The manner of wearing the hair seems to have varied considerably at different periods, both for men and women. In pre-Hellenic times it was, for the most part, if not invariably, allowed to grow long. On the frescoes from Knossos we find the cupbearer and other male figures represented wearing their hair in long, wavy tresses reaching to the waist or thereabouts. On MycenÆan gems and rings, where warriors are represented wearing helmets, the hair is frequently concealed, so that it is impossible to determine whether it was worn short or bound up in some manner, so as to be out of the way. The ivory statuettes of athletes from Knossos have long hair,[162] so that in all probability that was the prevailing fashion among men in Crete. Among women in pre-Hellenic times, the fashion was to wear the hair long; the snake goddess and her votary have hair that reaches far past the waist, and in almost all extant art of the period the hair of the women is represented as being abundant. It is frequently worn in long tresses down the back (compare the dancing girl, Fig. 4) and arranged rather elaborately in front in curls, which sometimes suggest artificial treatment; sometimes the hair is done up at the back or top of the head, in modern fashion.

In the Homeric poems we read of the “long-haired AchÆans,”[163] so that the sight of men with long hair was obviously familiar to the poet. From the passage which describes Andromache’s swoon,[164] however, it is clear that the women of the poet’s day bound their hair up, using nets and kerchiefs and other appurtenances both useful and ornamental.

Coming down to historic times, we find that before the Persian wars both men and women wore their hair long. After the middle of the fifth century a change took place, the men cutting their hair short for the most part, the women binding it up. The story of the LacedÆmonians combing their long hair when the Persians were close upon them is familiar (Herodotus, VII., 208). Extant monuments show us that before the Persian wars the men adopted various methods of disposing of their long hair: sometimes we see it worn loose with a simple fillet tied round the head;[165] sometimes the long ends are turned up and tucked in under the fillet;[166] sometimes they are turned up and held together by an additional band. This is the case with a bronze head from Olympia,[167] where, however, some locks seem to have been left free on the neck. A relief in Athens, representing a Discobolus holding the “discus” behind his head,[168] shows the hair probably divided and twisted together in two coils fastened tightly at a little distance from the end by a ribbon, or possibly by a metal spiral.[169] The golden t?tt?? mentioned by Thucydides (I., 6) was obviously some kind of ornament inserted in the hair to hold the “chignon” in place. It has been shown by Helbig[170] that this was probably a metal spiral or series of rings used to bind together the ends of the long hair; such a style is frequently represented in the art of the end of the sixth century and beginning of the fifth. The bands represented in Fig. 42 (c) are possibly intended for such metal rings. Helbig’s view is supported and confirmed by Studniczka.[171]

Probably the knot of hair bound up on the nape of the neck, as in the above examples, represents the ??????? or ?????? mentioned in Thucydides and elsewhere in literature. In later times this name was applied to the knot of hair on the top of the head which occurs so frequently in statues of Apollo; but there is no evidence to show that it was worn in this position before the fourth century at the earliest.

A style very commonly exemplified by extant statues of Apollo, dating from the early part of the fifth century, is to tie a fillet round the head and roll the long hair tightly over it, tucking the ends in usually behind the ears.[172] These ends are, however, sometimes allowed to hang down on the neck. Athletes very frequently disposed of their long hair by braiding it into two plaits from behind; these they crossed or brought round the head, fastening the two ends together in front.[173] Sometimes the short hair in front was combed down over the plaits, so as to conceal their union.

The date of the change of fashion is impossible to fix. We find the athletes of Myron and Polycleitus represented with short hair, but long-haired Apollos are found considerably after their date. The change took place, in all probability, shortly after the Persian wars; it then became the fashion for Ephebi to cut off their long hair, which they consecrated to Apollo and Artemis or to a river god.[174] When once the change had come about, long hair was considered, in Athens at least, as a mark of affectation or effeminacy. In The Wasps of Aristophanes,[175] Amynias, the typical fop, is designated by the name of ??? t?? ???????, “he of the ‘chignon,’” and in The Clouds the wearing of the t?tt?? is spoken of as a fashion quite out of date, or, as we might say, antediluvian. There is some uncertainty as to whether the LacedÆmonians wore their hair short or long; some authorities state that even in the fourth century they still wore it long as a mark of freedom, and since they were more conservative than the rest of the Greeks, it is quite possible that this was the case. With this possible exception, the custom of wearing the hair short continued, though Alexander probably set the fashion of wearing rather long and mane-like hair.

