Ancient Greek Dress

Textiles comprise a vast and wide category of material culture and constitute a crucial part of the ancient economy. Yet, studies of classical antiquity still often leave out this important category of material culture, partly due to the textiles themselves being only rarely preserved in the archaeological record. This neglect is also prevalent in scholarship on ancient Greek religion and ritual, although it is one of the most vibrant and rapidly developing branches of classical scholarship. The aim of the present enquiry is, therefore, to introduce textiles into the study of ancient Greek religion and thereby illuminate the roles textiles played in the performance of Greek ritual and their wider consequences.

Among the questions posed are how and where we can detect the use of textiles in the sanctuaries, and how they were used in rituals including their impact on the performance of these rituals and the people involved. Chapters centre on three themes: first, the dedication of textiles and clothing accessories in Greek sanctuaries is investigated through a thorough examination of the temple inventories. Second, the use of textiles to dress ancient cult images is explored. The examination of Hellenistic and Roman copies of ancient cult images from Asia Minor as well as depictions of cult images in vase-painting in collocation with written sources illustrates the existence of this particular ritual custom in ancient Greece. Third, the existence of dress codes in the Greek sanctuaries is addressed through an investigation of the existence of particular attire for ritual personnel as well as visitors to the sanctuaries with the help of iconography and written sources.

By merging the study of Greek religion and the study of textiles, the current study illustrates how textiles are, indeed, central materialisations of Greek cult, by reason of their capacity to accentuate and epitomize aspects of identity, spirituality, position in the religious system, by their forms as links between the maker, user, wearer, but also as key material agents in the performance of rituals and communication with the divine.

Mangeot, Mathieu ; Tutin, Agnès (dir.) (2020), Lexique(s) et genre(s) textuel(s) : approches sur corpus. Actes de la conférence 11e Journées du réseau "Lexicologie, Terminologie, Traduction", Editions des archives contemporaines, France, ISBN : 9782813003454, 361p., doi: https://doi.org/10.17184/eac.9782813003454
https://eac.ac/books/9782813003454

How to cite this article:
Pour citer cet article :
Roche, Christophe ; Papadopoulou, Maria (2020), «Définition ontologique du terme. Le cas des vêtements de la Grèce antique», in Mangeot, Mathieu ; Tutin, Agnès (dir.), Lexique(s) et genre(s) textuel(s) : approches sur corpus. Actes de la conférence 11e Journées du réseau "Lexicologie, Terminologie, Traduction"., Editions des archives contemporaines, France, ISBN : 9782813003454, pp. 161-174, doi : https://doi.org/10.17184/eac.2916

doi :https://doi.org/10.17184/eac.2916
Reçu le :
15/01/2020
Accepté le :
15/01/2020
Paru le :
01/12/2020
Folio Début :
161
Folio Fin :
174

Fashionable in Britain in the early nineteenth century, Neoclassical dress embodied the aesthetic ideals of the Enlightenment ; but it also reflected implicit cultural constructs of the body, gender, status, and race. Borrowings from ancient Greek styles differed for women and for men, and for elites versus the lower classes. The production of Neoclassical garments was dependent upon the economic exploitation of the Indian subcontinent. Neo-classical dress was not purely an aesthetic choice; it was essential for the individual negotiation of social and cultural differences in the British Empire.