Ancient Greek Textiles in the Conversation of Greek Culture

A year ago I conducted research based around ancient Greek textiles and their holistic impact on Greek culture. In this paper, I emphasized the technology, context, and linguistic impact. I even seamlessly incorporated many textile puns to prove a point.

Parthenon Frieze Peplos Scene (400 c. BCE)

Textiles in ancient Greece impacted the culture more broadly than the traditional functions in which they were designed. This paper will mainly look to examples in ancient Athens, although textiles were used throughout Greece and should be understood in that broader lens. Categorically, scholars have interpreted textiles by gender relations, social status, domestic function, and literate uses. Although it is crucial to analyze textiles in these projected lenses, these categories often intertwine and can demonstrate a broader social impact. The importance of textiles in ancient Greece ranges more extensively than just material use. Studying textiles has led to more insight into resources and technology of the time. Rather than taking a textile just for its garment use one, can begin to understand it in new contexts and analyze it holistically. While the textile itself, as well as written texts or iconography, can explain how it was made and the techniques used during production. These sources can also point to how it was used in society and as well as thinking of the textile as a concept. For example, Spantidaki states "…studies of skeletal remains will eventually reveal traces of textile-related activities on bodies. [Revealing] how some actions can cumber the human body and lead to health problems" (xxii). While this paper will not focus on textiles and burial customs, I bring it up to further add to the importance of textile studies. All archeological evidence of textiles has been found in funerary contexts. As of 2016, there are 30 extant textiles found in Attica, and they all have been conserved over time by a mineralized condition (Spantidaki 5). This mineralized condition is a result of metal corrosion from the textile being in or around a funerary urn.

Final Paper

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