In his account of the assumption of the Ionic dress by the Athenians, Herodotus speaks only of the women; but we know that it was worn by men also, partly from the evidence of the monuments and partly from Thucydides, who tells us[107] that not long previously to the time at which he is writing the elder men of the wealthy classes gave up wearing linen chitons and fastening their hair with the τέττιξ, “cicala,” a luxurious mode of dress common to them and their kinsfolk the Ionians. The Ionic dress was probably discarded by the Athenians shortly after the outbreak of the Persian war, when a reaction set in against Orientalism and a tendency towards greater simplicity began to manifest itself; Thucydides is writing more than a generation after the Persian wars, but his expression, οὐ πολὺς χρόνος, “no great length of time,” is sufficiently vague, and he probably recollected the change which took place in his youthful days; moreover, he speaks only of the elder men of the wealthy classes, who would naturally be of conservative tendencies and the last to adopt any change in their mode of life or dress. The exact period at which the Athenians adopted the Ionic dress is unknown; the Æginetan expedition of 568 B.C., of which Herodotus makes use in dating the change, is too late, for we know that already in Solon’s days luxury in dress had reached such a pitch as to necessitate the passing of a sumptuary law to regulate it, and such luxury could hardly have been reached so long as the simple Doric dress was retained. It may not be unreasonable to assume, then, that constant intercourse with the Ionians in the islands on the coast of Asia Minor led the Athenians to adopt their dress at some time towards the end of the seventh century.
Fig. 25.—Vase-painting from Lucania—British Museum.
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The Ionic chiton differed from the Doric in length, material, and method of fastening. We read in Homer already of the Ἰάωνες ἑλκεχίτωνες, “long-robed Ionians,” and Pollux tells us of the λινοῦς χιτών ὅν Ἀθηναίοι ἐφόρουν ποδήρη, καὶ αὖθις Ἴωνες,[108] “the linen tunic which the Athenians wore reaching to the feet, and the Ionians too.” This χιτών ποδήρης is a long chiton reaching to the feet; that its material was linen is testified by Thucydides and Pollux, as well as other writers.[109] The story of Herodotus shows that its fastening was different from that of the Doric, since the Athenian women were forced to adopt it, ἱνα δὴ περόνῃσι μὴ χρεώνται, “so as not to need brooches.” This expression is usually taken to mean that the characteristic difference between the Doric and Ionic chitons is, that the Doric is fastened by means of pins or brooches, the Ionic is always sewn on the shoulders. That this is not invariably the case is proved by many examples both in sculpture and vase-painting, where a chiton is represented, which, from its length and fulness and the fine texture of its material, is clearly Ionic, but which is not sewn on the shoulders, but fastened together down the upper arm by a series of small round brooches; this fastening forms a kind of loose sleeve which reaches frequently to the elbow. It is the formation of this sleeve, whether sewn or pinned, which, apart from size or material, distinguishes the Ionic from the Doric chiton, which is sleeveless. The Ionic chiton in its simplest form is cylindrical in shape, and varies considerably in length, but is always longer than the height of the wearer; the superfluous length is drawn up through the girdle to form a kolpos, which varies in depth according to the length of the chiton. The Mænad vase of Hieron gives a good idea of the size to which this kolpos sometimes attained.[110] Being made of a fine linen material, the Ionic chiton is naturally fuller than the coarser woollen Doric garment, and its folds are consequently more numerous and more delicate; it is the greater width of the garment which necessitates the formation of the sleeve, as a single fastening from the shoulder would leave too great a mass of material hanging down under the arms. The sleeve is made by joining the two top edges of the garment together and gathering them up so as to form regular folds; an opening is left in the middle for the neck and one at each end for the arms. The arm-holes were probably not formed, as some believe, by lateral openings in the side-seams, since this method produces a clumsy effect in practice; and moreover, in many vase-paintings[111] the ornamental border which runs along the neck and upper arm passes also round the arms without being continued down the side, which shows that it was embroidered or woven along the top edge of the chiton before the sleeves were made.
Fig. 26.
A diagram will best show how the sleeves were formed, and the position of the openings for neck and arms: ab represents the upper edge of the chiton, along which a border is frequently woven or embroidered; ef represents the space for the neck, through which the head is thrust; ad and bc represent the arm-holes, which hang down parallel to the wearer’s sides when the arms are held down in a normal position; the side-seams ag and bh are sewn along their whole length; the distances de fc are joined and gathered to form the full sleeve. The fulness is frequently held close to the figure by the addition of cross-bands, either crossing both in front and behind and attached to the girdle at the sides, or crossing only at the back and passing round the front of the shoulders. A very excellent sculptured representation of this, the simplest form of the Ionic chiton, is to be found in the famous Delphi charioteer, where the gathering of the sleeves is very clearly marked.[112] In cases where the sleeve is not sewn, the spaces de and fc are joined by a series of brooches, varying in number from four to six on each side. The fulness is produced by taking up a little group of folds at each fastening and leaving the spaces between quite plain; the two edges are usually parted in these spaces, so as to show the arm through. These groups of folds are perhaps more effective than the continuous row of gathers which we get with the sewn sleeve. The Euxitheos vase reproduced above[113] will furnish an illustration of the chiton with pinned sleeves. A short chiton, with sleeves pinned in several places, was frequently worn by men, as is proved by many vase-paintings. We sometimes find women represented wearing a full chiton without overfold, fastened only once on each shoulder, like the Doric dress. This is one of the many modifications which the Ionic dress underwent when introduced into the mainland of Greece. We frequently find on vases figures in rapid motion wearing the long Ionic chiton with many folds, represented by fine close lines, in which the lower edge of the chiton in front is drawn up to an angle on one or often more places. It was supposed by Böhlau[114] that this was meant to indicate that the garment had been cut at the bottom in a series of points. The object of this cutting is difficult to see, and on examination it will be found that wherever the lower edge of the chiton is so drawn up, immediately above it the kolpos hangs down deeper over the girdle; the figures are usually in rapid motion, and the lower edge of the back of the garment, which shows behind the feet, is represented by a continuous curve, without being drawn up anywhere.[115] It is obvious, then, that the artist intended to indicate that the wearer had drawn the dress up through the girdle, so as not to impede progress. Anyone who has ever moved about freely wearing a chiton of this kind, will know that unless the girdle is uncomfortably tight the dress has a habit of slipping down, so that it is necessary to pull it up sometimes, so as to prevent treading on it in front.
Fig. 27.—The Delphi Charioteer.