Search

[German version] (πέτασος; pétasos). Greek hat made of felt with a wide brim, also referred to as a 'Thessalian hat' because of its origin (Soph. OC 313); it was worn by women and men who spent a lot of time outdoors (fishermen, herdsmen/women, hunters) or who were travelling; amongst the most best-known mythological petasos wearers were Hermes, Peleus, Perseus, Oedipus and Theseus. Additional wearers are - more rarely - chariot riders (Athen. 5,200f.), horsemen (e.g. on the Parthenon freeze) and the Attic ephebes ( ephēbeía ). The petasos was firmly retained by a strap that was p…

(Ἑλικών; Helikṓn). [German version] [1] Mountain range in central Greece Mountain range in central Greece, dividing the Copais Basin and the upper Cephissos Valley from the Gulf of Corinth (cf. Str. 9,2,25; Paus. 9,28,1-31,7). The western part of the H. belonged to Phocis and the eastern part to Boeotia. The highest elevation is the peak of the Palaiovouno (1,748 m). Few passes lead over the H., which is rich in springs and forests and was famed for its herbs. The H. has large areas that were used in anti…

[German version] (also mastruga). Sardian word (Quint. Inst. 1,5) for a close-fitting garment made of (sheep)skin, sleeveless and reaching down to the upper thighs. The Romans considered those who wore it to be uncivilised (Cic. Scaur. 45d; Cic. Prov. cons. 15), thus Alaricus in: Prud. in Symm. 1,659f. In Plaut. Poen. 1310-1313 it is also used as a term of abuse. Hurschmann, Rolf (Hamburg)

[German version] I. Typology To create a typology of the kiss in antiquity seems rather difficult, given its many specifications, of which the erotic kiss represents no more than a single facet. Existing approaches barely go beyond collections of material [1; 2; 3]. As far as tradition permits, two main categories can be distinguished: formal kisses (in politics; client relations; cult, religion) and private kisses (in family, kinship, friendship; love relations). Within these main categories and th…

[German version] (πέταλον; pétalon). Ancient term uncommon in archaeological terminology; in Greek originally the ‘leaf or foliage of a tree’ (Hom. Il. 2,312; Od. 19,520), in Bacchyl. 5,186 the Olympian wreath of the wild olive, in the 2nd cent. BC at the latest considered to be the artificial metal leaves of a golden  wreath. In Roman sources brattea is used to describe a thin metal foil, mostly silver or gold for gilding objects, also veneers of precious wood (Plin. HN 16,232) or tortoiseshell (Mart. 9,59,9), but mostly gold leaf or gold foil is mea…

[German version] (Greek τὰ ἔπιπλα/ tà épipla, ἡ σκευή/ hē skeuḗ; Latin supellex, instrumentum). Household equipment (HE) comprises the objects that are needed in daily life and that constitute the majority of moveable belongings; this includes primarily  furniture, cooking utensils and kitchen crockery, lighting devices,  carpets,  blankets, and in a wider sense also  jewellery and  clothing, furthermore, according to current understanding, objects belonging to the sphere of immovables, e.g. the doors and ro…

[German version] Originally a Roman tray, then a stand or centrepiece used to arrange and serve food for a course (Petron. Sat. 33; 40; 49), introduced probably at the beginning of the 1st cent. BC as luxury tableware. The repositorium could have simple, round or rectangular form, but it could also have several levels and be of considerable height; it was also decorated with figures (Petron. Sat. 36), veneered with valuable woods and fitted with silver on the corners and edges (Plin. HN 33,146). Carrying away the repositorium while a guest was still drinking was considered a bad o…

[German version] Attic vase painter of the geometric period (late geometric I b, after 750 BC;  Geometric vase painting), named after Gustav Hirschfeld (1847-1897), who first described the main work excavated in 1870, the so-called Hirschfeld Krater (Athens, NM Inv. no. 990) [1; 2]. The Hirschfeld Painter (HP) and his workshop worked in the tradition of the  Dipylon Painter and had a preference for monumental kraters of which the eponymous krater and a further one in New York (MMA Inv. no. 14.130.…

[German version] (διάδημα; diádēma). The term was originally used to describe all bands worn round the head; different from  wreath. The diadema decorates, consecrates and raises its wearer above others; in this way diademata are symbols of dignity, particularly in cult; to this belong the ‘bust crowns’ or the ‘griffin diadema’ of the priests and deities; of a religious nature are also the ribbon-, gable- and rhomboid-shaped ‘ diademata of the dead’ that from the Mycenaean period onwards (shaft tomb IV, Mycenae) in many cases adorn the forehead of the deceased a…

[German version] (φορεῖον/ phoreîon; Latin lectica, sella sc. gestatoria, portatoria). The litter as a means of conveyance has been known in the Orient since earliest times; in Greece it is first mentioned in the 4th cent. BC (Din. 1,36); in Hellenism it is a luxury item (Ath. 5,195c; 212c; Diod. Sic. 31,8,12). We cannot determine when the litter was introduced to the Roman empire but it was in general use from the 2nd cent. BC (cf. Liv. 43,7,5; Gell. NA 10,3,51); its excessive utilization in Rome already compelled Caesar to limit its use in the …