A covering for the head was rarely worn by men, except when riding or travelling long distances; in these cases the p?tas?? was worn as a protection against sun and rain. This consisted of a felt hat with broad brim, which could be turned up or down. Figs. 44, 22, and 23 represent its various shapes, Fig. 44 being the earliest form. The p?tas??, like the ?????, which it almost invariably accompanies, probably came originally from Northern Greece, Thrace, or Thessaly, where more protection was needed against cold and inclement weather. Another head-covering, worn by sailors and by the god Hephaistos, is the p????, a felt cap of conical shape resembling the modern fez.[176]

Extant monuments show that before the Persian wars women for the most part wore their hair down, although instances occur where it is fastened up with bands or fillets. When worn down it was usually held in place by a fillet, and frequently a metal ornament, rather high in front and narrowing towards the back, was added. This was known as the ?p??, or stef???, and was probably made of gold; almost all the “Maidens” of the Acropolis wear it, and in several instances it is adorned with floral patterns.[177] The high p???? or crown worn by Hera (Fig. 45 (a)) was probably also made of metal. Sometimes when the hair was worn down, the ends were prevented from flying in the wind by being tied together in a kind of little bag,[178] which reminds one of the many fashions adopted by men in the Georgian period in England. Sometimes, like the men, the women tucked the long ends up under the fillet, and let them hang out over it at the back. The fillet itself frequently assumed the dimensions of a scarf, the ends of which were tucked up at the sides and allowed to hang down behind the ears. When the hair was done up, the “chignon” was at first worn low on the nape of the neck and held in place by bands variously arranged.[179] Sometimes the stef??? alone was worn,[180] and very often the hair was held up by a kerchief or snood (?t?a, s?????). The styles in which it was worn present abundant variety: sometimes it covered the hair completely,[181] except for a curl or two allowed to escape in front of the ears; sometimes it left the hair visible over the forehead only;[182] sometimes over the forehead and on the crown of the head, and the ends of the kerchief might be tucked through at the side and allowed to hang down in front of the ears.[183] Fig. 45 (f) gives an example of the stef??? worn in addition to the snood. In the fourth century fashion seems to have dictated that the “chignon” should be worn higher up at the back of the head, and a small kerchief was used to hold it up, folded in such a way that it narrowed almost to a point over the forehead.[184] Apparently a net was sometimes worn over the back of the hair. Fig. 45 (l), from the Meidias vase, furnishes an illustration of this. In Hellenistic and Roman times the styles of dressing the hair became very numerous. The snood seems to have been discarded altogether, and adornment by means of artificial waving and curling apparently took its place. The modes of “coiffure” of the Alexandrian Greeks are as varied as those of modern Europe. Probably cosmetics were used for the hair and paint and powder for the face; for we learn from Xenophon’s Œconomicus that as far back as his date, not only hetairÆ but married women resorted to artificial means of beautifying the complexion.

More than one allusion is made in literature to some kind of hat worn by women; in Theocritus (Idyll, xv., 39), Praxinoa, when going out to the festival of Adonis, asks her maid for her wrap and hat (????a).

In the Œdipus Coloneus[185] Antigone recognises Ismene from a distance by the Thessalian hat which she wears as a protection against the heat of the sun. The words used are ???? Tessa???, which seem to imply that the hat was made of some kind of skin, probably felt, and resembled the men’s “petasos,” which originated in Thessaly or Thrace; its shape may have been slightly different. The Tanagra statuettes frequently represent women wearing a broad-brimmed hat with high pointed crown.[186]