Ancient Greek Costume

Apollo was a patron of Delphi. This made him an oracle and he was thus able to speak to mortals and tell them the future. His position diving prophecy at Delphi made Apollo one of the most important deity figures of Olympus. There are various scripts describing the oracle and pictures depicting the followers at the oracle in their flowing ancient Greek costumes. The sects that followed were quite diverse, which was odd because he had two areas that were devoted to him – Delos and Delphi.

Often, shrines of each cult would be found in the same city! . Today, supporters of revivalist Hellenic polytheism still revere Apollo. The most common symbols associated with Apollo were the lyre and the bow, along with occasional depictions of a plectrum and the “sacrificial tripod”, representing his powers of prophecy.

Another very important attribute to Apollo were The Pythean Games that were held at Delphi every four years. The crowns given to the winners were made out of laurel bay plant. This was a symbol sacred to Apollo since he was born under a palm in Delos. These games were the forerunner to our present day Olympics! It would seem strange to see those games with the participants sporting the ancient Greek costumes rather than the sports wear we see today.

Greece is possibly one of the world’s richest countries when it comes to history and culture. A lot of our present existence be it the language or customs, have somehow or the other evolved from Greek civilization. In fact even the fashion industry has its roots in the ancient Greek costume. Greece was famous for not only its culture but also its mythology and of course the Greek Gods! Large figures of Apollo, Zeus and all of the Gods of Mt. Olympus draped in their impressive ancient Greek costumes still stand tall at Delphi and all over Greece. It is believed that there was a 40-foot statue of Zeus at Olympia!

These Ancient Greek Costumes were adorned with borders and motifs. More multifaceted borders portrayed themes ranging from animals, birds, and fish to intricate battle scenes. The colors of the threads were infinite. According to Herodotus, there was yellow, violet, indigo, red and purple in a single garment.

Most of the population believed in being barefoot. However, footwear was still prevalent in the ancient times. The Ancient Greek Costume was usually depicted in the statues and other scriptures with varied footwear ranging from thongs, full and toeless sandals, to ankle & calf boots. The headgear – straw hats, felt and leather hats were quite like the broad brimmed modern sun hats. So now we know where those originated!

Fashion of today has its roots in the Ancient Greek Costumes. The Ancient Greeks have inspired the facet of clothing. They were painstakingly fussy about their turn out. There are innumerable statues, carvings and pottery depicting their fashion statements. Such great Greek historians as Herodotus have given us very detailed written descriptions of developments in fashion and the societal significance of Ancient Greek Costume and their accessories. The period post 1200 BC started with a civilization of people who wore bell-shaped skirts and tightly fitted bodices and ended with a race dressed in draped clothes that we associate with the Greeks.

In comparison, the Ancient Greek Costumes were more voluminous then that of the Egyptian counterparts. More often than not these were made of fine wool or linen in spite of the fact that Greeks also had access to linen, hemp cloth and silk. Although there were a variety of styles, the dresses were basically the same – rectangular pieces of cloth draped in different ways. The outfits were unisex and hardly varied down the ages.