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In the earliest times the Greeks wore their ''
κόμη'' (hair of the head) long, and thus
Homer
Homer (; grc, Ὅμηρος , ''Hómēros'') (born ) was a Greek poet who is credited as the author of the ''Iliad'' and the ''Odyssey'', two epic poems that are foundational works of ancient Greek literature. Homer is considered one of the ...
constantly calls them ''κᾰρηκομόωντες'' (long-haired).
This ancient practice was preserved by the
Sparta
Sparta ( Doric Greek: Σπάρτα, ''Spártā''; Attic Greek: Σπάρτη, ''Spártē'') was a prominent city-state in Laconia, in ancient Greece. In antiquity, the city-state was known as Lacedaemon (, ), while the name Sparta referre ...
ns for many centuries. The Spartan boys always had their hair cut quite short (''en chroi keirontes''), but as soon as they reached the age of puberty, they let it grow long. They prided themselves upon their hair, calling it the cheapest of ornaments (''kosmon adapanotatos''), and before going to battle they combed and dressed it with especial care, in which act
Leonidas
Leonidas I (; grc-gre, Λεωνίδας; died 19 September 480 BC) was a List of kings of Sparta#Heraclids, king of the Greek city-state of Sparta, and the 17th of the List of kings of Sparta#Agiad dynasty, Agiad line, a dynasty which claimed d ...
and his followers were discovered by the Persian spy before the
battle of Thermopylae. It seems that both Spartan men and women tied their hair in a knot over the crown of the head. At a later time, the Spartans abandoned this ancient custom, and wore their hair short, and hence some writers erroneously attribute this practice to an earlier period.
The custom of the
Athenians was different. They wore their hair long in childhood, and cut it off when they reached the age of puberty. The cutting off of the hair, which was always done when a boy became an
ephebus, was a solemn act, attended with religious ceremonies. A
libation
A libation is a ritual pouring of a liquid, or grains such as rice, as an offering to a deity or spirit, or in memory of the dead. It was common in many religions of antiquity and continues to be offered in cultures today.
Various substanc ...
was first offered to
Heracles
Heracles ( ; grc-gre, Ἡρακλῆς, , glory/fame of Hera), born Alcaeus (, ''Alkaios'') or Alcides (, ''Alkeidēs''), was a divine hero in Greek mythology, the son of Zeus and Alcmene, and the foster son of Amphitryon.By his adoptiv ...
, which was called ''oinisteria'' or ''oinesteria''; and the hair after being cut off was dedicated to some deity, usually a
Potamoi
The Potamoi ( grc-gre, Ποταμοί, "Rivers") are the gods of rivers and streams of the earth in Greek mythology.
Mythology
The river gods were the 3000 sons of the great earth-encircling river Oceanus and his wife Tethys and the brothers of ...
. It was a very ancient practice to go to
Delphi to perform this ceremony, and Theseus is said to have done so.
The ephebi are always represented on works of art with their hair quite short, in which manner it was also worn by the athletes. When the Athenians passed into the age of manhood, they again let their hair grow. In ancient times at Athens the hair was rolled up into a kind of knot on the crown of the head, and fastened with golden clasps in the shape of
grasshoppers. This fashion of wearing the hair, which was called ''krobylos'', had gone out just before the time of
Thucydides
Thucydides (; grc, , }; BC) was an Athenian historian and general. His '' History of the Peloponnesian War'' recounts the fifth-century BC war between Sparta and Athens until the year 411 BC. Thucydides has been dubbed the father of " scienti ...
. The Athenian women also wore their hair in the same fashion, which was in their case called ''korymbos''.
On vases, the heads of women were most frequently shown covered with a kind of band or a coif of net-work. Of these coiffures one was called ''kredemnos'', which was a broad band across the forehead, sometimes made of metal, and sometimes of leather, adorned with gold; to this the name of ''stlengis'' was also given, and it appears to have been much the same as the ''
ampyx''. But the most common kind of head-dress for women was called by the general name of ''cecryphalus'', and this was divided into the three species of cecryphalus, saccus, and mitra. The kekryphalos, in its narrower sense, was a
caul
A caul or cowl ( la, Caput galeatum, literally, "helmeted head") is a piece of membrane that can cover a newborn's head and face. Birth with a caul is rare, occurring in fewer than 1 in 80,000 births. The caul is harmless and is immediately remov ...
or coif of net-work, corresponding to the Latin ''
reticulum
Reticulum is a small, faint constellation in the southern sky. Its name is Latin for a small net, or reticle—a net of crosshairs at the focus of a telescope eyepiece that is used to measure star positions. The constellation is best viewed b ...
''. It was worn during the day as well as the night, and has continued in use from the most ancient times to the present day. It is mentioned by Homer, and is still worn in Italy and Spain.
These
hairnets were frequently made of gold threads, sometimes of silk, or the
Elean
Elis () or Eleia ( el, Ήλιδα, Ilida, grc-att, Ἦλις, Ēlis ; Elean: , ethnonym: ) is an ancient district in Greece that corresponds to the modern regional unit of Elis.
Elis is in southern Greece on the Peloponnese, bounded on ...
''
byssus
A byssus () is a bundle of filaments secreted by many species of bivalve mollusc that function to attach the mollusc to a solid surface. Species from several families of clams have a byssus, including pen shells ( Pinnidae), true mussels (Mytil ...
