Chlamys
The chlamys (Greek χλαμύς) was a short ancient Greek cloak, often made of wool. Unlike the freely draped himation, it was secured with a fibula at the shoulder or chest. This left the arms free and suited travel, riding and military activity.
It appears on youths, riders, hunters and warriors. At Athens it was associated with ephebes, young citizens undergoing preparation for military and civic life. In art, the cloak could also identify a hero or deity: an image is not always a literal record of everyday clothing.
Colour and decoration depended on period and setting. No single colour can be assigned to all ephebes or another to all soldiers. A replica should follow a specific prototype, checking length, fastening and the behaviour of the folds during movement. The Roman sagum and paludamentum had comparable functions as cloaks, but should not be presented as a simple sequence of transformations from one garment.
Statue identified as Ptolemy III wearing a chlamys. Ptolemaic Egypt; third century BCE.
Hermes wearing a chlamys. Attic red-figure lekythos; around 480–470 BCE.Related topics
Literature and sources
- M. Bieber. Griechische Kleidung. Berlin, 1928.
- M. Bieber. Entwicklungsgeschichte der griechischen Tracht. 2nd ed. Berlin, 1967.
- A. Pekridou-Gorecki. Mode im antiken Griechenland: Textile Fertigung und Kleidung. Munich, 1989.
- L. Llewellyn-Jones, ed. Women's Dress in the Ancient Greek World. London, 2002.
- L. Cleland et al., eds. The Clothed Body in the Ancient World. Oxford, 2005.
- M. M. Lee. Body, Dress, and Identity in Ancient Greece. Cambridge, 2015.
- Ancient Greek Dress: Metropolitan Museum.
- Eros wearing a chlamys: Metropolitan Museum.
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