A peplos ( el, ὁ πέπλος) is a body-length garment established as typical attire for

women in ancient Greece The status and characteristics of ancient and modern-day women in Greece evolved from the events that occurred in the history of Greece. According to Michael Scott, in his article "The Rise of Women in Ancient Greece" (''History Today''), "plac ...

by circa 500 BC, during the late Archaic and Classical period. It was a long, rectangular cloth with the top edge folded down about halfway, so that what was the top of the rectangle was now draped below the waist, and the bottom of the rectangle was at the ankle. One side of the peplos could be left open, or pinned or sewn together.Ancient Greek Dress
''Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History'',

Metropolitan Museum of Art The Metropolitan Museum of Art of New York City, colloquially "the Met", is the largest art museum in the Americas. Its permanent collection contains over two million works, divided among 17 curatorial departments. The main building at 1000 ...

, 2000-2013. Retrieved 7 October 2013. In Latin and in a Roman context, it could be called a '' palla.'' It should not be confused with the Ionic chiton, which was a piece of fabric folded over and sewn together along the longer side to form a tube. The Classical garment is represented in

Greek vase painting Ancient Greek pottery, due to its relative durability, comprises a large part of the archaeological record of ancient Greece, and since there is so much of it (over 100,000 painted vases are recorded in the Corpus vasorum antiquorum), it has exe ...

from the 5th century BC and in the

metope In classical architecture, a metope (μετόπη) 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 bu ...

s of temples in

Doric order The Doric order was one of the three orders of ancient Greek and later Roman architecture; the other two canonical orders were the Ionic and the Corinthian. The Doric is most easily recognized by the simple circular capitals at the top of col ...

Spartan women Spartan women were famous in ancient Greece for having more freedom than women elsewhere in the Greek world. To contemporaries outside of Sparta, Spartan women had a reputation for promiscuity and controlling their husbands. Unlike their Athenian ...

continued to wear the peplos much later in history than other Greek cultures. It was also shorter and with slits on the side causing other Greeks to call them phainomērídes (φαινομηρίδες) the "thigh-showers".

Rituals

On the last day of the month

Pyanepsion The Attic calendar or Athenian calendar is the lunisolar calendar beginning in midsummer with the lunar month of Hekatombaion, in use in ancient Attica, the ancestral territory of the Athenian polis. It is sometimes called the Greek calendar beca ...

, the

priest A priest is a religious leader authorized to perform the sacred rituals of a religion, especially as a mediatory agent between humans and one or more deities. They also have the authority or power to administer religious rites; in particu ...

ess of

Athena Polias Athena or Athene, often given the epithet Pallas, is an ancient Greek goddess associated with wisdom, warfare, and handicraft who was later syncretized with the Roman goddess Minerva. Athena was regarded as the patron and protectress of ...

and the

Arrephoroi An ''Arrephoros'' ( grc, Ἀρρήφορος) was a girl acolyte in the cult of Athena Polias on the Athenian Acropolis. They were seven to eleven years old. According to Pausanias,Pausanias1.27.3./ref> two ''Arrephoroi'' lived for a year on the Acr ...

, 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 Athena or Athene, often given the epithet Pallas, is an ancient Greek goddess associated with wisdom, warfare, and handicraft who was later syncretized with the Roman goddess Minerva. Athena was regarded as the patron and protectress of ...

's defeat of Enkelados and the Olympian's defeat of the

Giants A giant is a being of human appearance, sometimes of prodigious size and strength, common in folklore. Giant(s) or The Giant(s) may also refer to: Mythology and religion *Giants (Greek mythology) *Jötunn, a Germanic term often translated as 'gi ...

. The peplos of the statue was changed each year during the

Plynteria Plynteria ( Gr. ) 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 (or with the two combined as Athena Aglauros),Plutarch, '' Alcibiades'' 34 whose ...

. The peplos played a role in the Athenian festival of the Great

Panathenaea The Panathenaea (or Panathenaia) was a multi-day ancient Greek festival held annually in Athens that would always conclude on 28 Hekatombaion, the first month of the Attic calendar.Shear, Julia L. “Hadrian, the Panathenaia, and the Athenian Cal ...

. 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 images of the mythic battle between gods and giants woven into its material and usually consisted of purple and saffron yellow cloth. File:Peplos scene BM EV.JPG, The Panathenaea peplos, from

Parthenon The Parthenon (; grc, Παρθενών, , ; ell, Παρθενώνας, , ) is a former temple on the Athenian Acropolis, Greece, that was dedicated to the goddess Athena during the fifth century BC. Its decorative sculptures are considere ...

frieze File:Istanbul - Museo archeologico - Mostra sul colore nell'antichità 02 - Foto G. Dall'Orto 28-5-2006sm.jpg, The ''

Peplos Kore The Peplos Kore is one of the most well-known examples of Archaic Greek art. Kore is a type of archaic Greek statue that portray a young woman with a stiff posture looking straight forward. Although this statue is one of the most famous examples ...

'', colour reconstruction of statue of c. 530 BC File:Athena Parthenos Louvre Ma91.jpg,

wearing a luxurious peplos, one that uses a lot of fabric, 5th century BC File:Peplofora, Neo-Attic, 50 BC to 50 AD, marble - Galleria Borghese - Rome, Italy - DSC04821.jpg, A wide peplos with the width gathered at the side to be used as sleeves File:Bronze Nike Louvre Br1679.jpg, Nike wearing a peplos on top of a chiton, second quarter of 5th century BC File:Caryatid Erechtheion BM Sc407.jpg, Caryatid from the

Erechtheion The Erechtheion (latinized as Erechtheum /ɪˈrɛkθiəm, ˌɛrɪkˈθiːəm/; Ancient Greek: Ἐρέχθειον, Greek: Ερέχθειο) or Temple of Athena Polias is an ancient Greek Ionic temple-telesterion on the north side of the Acropoli ...

wearing a peplos. Note the blousing, or

kolpos The kolpos (Greek κόλπος, breast) is the ''blousing'' of a peplos, chiton or tunic in Ancient Greek clothing, whereby excess length of the material hangs folded over a zone (a narrow girdle). The fabric of the garment was typically cut lo ...

, over the

zone Zone or The Zone may refer to: Places Climate and altitude zones * Death zone (originally the lethal zone), altitudes above a certain point where the amount of oxygen is insufficient to sustain human life for an extended time span * Frigid zone, ...

File:Danzatrice.JPG, Fastening a peplos File:Peplófora.JPG, Fastened File:Naples Archaeology Museum (5914748008).jpg, Pulling it over the head. Note remnants of red border Image:Terrkottastatue einer Griechin im Mantel 2 Jhdt v Chr.jpg, Woman wearing the fold of her peplos over her head, 2nd century BC File:Statuette of a female figure (5th cent. B.C.) in the National Archaeological Museum of Athens on 28 September 2018.jpg, Wearing a peplos over a chiton, a later style

References

External links

PeplosPeplum dresses
{{Historical clothing, state=expanded Greek clothing Religious clothing Athena

Rituals

See also

References

External links