'', and probably of other materials, which are not mentioned by ancient writers. The persons who made these nets were called ''kekryphaloplokoi''. Women with this kind of head-dress frequently occur in paintings found at Pompeii, from one of which the preceding cut is taken, representing a woman wearing a ''Coa Vestis'' (
Coan cloth).
The ''sakkos'' and the ''mitra'' were, on the contrary, made of close materials. The ''sakkos'' covered the head entirely like a sack or bag; it was made of various materials, such as silk, byssus, and wool. Some times, at least among the Romans, a bladder was used to answer the same purpose. The ''mitra'' was a broad band of cloth of different colours, which was wound round the hair, and was worn in various ways. It was originally an Eastern head-dress, and may, therefore, be compared to the modern
turban
A turban (from Persian دولبند, ''dulband''; via Middle French ''turbant'') is a type of headwear based on cloth winding. Featuring many variations, it is worn as customary headwear by people of various cultures. Communities with promin ...
. It is sometimes spoken of as characteristic of the
Phrygians. It was, however, also worn by the Greeks, and
Polygnotus
Polygnotus ( el, Πολύγνωτος ''Polygnotos'') was an ancient Greek painter from the middle of the 5th century BC. Life
He was the son and pupil of Aglaophon. He was a native of Thasos, but was adopted by the Athenians, and admitted to ...
is said to have been the first who painted Greek women with ''mitrae''. The Roman ''calantica'' or ''calvatica'' is said by
Servius Servius is the name of:
* Servius (praenomen), the personal name
* Maurus Servius Honoratus, a late fourth-century and early fifth-century grammarian
* Servius Tullius, the Roman king
* Servius Sulpicius Rufus, the 1st century BC Roman jurist
See ...
to have been the same as the ''mitra'', but in a passage in the Digest they are mentioned as if they were distinct.
Regarding the Romans besides the generic ''coma'' we also find the following words signifying the hair: ''
capillus, caesaries, crines, cincinnus'' and ''cirrus'', the two last words being used to signify curled hair. In early times the Romans wore their hair long, as was represented in the oldest statues in the age of
Varro
Marcus Terentius Varro (; 116–27 BC) was a Roman polymath and a prolific author. He is regarded as ancient Rome's greatest scholar, and was described by Petrarch as "the third great light of Rome" (after Vergil and Cicero). He is sometimes calle ...
, and hence the Romans of the
Augustan age designated their ancestors ''intonsi'' and ''
capillati''. But after the introduction of
barber
A barber is a person whose occupation is mainly to cut, dress, groom, style and shave men's and boys' hair or beards. A barber's place of work is known as a "barbershop" or a "barber's". Barbershops are also places of social interaction and publi ...
s into Italy, it became the practice to wear their hair short. The women too originally dressed their hair with great simplicity, but in the Augustan period a variety of different head-dresses came into fashion, many of which are described by Ovid. Sometimes these head-dresses were raised to a great height by rows of false curls.
The dressing of the hair of a Roman lady at this period was a most important affair. So much attention did the Roman ladies devote to it, that they kept slaves especially for this purpose, called ornatrices, and had them instructed by a master in the art. Most of the Greek head-dresses mentioned above were also worn by the Roman ladies; but the ''mitrae'' appear to have been confined to prostitutes. One of the simplest modes of wearing the hair was allowing it to fall down in tresses behind, and only confining it by a band encircling the head. Another favourite plan was
plaiting the hair, and then fastening it behind with a
large pin.
False hair or wigs were worn both by Greeks and Romans. Among both peoples in ancient times the hair was cut close in mourning (
funus); and among both the slaves had their hair cut close as a mark of servitude.
[Aristoph. Aves, 911; Plant. Ampli. i. ]. 306; Decker, Ckaricles, vol. ii. p. 380, &c.; Bottiger, Sabina, vol. i. p. 138, &c.]
See also
*
List of hairstyles
This is a non-exhaustive list of hairstyles, excluding facial hairstyles.
Short hairstyles
Buzz cuts
A buzz cut is any of a variety of short hairstyles usually designed with electric clippers.
Haircuts are a type of hairstyles where the hair ...
*
Caesar cut
The Caesar cut is a hairstyle with short, horizontally straight cut bangs. The hair is layered to around 2–5 cm (1-2 inches) all over. It is named after the Roman Emperor Tiberius Caesar Augustus, whose images frequently depict him weari ...
*
Historical Christian hairstyles
*
Roman hairstyles
*
Clothing in ancient Greece
Clothing in ancient Greece primarily consisted of the chiton, peplos, himation, and chlamys. Ancient Greek civilians typically wore two pieces of clothing draped about the body: an undergarment ( : chitōn or : péplos) and a cloak ( : himáti ...
*
Clothing in ancient Rome
Clothing in ancient Rome generally comprised a short-sleeved or sleeveless, knee-length tunic for men and boys, and a longer, usually sleeved tunic for women and girls. On formal occasions, adult male citizens could wear a woolen toga, draped ov ...
References
{{SmithDGRA
Ancient Greek culture
Hairstyle
A hairstyle, hairdo, haircut or coiffure refers to the styling of hair, usually on the human scalp. Sometimes, this could also mean an editing of facial or body hair. The fashioning of hair can be considered an aspect of personal groomi ...
Hairstyle
A hairstyle, hairdo, haircut or coiffure refers to the styling of hair, usually on the human scalp. Sometimes, this could also mean an editing of facial or body hair. The fashioning of hair can be considered an aspect of personal groomi ...
Greco-Roman