We must now turn to a consideration of the Ionic dress, which Herodotus tells us was adopted by the Athenian women in the sixth century B.C. According to his account, it was Carian in its origin; our knowledge of the Carians is somewhat vague and indefinite. We learn from Thucydides[103] that they originally inhabited the Cyclades, but were driven out by Minos of Crete; and a little later on[104] he speaks of them, together with the Phoenicians, as islanders who practised piracy. Herodotus[105] gives a slightly different account, saying that the Carian inhabitants of the islands were subjected by Minos and used by him to man his ships, and were not driven out until later by the Dorian and Ionian immigrants. He also mentions the belief of the Carians themselves that they were autochthonous in Caria, and attributes to them various inventions afterwards adopted by the Greeks. According to Thucydides, their method of burying the dead seems to have differed from that of the Greeks; and from the various accounts of the two historians, we may gather that their race was different, although possibly they were soon hellenized by their Ionian neighbours. If, as Herodotus tells us, the Greeks adopted some Carian inventions, it is not unlikely that they may also have adopted the Carian dress, or at least may have modified their own by assuming some Carian elements.[106]

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 t?tt??, “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, ?? p???? ??????, “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.

The Ionic chiton differed from the Doric in length, material, and method of fastening. We read in Homer already of the ????e? ???e??t??e?, “long-robed Ionians,” and Pollux tells us of the ?????? ??t?? ?? ????a??? ?f????? p?d???, ?a? a???? ???e?,[108] “the linen tunic which the Athenians wore reaching to the feet, and the Ionians too.” This ??t?? p?d???? 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, ??a d? pe????s? ? ??e??ta?, “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.

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.

A feature of the Ionic chiton not very easy to understand is the overfold, which occurs very frequently, especially in vase-paintings of the severe red-figured class; it is not a normal feature of the Ionic chiton, and may very possibly have been added by the Athenian women when they adopted the dress, since they had always been accustomed to wearing it with the Doric peplos. The view that Herodotus (v., 87) is wrong, and that the Athenian women never wore the Doric dress at all, is hardly tenable in the face of such evidence as the FranÇois vase and others like it, which are certainly of Attic workmanship.

The Ionic chiton with overfold is really, then, an instance of the blending of the two types of dress, which later became so complete that it is frequently difficult to decide whether a particular garment should more correctly be called Doric or Ionic.

In some instances the overfold of the Ionic chiton is formed in exactly the same way as that of the Doric dress, only it is frequently shorter: it is turned over before the garment is put on, then back and front are fastened together along the arm, either by sewing or by brooches. In this latter case the only distinction from the Doric dress, in addition to those of size and material, is that instead of being pinned only once on each shoulder, and so being sleeveless, it is pinned along from shoulder to elbow, so as to form sleeves. An example of this is to be seen in a figure of Aphrodite from a vase-painting in Paris reproduced by Miss Harrison.[116] This style of dress, with the sleeves sewn instead of pinned, is found on the first of the so-called Fates of the Parthenon pediment, and on one of the Nereids from the Nereid monument, on a torso at Epidaurus, and on many vase-paintings. Although not always represented in art, shoulder-cords or cross-bands were probably actually worn with this dress, as a general rule, since without some such contrivance it would slip inconveniently.

A type of dress very commonly found on vases is that which has full sleeves to the elbow and an overfold covering the chest and back, and passing under the arms without covering the sleeves, as was the case in the chiton described above. The MÆnads on the famous Hieron vase are represented wearing this kind of dress, and numerous examples could be quoted from other vase-paintings.[117] Some such effect might be produced with the ordinary cylindrical-shaped chiton with overfold, if shoulder-bands were worn such as those worn by the Delphi Charioteer and by one of the so-called Fates of the east pediment of the Parthenon; but in actual practice such an arrangement would produce a somewhat clumsy mass of folds under the arm, and could not be managed at all unless the overfold were considerably deeper than that usually represented on the vases. We must look, therefore, for some other explanation; and it will not be far to seek, if we allow the Ionian women and their Athenian imitators a freer use of scissors and needle than their Doric sisters were accustomed to make. A close examination of the monuments will show that although the sleeve of the Ionic chiton was frequently formed in the manner described above, yet in a very large number of cases, in almost all of which the overfold is present, the sleeve is more like our modern notion of a sleeve—that is to say, it fits closer to the arm, as though shaped to some extent, while the rest of the garment fits closer to the figure. The vase-painter Brygos is fond of depicting women in this kind of dress: the accompanying illustration[118] is taken from his representation of Hera and Iris pursued by Silenoi. This dress is obviously not composed simply of a cylindrical piece of material folded over at the top and fastened on the arms, for the rather deep overfold leaves the sleeves quite free, and covers only the body of the wearer. This effect could be produced in two ways, in both of which, however, the sleeve-pieces must be sewn in separately. In the first method, we may suppose that two rectangular pieces of material are taken, equal in size and shape, represented in the diagram as abcd.

These are sewn together along the sides up to the points e and f at a distance of about 5 feet from the lower edge; when the dress is worn, these points will come immediately under the arms. We may next suppose that two rectangular pieces of material measuring about 18 by 20 inches are taken for the sleeves; these are folded double, so that the longer sides lie upon each other, and then sewn on to the body of the chiton at the points f, h, g, and e, so that the fold lies in the position indicated by the lines fl and el' in the diagram; the openings kl and k'l' will form the arm-holes; that part of the chiton abgh which still extends above the sleeve-pieces is then folded over, so that it hangs down in the position gha'b'. The line kk' now represents the upper edges of the garment, which are fastened together (leaving the space mn for the neck) either by sewing and gathering or by groups of folds held in place by a series of brooches. The front and back part of the overfold would then hang down separately, but they could be joined together under the arms, provided that the space round the shoulder were left free for the arm to pass through into the sleeve.

