging to a period of Greek history that lasted from the Archaic period of the 8th to 6th centuries BC to the end of antiquity. Immediately following this period was the beginning of the Early Middle Ages and the Byzantine era. Included in Ancient Greece is the...
garment worn by women before 500 BC. The peplos is a tubular cloth folded inside-out from the top about halfway down, altering what was the top of the tube to the waist and the bottom of the tube to ankle-length. The garment is then gathered about the waist and the open top (at the fold) pinned over the shoulders. The top of the tube (now inside-out) drapes over the waist, providing the appearance of a second piece of clothing (an exception is the statues of the Caryatid
Caryatid
A caryatid is a sculpted female figure serving as an architectural support taking the place of a column or a pillar supporting an entablature on her head. The Greek term karyatides literally means "maidens of Karyai", an ancient town of Peloponnese...
).
(The peplos was, like the doric chiton, draped clothing open on one side of the body, and should not be confused with the ionic chiton, which was a piece of fabric that was folded over and then sewed together along the longer side to form a tube of fabric.)
This Classical period garment is represented in the vase painting since the 5th century BC and in the metope
Metope (architecture)
In classical architecture, a metope is a rectangular architectural element that fills the space between two triglyphs in a Doric frieze, which is a decorative band of alternating triglyphs and metopes above the architrave of a building of the Doric order...
s of the temple
Temple
A temple is a structure reserved for religious or spiritual activities, such as prayer and sacrifice, or analogous rites. A templum constituted a sacred precinct as defined by a priest, or augur. It has the same root as the word "template," a plan in preparation of the building that was marked out...
s in Doric order
Doric order
The Doric order was one of the three orders or organizational systems of ancient Greek or classical architecture; the other two canonical orders were the Ionic and the Corinthian.-History:...
.
On the last day of the Pyanopsion, the priest
Priest
A priest is a person authorized to perform the sacred rites of a religion, especially as a mediatory agent between humans and deities. They also have the authority or power to administer religious rites; in particular, rites of sacrifice to, and propitiation of, a deity or deities...
ess of Athena Polias and the Arrephoroi
Arrephoros
An Arrephoros was a girl acolyte in the cult of Athena Polias on the Athenian Acropolis. They were seven to eleven years old. According to Pausanias, two Arrephoroi lived for a year on the Acropolis and concluded their term with a mystery rite called the Arrhephoria: they carried unknown objects...
, a troop 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 troop of girls chosen to spend approximately nine months making the sacred peplos. They had to weave a theme of Athena
Athena
In Greek mythology, Athena, Athenê, or Athene , also referred to as Pallas Athena/Athene , is the goddess of wisdom, courage, inspiration, civilization, warfare, strength, strategy, the arts, crafts, justice, and skill. Minerva, Athena's Roman incarnation, embodies similar attributes. Athena is...
's defeat of Enkelados
Enceladus (mythology)
In Greek mythology, Enceladus was one of the Gigantes, the enormous children of Gaia fertilized by the blood of castrated Uranus...
and the Olympian's defeat of the Giants. The peplos of the statue was changed each year during the Plynteria
Plynteria
Plynteria was a festival of ancient Greece celebrated at Athens every year, on the 22nd of Thargelion, in honor of Athena Polias, with the heroine Aglauros , whose temple stood on the Acropolis...
.
The Peplos played a role in the Athenian festival of the Great Panathenaia. Nine months before the festival, at the arts and crafts festival titled Chalkeia, a special peplos would begin to be woven by young women. This peplos was placed on the statue of Athena during the festival procession. The peplos had myths and stories woven within its material and usually consisted of purple and saffron yellow cloth.
See also
- Clothing in the ancient worldClothing in the ancient worldThe clothing used in the ancient world strongly reflects the technologies that these peoples mastered. Archaeology plays a significant role in documenting this aspect of ancient life, for fabric fibres, and leathers sometimes are well-preserved through time...
- Clothing in ancient GreeceClothing in ancient GreeceClothing in ancient Greece primarily consisted of the chiton, the peplos, himation, and chlamys.- History and types :While no clothes have survived from this period, descriptions exist from contemporary accounts and artistic depiction. Clothes were mainly homemade, and often served many purposes...
- ChitonChiton (costume)A chiton was a form of clothing worn by men and women in Ancient Greece, from the Archaic period to the Hellenistic period ....