Hair styles in ancient Greece were often elaborate and heavily decorated. Women curled, dyed, bleached and arranged their hair with as much enthusiasm as women do today – and often with considerably fancier hair toys!
Hair Styles and Toys in Ancient Greece
A common silhouette for Greek hairstyles was flat at the front and crown, with a large bun or knot of curls extending out at the back of the head (higher than the nape). Often a headband or bandeau was worn in front of this chignon; sometimes several bands or ribbons, called taenia, kept the front hair neatly bound. Other styles included close-set curls, chignons worn at the nape, and loose or semi-loose hair flowing down a woman’s back. Spartan women sometimes wore practical ponytails, albeit threaded with precious accessories.
Short hair was typically worn by slave women; however, free Greek women also kept their hair short at times. Spartan women had their heads shaved when they got married; women also cut their hair short during mourning; and some women appeared to have chosen short hair styles for fashion reasons. Curls were popular, made by the use of hot irons.
The opulence of Greek hairstyles was a concern for Biblical writers, anxious that Christian women should avoid vanity and seek instead “the beauty of a meek and quiet spirit” (1 Peter 3:4). The apostle Paul, writing to Timothy regarding a church in the Greek city of Ephesus, speaks against women adorning themselves with “braided hair and gold or pearls or costly attire” (ESV). Art and archaeological finds from Greece testify to the vast array of hair toys Greek women used – from pins and combs to wreaths, crowns, scarves, snoods and fillets. Flowers and leaves were also worn in the hair.
Hair Products and Dyes in Ancient Greece
According to The Encyclopaedia of Hair, Greek women also used hair products. Frankincense and myrrh, imported from the Middle East from as early as the eighth century BC, were boiled down with herbs, spices and flowers, mixed with olive oil and applied to the hair. Oiling hair is still recognised today as an effective means of providing shine and locking in moisture.
Greek women, like Italian women hundreds of years later, would lighten their hair by applying a mild acid such as vinegar or lemon juice, then sitting out in the sun wearing a broad-brimmed, crownless hat. This method of hair lightening is subtle, but fairly non-damaging. A number of Greek heroes were said to have golden hair, including Achilles, Meleager, Odysseus and Menelaus.
On the other hand, ancient Greeks also dyed their hair darker – perhaps to cover greys. Archaeologists have discovered that a 2000-year-old recipe containing lead oxide and slaked lime effectively and permanently dyes light hair black.
Hair Styles in Greek Art and Sculpture
Possibly the most famous Greek statue of all, the Venus de Milo, sports a fairly natural, unadorned hair style. Her hair is slightly wavy (not the tight curls worn by many Greek women); the front hair is centre-parted and slightly rolled towards a chignon at the back of her head, with a few strands falling down her neck.
Kallipygos Aphrodite, a Hellenistic sculpture, provides a more typical example of elaborate Greek hair styling. Her hair is curlier and partially bound back with a ribbon, but two strands at the forehead pass over the top of the ribbon and form a kind of topknot. Her hair is then gathered into another twisted knot at the back, with curls hanging down from it over her shoulders. This silhouette – a small topknot and a larger chignon at the back – can be seen throughout Greek art, and an almost identical style is worn by the Venus de Medici and by the many “Crouching Aphrodite” statues.
The Regency Period and Greek Hair Styles
During the Regency era (the “Jane Austen” era), ancient Greek dress and hair styling became extremely fashionable. The high-waisted Empire-line dresses were inspired by flowing Grecian draperies. Regency women also copied Greek hair styles, including the use of bandeaux and ribbons to smooth the front hair, elaborate curls, and chignons.
Sources:
Hair Select, Ancient Greek Hairstyles, sourced 15 January, 2011.
The Role of Women in the Art of Ancient Greece, Hairstyles in Ancient Greece, sourced 14 January 2011.
Beauty and the Bath, Ancient Greek Hairstyles – Classical Hairstyles of Greek Women, sourced 16 January 2011.
Archaeology News, Ancient Hair Dyes Used Nanotechnology, sourced 16 January 2011.
Victoria Sherrow, The Encyclopaedia of Hair: A Cultural History (Greenwood Publishing Group, 2006), p 142.
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