10-10-2011, 09:16 PM
Care to give a source to that sentiment about white?
Anyway, we have a blue thorax, a red one, a brown one, and a black one. A burgundy one, and a white one. That's just in one group of 18 hoplites... I'm a little iffy on the blue.
But here's the issue.
Red leather in ancient Greek times was achievable, but at least as late as Sappho, it came from Lydia and wasn't common. We don't know for sure how leather was dyed red. Blue would have been even more complex, but again, someone did it. There's cloth in blue from Brauron and blue leather from at least wode and perhaps indigo--although every one of those statements could be argued with by a professional costumer.
A colour NEVER mentioned in period sources is green, but a turqouise green is dead easy to get out of copper sulfates, and Greeks knew how to get those.But it looks to me as if they didn't.
But the easiest colours were a zillion shades of tannin-rich brown. Some redder. Some paler.
and white, because of the Athenian alum deposits and tanning industry.
Now, some of the academic costumers believe that Greeks had very strong religious commitment to colours and others say, no, that's all hooey. This doesn't help!
And with all due respect--and I mean that, I'm not being an ass--we really don't know a thing about the Spartans. I mean,as a distinct military entity. We know what some non-Spartans said about them, heavily coloured by their own prejudices against things Athenian or otherwise....
Love to see your comment on white, though.
Anyway, we have a blue thorax, a red one, a brown one, and a black one. A burgundy one, and a white one. That's just in one group of 18 hoplites... I'm a little iffy on the blue.
But here's the issue.
Red leather in ancient Greek times was achievable, but at least as late as Sappho, it came from Lydia and wasn't common. We don't know for sure how leather was dyed red. Blue would have been even more complex, but again, someone did it. There's cloth in blue from Brauron and blue leather from at least wode and perhaps indigo--although every one of those statements could be argued with by a professional costumer.
A colour NEVER mentioned in period sources is green, but a turqouise green is dead easy to get out of copper sulfates, and Greeks knew how to get those.But it looks to me as if they didn't.
But the easiest colours were a zillion shades of tannin-rich brown. Some redder. Some paler.
and white, because of the Athenian alum deposits and tanning industry.
Now, some of the academic costumers believe that Greeks had very strong religious commitment to colours and others say, no, that's all hooey. This doesn't help!
And with all due respect--and I mean that, I'm not being an ass--we really don't know a thing about the Spartans. I mean,as a distinct military entity. We know what some non-Spartans said about them, heavily coloured by their own prejudices against things Athenian or otherwise....
Love to see your comment on white, though.
Qui plus fait, miex vault.
