peplos

     

A peplos (Greek: πέπλος) is a boy-length Greek garment worn by women in the years before 500 BC. The peplos is essentially a tubular cloth, folded inside-out from the top about halfway down, so that what was the top of the tube is now at the waist and the bottom of the tube is about ankle-length. It is then gathered about the waist, and the open top (at the fold) pinned over the shoulders. The top of the tube (now inside-out) drapes over the waist providing the appearance of two pieces of clothing. Except in the statues of the Caryatid applied often in the vase painting since the 5th century B.C. and in the metopes of the Temples in Doric order. On the last day of the Pyanopsion, the priestess of Athena Polias and the Arrephoroi (specially chosen girls to help in the making of the peplos) set up the loom, on which the peplos was to be woven by the Ergastinai (specially chosen girls that would spend approximately 9 months to make the peplos). They had to weave on the Olympian's defeat of the Giants (especially Athena's defeat of Enkelados)

Found pages about peplos