Ancient Greek Hats: Headwear and Fashion in Antiquity

Italian depiction of the deity Mercury (Greek: Hermes) wearing a petasos, a wide-brimmed ancient Greek hat. Credit: Sailko / Wikimedia Commons CC BY-SA 4.0

When 1 thinks of past Greece, the stereotypical representation is often that of a omniscient philosopher successful flowing achromatic robes oregon a hoplite successful gleaming bronze armor, but the past Greeks besides wore a assortment of hats for some signifier and function.

Beyond serving a applicable oregon stylistic purpose, past Greek hats besides often acted arsenic marks of profession, societal status, oregon nationalist belonging. Some designs adjacent inspired helmet adaptations for subject use.

The past Greeks devised immoderate of these designs themselves, whereas others they adopted from the different civilizations of antiquity, with whom they traded and fought successful adjacent measure. Although astir past Greek hats person agelong since gone retired of fashion, traces of their power inactive beryllium today.

The petasos, the quintessential chapeau of past Greek farmers

Greek deity Hermes wearing a petasos chapeau with caduceus. Attic red-figure cup, ca. 480 BC–470 BC. Credit: Public Domain

The petasos was the perfect chapeau for farmers, shepherds, and travelers connected agelong journeys. It was typically made from wool, felt, leather, straw, oregon carnal skin, and its wide brim offered extortion against the prima and rain.

A chin strap prevented the chapeau from being blown distant successful windy conditions oregon falling disconnected if the wearer was riding a horse astatine speed. For this reason, the petasos was a fashionable choice for cavalry, peculiarly successful Athens. Since mounted warriors were typically members of the aristocracy successful Classical Greece, we are capable to discern from depictions connected pottery that the petasos was besides worn by the affluent erstwhile they were connected horseback.

This peculiar benignant of chapeau astir apt originated in Thessaly but was fashionable crossed the past Greek world. As noted by Professor Larissa Bonfante, the petasos was besides a fashionable prime among the Etruscans of Italy and the Thracians, who bordered the Greeks to the north.

The humble petasos adjacent recovered favour among the Olympian gods. Hermes, the messenger deity was often depicted connected Greek pottery wearing the petasos.

The pileus hat

Man wearing a pileus/pilos chapeau depicted successful the red-figure style. Third 4th of the 4th period BC. Credit: Louvre Museum / Wikimedia Commons CC BY 2.5

The pileus hat, sometimes besides called the pilos, was a brimless conical chapeau worn by past Greek workmen, sailors, travellers, and soldiers, predominately successful the Archaic and Classical periods, though Hellenistic epoch depictions besides exist.

The pileus chapeau was typically made of felt and was besides worn by the Romans, Illyrians, and Etruscans.

Around the 5th period BC, the pileus chapeau inspired the plan of the pilos helmet. The helmet was fundamentally the aforesaid arsenic the hat, with the main objection being that it was formed successful bronze to connection the wearer protection.

Although the pilos helmet lacked the aesthetic refinement of galore different past Greek helmet designs, it was inexpensive to nutrient and offered unobstructed imaginativeness of the battlefield. For these reasons, it became a fashionable prime for soldiers successful the past Greek world.

The Phrygian cap

Bust of Attis arsenic a kid wearing the Phrygian cap, Parian marble, 2nd period AD, astir apt during the reign of Hadrian: the representation bears resemblance to those of Antinous. Credit: wikimedia commons / Carole Raddato CC BY 2.0

To the past Greeks, the Phrygian headdress often typified foreigners oregon “barbarians” successful their artwork, peculiarly successful achromatic and reddish fig pottery depictions.

The earliest known depiction of a Phrygian headdress was recovered successful the past metropolis of Persepolis successful Iran, though it was fashionable with a wide assortment of peoples, including the Persians, Dacians, Thracians, Medes, Scythians, and of people the Phrygians themselves.

The Phrygian benignant chapeau was a brushed conical headdress with the apex bent over. The Greeks depicted a substance of existent and mythological figures wearing it connected pieces of pottery. The Amazons of Greek story were typically depicted wearing the Phrygian cap, but truthful excessively were the Scythians, an enigmatic civilization of nomadic equine riders connected the fringes of the past Greek world.

A benignant of past Greek helmet, named by modern historians, is besides referred to arsenic “Phrygian”. This is due to the fact that the helmet features a akin guardant inclined apex. It is chartless whether it was straight inspired by the hat, but this peculiar past Greek helmet became precise fashionable successful past Greek armies, peculiarly among the soldiers of Alexander the Great.

The kausia, the past Greek chapeau inactive worn today?

Am past Macedonian kausia chapeau arsenic depicted connected a terracotta figurine, c. 300 BC (left) and a modern pakol chapeau (right). Credit: British Museum / Public Domain / Wikimedia Commons / Mostafameraji / CC0 Wikimedia Commons

The kausia was a level chapeau worn by the past Macedonians. Macedonian kings whitethorn person worn a fancier purple kausia with a achromatic diadem wrapped astir it.

The kausia was worn by the soldiers of Alexander the Great during their agelong run eastwards into Asia. After Alexander’s death, the chapeau remained a fashionable prime successful Macedon arsenic good arsenic successful the Greco-Bactrian Kingdom, successful what is contiguous predominately Afghanistan, but also  Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, arsenic good parts of Pakistan and Iran.

Some scholars of history, similar Bonnie M. Kingsley, judge that the kausia is still worn today. Owing to the similarities betwixt the kausia and a chapeau called the pakol worn successful Afghanistan and Pakistan successful contiguous times, historians similar Kingsley reason that the chapeau continued to beryllium worn agelong aft different traces of Alexander’s conquests successful the portion faded into antiquity.