On many of the monuments of the Pheidian period and the time immediately preceding it, we find that the Doric peplos is worn alone or with a small cloak or shawl laid on the shoulders and hanging down the back, as in the case of the maidens carrying sacrificial vessels on the Parthenon frieze. This small shawl was perhaps worn more for ornament than for the sake of warmth, and an ample peplos of warm woollen material might be found sufficient protection.
It may be objected that in the majority of the examples chosen as illustrations the himation is worn not over the Doric peplos, but over the Ionic chiton, and it has indeed been sometimes regarded as an element of the Ionic dress rather than of the Doric.
It does, however, appear over the Doric peplos, e.g., in [Fig. 18] and on many black-figured Attic vases,[96] and it is not difficult to trace its development from the Homeric κρήδεμνον worn symmetrically over the head and shoulders. It is an easy step in advance to throw one end of the cloak over the opposite shoulder, push it back off the head, and bring one arm out free instead of letting it remain covered. [Fig. 15] might serve to illustrate an intermediate stage between those represented in Figs. [14] and [17].
An attempt will be made later to show that the Ionic himation was fastened with brooches, and had a different development. The wearing of the unpinned himation over the Ionic chiton is an instance of the blending of Doric and Ionic dress.
The Doric dress of men was similar to that of women, both with regard to under-dress and cloak. The name χιτών is used for the under-dress, as it was in Homer, the word peplos being restricted to women’s garments. The outer garment of men as well as of women is called the himation.
The Doric men’s chiton is fastened by brooches on the shoulders and girt in at the waist. It was a short garment reaching midway down the thighs, or to a distance just above the knees, had no overfold, and was narrower than the women’s peplos. No kolpos was worn, there being no superfluous length to dispose of. The side was sewn up so that the garment before being pinned was cylindrical in shape. This somewhat scanty garment was the only one worn by slaves, and men engaged in active pursuits and workmen frequently wore it fastened only on one shoulder, leaving the other bare and the arm quite free. When worn in this way it was called the χιτὼν ἔξωμις or ἑτερομάσχαλος; the god Hephaistos is usually represented wearing it in this way in his capacity as craftsman. We learn from Pollux, vii., 47, that the ἔξωμις was a περιβλῆμα as well as an ἔνδυμα, from which we may gather that a small cloak was sometimes worn fastened on one shoulder and girt round the waist, but left unsewn down the side. [Fig. 19] represents the χιτὼν ἔξωμις.
Representations of Amazons and of Artemis the huntress are frequent, wearing the χιτὼν ἔξωμις; but in these cases it is usually a longer garment than that worn by men, and its superfluous length is drawn up over the girdle, forming a pouch; and then a second girdle is worn over this to prevent it from flapping in the wind. The Amazons of the Mausoleum frieze wear the short Doric dress without overfold and unsewn down the side; this, however, is perhaps merely a device on the part of the sculptor to afford an opportunity of displaying the physical forms, as well as the drapery. Various references in literature show that the Spartan women wore more scanty clothing than the Athenians; they are described as μονοχίτων, “wearing a single garment,” and we learn from Pausanias that the girls who competed in the running races at Olympia wore the short χιτὼν ἔξωμις. As monumental testimony to the truth of this statement, we have the statue of a girl runner in the Vatican Museum.
Fig. 19.—Bronze Statuette—British Museum.
[Face page 53.