As early as the beginning of the fifth century we find the two styles becoming confused and mingled together. The Doric peplos is worn as an over-dress over the Ionic chiton, even by one of the “Maidens” of the Acropolis, and later on the commonest form of outdoor dress for women was the Ionic chiton with the Doric himation over it. This combination appears in the so-called Fates of the Parthenon pediment. Frequently we find this blending of the two styles in a single garment; we find also on vases the overgirt Doric peplos with sleeves formed by a number of brooches;[140] and again, with cross-bands, which belong properly to the Ionic chiton.[141] Some authorities, pinning their faith entirely to Herodotus, consider that the brooch is an element which belongs strictly only to the Doric dress; they therefore regard the chiton with pinned sleeves as a mixture of the two. An over-garment not very simple in form, which can be regarded as neither Doric nor Ionic, but a mixture of both, is illustrated by [Fig. 38]. Kalkmann regards it as a number of overfolds or flounces sewn separately on to the chiton. It seems more reasonable, however, to regard the part of the dress which appears on the arms and at the feet, and which is made of a plain material, as the chiton, and the rest which is ornamented with a pattern, as a separate over-garment. This garment has three edges, at the waist, hips, and ankles, so that it is obviously not merely an ordinary rectangular himation, nor a simple Doric peplos with overfold. It seems simplest to explain it as a Doric peplos with deep overfold, ungirt, having a short false overfold to the waist sewn on over the real one at the neck. Such over-garments never occur in sculpture and only rarely on the vases, and may possibly be an error or invention on the part of the vase-painter; if commonly worn, they would probably be more frequently represented in art.
Fig. 38.—Vase-painting—Dress with two Overfolds.
[Face page 96.
VI
MATERIALS AND ORNAMENTATION
The fabrics in use for Greek dresses presented considerable variety. The commonest materials were naturally woollen, but linen and silk were used for more luxurious garments, and a kind of leather jerkin known as διφθέρα[142] was sometimes worn by peasants.
That the woollen materials used themselves varied considerably in texture, is proved by some fragments actually found in a tomb at Kertch in the Crimea, and published in the Comptes rendus in 1878. These date for the most part from the fourth century B.C., but one at least probably goes back to the fifth century. They are in most cases rather loosely woven, so that the separate threads are clearly visible, and a bright object could be seen through the material. The oldest piece is composed of such fine threads that it is almost transparent; other pieces have a texture not unlike that of woollen crêpe. A somewhat coarser piece, the threads of which are very strong, has a portion of a seam remaining, which is oversewn with strong woollen thread. In addition to very finely woven woollen materials, the more luxurious of the Greeks wore also many varieties of linen, and in some cases even silk. Pollux tells us that the long linen chiton was worn by the Athenians and Ionians, and many references are to be found in ancient literature to different kinds of linen, coming from places usually in Asia or the more easterly of the Ægean islands. Of these the most commonly mentioned are ἀμόργινα, garments made of linen from the flax of Amorgos, and βύσσινα, made of βύσσος, a yellowish kind of flax, coming especially from India and Egypt. We learn from Aristophanes[143] that the χιτώνιον ἀμόργινον was transparent, so that we may conclude that the linen from which it was made was very fine indeed; perhaps it resembled a very fine cambric. That βύσσος was a linen of some kind, we are told by Pausanias,[144] and Pollux gives us the information that it came from India. That it was known in Egypt also, is testified by Herodotus,[145] who tells us of its use for mummy-cloths. It was probably rather a mark of luxury when worn by the Greeks, for Simætha[146] tells us that she wore a χιτών of it when going out on a festive occasion.
Of materials which come under the heading of silk, three kinds were known to the ancients. We read in Latin authors of vestes coæ, bombycinæ, and sericæ, and these were also known to the Greeks. Aristotle[147] is the first of the ancient writers who tells us anything of the production of silk. After describing the various changes undergone by the worm before becoming a moth, he gives us the following information:—
Ἐκ δὲ τούτου τοῦ ζῴου καὶ τὰ βουβύκια ἀναλύουσι τῶν γυναικῶν τινές ἀναπηνιζόμεναι, κἄπειτα ὑφαίνουσιν· πρώτη δὲ λέγεται ὑφῆναι ἐν Κῷ Παμφίλη Πλάτεω θυγάτηρ.