(πέπλος; péplos). [German version] [1] Blanket, cloth, or shroud Blanket, cloth, or shroud (Hom. Il. 24,796; Eur. Tro. 627, cf. Eur. Hec. 432); later, women's outer garment or coat (Hom. Il. 5,734; Hom. Od. 18,292, cf. Xen. Cyr. 5,1,6). In the myth, the Trojan women place a peplos on the knees of the cult image of seated Athena (Hom. Il. 6,303). Peplos is also the term used for esp. magnificent robes, above all for the dress of Hera of Olympia which was newly woven every four years by 16 women (Paus. 5,16) and for that of Athena Polias in Athens, which wa…

[German version] It is safe to assume that the dress worn at private and public festivals differed in colour or adornment from everyday wear; women in  Sybaris, for example, who were to partake in one of the municipal festivities, received a year's notice in order to prepare their attire accordingly (Ath. 12,521c; Plut. Mor. 147e). A public appearance called for a clean attire (cf. Pl. Symp. 174a). On some festive occasions, a cloak was worn, referred to as ξυστίς ( xystís) (Aristoph. Lys. 1190, Nub. 70; Theoc. 2,74; Plut. Alcibiades 32,2). The ‘Phoenician’ red chitons, wor…

(Greek ταινία/ tainía). Term for bindings of all kinds. [German version] [1] Headband for festivals (Head)band, worn at Greek festivals (Pl. Symp. 212d.e, 213d; Xen. Symp. 5,9). Even gods wore, or bound their heads with, tainiai. (Paus. 1,8,4). Furthermore, cult images (Paus. 8,31,8; 10,35,10), trees (Theocr. 18,44), monuments [3], urns, sacrificial animals and deceased (Lucian, Dial. mort. 13,4) had tainiai wound round them. The Romans adopted tainiai from the Greeks (e.g. Ov. Met. 8,724 f.). As a sign of a victor and of success (Paus. 4,16,6; 6,20,10; 9,22,3…

[German version] (ἡ τύλη, τὸ κνέφαλλον, Lat. cervical, pulvinus). Cushions were used to assure comfort when sitting or lying on chairs, klines (Petron. Sat. 32), in litters (Juv. 6,353) or when lying directly on the ground. Floor cushions were also offered for comfort at the circus (Mart. 14,160). The materials used for cushions included linen, wool or leather, which were often beautifully decorated. Straw, hay, reeds, eelgrass or bulrushes (Ov. Met. 8,655) as well as flocks of wool were used as filling…

[German version] [1] Bellows (φῦσα / phŷsa, bellows). The blacksmith's tool already mentioned in Homer (Il. 18, 372; 412; 468-70) is associated in Greek art in particular with  Hephaestus (Siphnian Treasury, Delphi), but rarely appears in depictions of workshops. There were two (Hdt. I 68) or more (Hom. Il. 18,468-470) folles in a workshop. In Roman art the follis is also depicted relatively rarely; on a blacksmith's gravestone in Aquileia (Mus. inv. no. 166) the worker at the follis holds a protective shield in front of himself; a fresco in the house of the Vettii in Po…

[German version] (τρόπα; trópa). Greek children's games with astragaloi (Astragalos [2]), nuts, etc. (Poll. 9,103; schol.  Pl. Ly. 206e); in consisted in throwing one's own astragalos (or nut, etc.) in such a way that it moved one's opponent's astragalos from its position. In a variant of the game one had to try to drop an astragalos into a small pit in the ground. Tropa was probably also played by young Romans (Mart. 4,14,9). Connected with the game of tropa is Polyclitus' [1] group, known only from literature, known as the 'Boys Playing at Knucklebones' (Plin. HN 34,55)…

[German version] The Campanian vases (CV) of the 5th-4th cents. BC were made of a light brown clay and the surface often painted with a red-coloured coating. Artists generally preferred smaller vessels, besides these as the main shape, strap-handled amphora, also hydriae and bell craters; only seldom do pelike types appear ( Pottery, shapes and types of, vessel shapes with fig.). Characteristics attributed to  Apulian vase painting such as volute and column craters, loutrophoroi, rhyta or nestorid…

(Πύθων/ Pýthōn). [German version] [1] Dragon killed by Apollo near Delphi An enormous dragon killed by Apollo near Delphi with his arrows. The oldest version of the story is offered by H. Hom. 3,300-374: Apollo overcomes a female dragon who perpetrates her mischief in the vicinity of Delphi and into whose care Hera had given her son Typhon (Typhoeus, Typhon). The town and the god receive the nickname Pythṓ (cf. also the name of the female seer at Delphi, Pythía [1]) from its decaying (πύθεσθαι/ pýthesthai) corpse. According to Eur. IT 1245-1252, the dragon is male and guards the…

[German version] Probably the simplest and most effective way of advertising a product or announcing something was shouting aloud in market-places and streets (cf. propaganda). Moreover, the geographical origin of a product spoke for its quality; there is, for instance, a tradition of formulations such as 'Tarentine' or 'Amorgian cloth', 'Chian wine', 'Falernian wine', etc. as a seal of approval or a mark of quality. Advertising could also occur in a written form on the walls of buildings (Graffiti), in letters, epigrams, etc. In contrast to commercial advertising are the kalo…

[German version] (παραγαύδης; paragaúdēs). Descriptive term first recorded only in the 3rd cent. AD for a gold or purple border in the form of the Greek letter gamma (Γ), which was woven into garments (SHA Claud. 17,6). Later also transferred to a particular garment ( paragaúdion) made from fine silk material, similar in style to a sleeved chiton, which Roman emperors gave as an award of honour, decorated with at least one and up to five of these borders depending on distinction and service (SHA Aurelian. 15,4,46; SHA Probus 4,5). For that…