The second method of making this dress is nothing but a modification of the first. It consists of taking two smaller rectangles in the first place, ghcd, to form the body of the chiton; two pieces abgh are sewn on back and front, after the sleeve-pieces, to form a sort of false overfold, which will have exactly the same effect as if it were in one piece with the rest of the chiton.

It is possible to conceive of the sleeve-pieces being originally in one piece with the rest of the chiton, which would then be a dress composed of two cross-shaped pieces of material sewn together along the edges dfl and cel'; it is more reasonable to suppose, however, that the sleeve-pieces were sewn on separately. That such sleeve-pieces were attached to the ordinary Ionic chiton without overfold seems likely from many vase-paintings. The addition of sleeves was certainly not unfamiliar to the Greeks, for we find slaves wearing a narrow, ungirt chiton, with tight sleeves reaching to the wrists. A familiar example of this is to be found in Hegeso’s attendant on the well-known grave relief in Athens. In an inscription, dating from the middle of the fourth century,[119] and recording a large number of garments dedicated to Artemis Brauronia, the expression ?e???d?t?? occurs, which can only mean “sleeved.” In the same inscription special mention is frequently made of the fact that the chiton, or ??t???s???, is ?p?a?s??, “oblong,” from which we may infer that it was not always so. Now, the ordinary simple Ionic chiton would be oblong in shape when not worn, so that we may take the others, which are not described as oblong, to be chitons with separate sleeve-pieces attached.

The false overfold was sometimes attached also to the simple cylindrical Ionic chiton. In these cases it covered the chest only, leaving the arms covered only by the sleeves; it was probably simply sewn on at the neck in front only. Kalkmann has collected and stated the evidence for this false overfold to the chiton in an article in the Jahrbuch, vol. xi., where he shows that it was sometimes applied to the over-garment also. Very clear examples of it are to be seen in some of the archaic female statues on the Acropolis at Athens, especially in those cases where the himation is worn like a shawl over both shoulders.[120]

That the long Ionic chiton with sleeves was worn by men as well as women, is abundantly evident from the monuments. On the vases, Zeus and Dionysus and other gods are almost invariably represented wearing it; and in sculpture also, kings, priests, and others are represented so dressed. Together with the himation, it probably constituted a sort of state dress for priests and other officials, even after it had been discarded for daily use, as being too luxurious.

A short chiton, with or without sleeves, and made of some fine material, is to be found on the vases worn by men engaged in active pursuits. It sometimes has an overfold; although, with the long chiton, this feature is usually confined to women. A good example of the men’s short chiton with overfold is to be seen on the vase of Brygos representing the exploits of Theseus.

The cross-bands and shoulder-cords already mentioned are, strictly speaking, an element of the Ionic chiton, though they are sometimes represented in art over the Doric peplos. Their object is to hold the ample folds of the full chiton close to the figure, and to prevent the sleeves from slipping or flapping about with every movement of the wearer. The cross-bands are usually attached to the girdle and can be of one piece with it; their place is sometimes taken by a second girdle, worn rather high over the kolpos, as is the case with the Artemis of Gabii reproduced below (Fig. 37).

This high girdle was known as the ta???a, or ?p?d?s??, whereas the low girdle was called pe????a. A broad band, known as the st??f???, was sometimes worn by women under the breasts, to serve the purpose of modern corsets.[121]

A word or two must be said about the diminutives of ??t??—namely, ??t?????, ??t???????, and ??t???s???. We should naturally expect the words to mean a small or short chiton, but this does not seem always to be the case. The ??t????? and ??t??????? are frequently described as d?afa???, “transparent,”[122] and Eustathius (iii., 1166) explains the words as referring to a fine and luxurious dress worn by women. In the inscription to Artemis Brauronia[123] we read more than once of a ??t????? ????????—that is, a garment made of linen from Amorgos, which we know was very fine and expensive; we may infer, then, that the diminutives ??t????? and ??t??????? refer to fineness of material rather than to shortness of cut. The case of the ??t???s??? is somewhat different; it is not referred to as being transparent, and is usually described in the inscription cited above as being very ornate. Women are frequently represented on vases[124] wearing over the long Ionic chiton a short and sometimes very ornate garment, which cannot be described as a himation. Possibly this short over-chiton is the garment indicated by the name ??t???s???.[125] A similar garment was worn by musicians over the long ungirt chiton (????st?d???).[126] Another instance of a special dress worn for a special purpose is the costume worn by actors; it had long sleeves, and was probably padded to complete the impression of increased size produced by the high masks and buskins.

The himation worn over the Ionic chiton presents considerable variety of shape and arrangement. In very many cases we find that the Doric himation is worn, whether over both shoulders or only over one. In the Harpy monument, where we might have looked for Ionic dress in its purest form, we find the Doric himation worn over the fine linen-sleeved chiton, and on very many of the red-figured vases of the severe style this is the case. There is one set of monuments, however, which may be considered as Ionic in origin, or at least of Ionizing tendencies, where a far less simple garment takes the place of the Doric himation. This set includes the archaic female statues and flying victories of the Acropolis Museum at Athens, and a large number of small painted terra-cotta statuettes in the same museum, the sculptures of the Treasury of the Cnidians at Delphi, and a number of other statues and reliefs from Athens, Eleusis, Delos, and elsewhere. The dress presents a somewhat complicated appearance at first sight, and has given rise to a considerable amount of discussion. The following section is based upon a careful study of the original monuments and of the literature already written on the subject.