Greek furniture was typically constructed out of wood, though it might also be made of stone or metal, such as bronze, iron, gold and silver. Little wood survives from ancient Greece, though varieties mentioned in texts concerning Greece and Rome include maple, oak, beach, yew, and willow.[1] Pieces were assembled using mortise-and-tenon joinery, held together with lashings, pegs, metal nails, and glue. Wood was shaped by carving, steam treatment, and the lathe, and furniture is known to have been decorated with ivory, tortoise shell, glass, gold or other precious materials.[2] Similarly, furniture could be veneered with expensive types of wood in order to make the object appear more costly,[3] though classical furniture was often pared down in comparison to objects attested in the East, or those from earlier periods in Greece.[4]
Extensive research was done on the forms of Greek furniture by Gisela Richter, who utilized a typological approach based primarily on illustrated examples depicted in Greek art, and it is from Richter’s account that the main types can be delineated.[5] The modern word “throne” is derived from the ancient Greek thronos (Greek singular: θρόνος), which was a seat designated for deities or individuals of high status or honor.[6] The colossal chryselephantine statue of Zeus at Olympia, constructed by Phidias and lost in antiquity, featured the god Zeus seated on an elaborate throne, which was decorated with gold, precious stones, ebony and ivory, according toPausanias.[7] Less extravagant though more influential in later periods is the klismos (Greek singular: κλισμός), an elegant Greek chair with a curved backrest and legs whose form was copied by the Romans and is now part of the vocabulary of furniture design. A fine example is shown on the grave stele of Hegeso, dating to the late fifth century B.C.E.[8] As with earlier furniture from the east, the klismos and thronos could be accompanied by footstools.[9] There are three types of footstools outlined by Richter – those with plain straight legs, those with curved legs, and those shaped like boxes that would have sat directly on the ground.[10]
The most common form of Greek seat was the backless stool, which must have been found in every Greek home. These were apparently known as diphroi (Greek singular: δίφρος), and were easily portable.[11] The Parthenon frieze displays numerous examples, upon which the gods are seated.[12] Several fragments of a stool were discovered in a fourth-century B.C.E. tomb inThessaloniki, including two of the legs and four transverse stretchers. Once made of wood and covered in silver foil, all that remains of this piece are the parts made of precious metal.[13]
The folding stool, known as the diphros okladias (Greek singular: δίφρος ὀκλαδίας), was practical and portable. The Greek folding stool survives in numerous depictions, indicating its popularity in the Archaic and Classical periods; the type may have been derived from earlier Minoan and Mycenaean examples, which in turn were likely based on Egyptian models.[14] Greek folding stools might have plain straight legs or curved legs that typically ended in animal feet.[15]
A couch or kline (Greek singular: κλίνη) was a form used in Greece as early as the late seventh century B.C.E.[16] The kline was rectangular and supported on four legs, two of which could be longer than the other, providing support for an armrest or headboard. Three types are distinguished by Richter – those with animal legs, those with “turned” legs, and those with “rectangular” legs, although this terminology is somewhat problematic.[17] Fabric would have been draped over the woven platform of the couch, and cushions would have been placed against the arm or headrest, making the Greek couch an item well suited for a symposiumgathering. The foot of a bronze bed discovered in situ in the House of the Seals at Delosprovides an indication of how the “turned” legs of a kline might have appeared.[18] Numerous images of klinai are displayed on vases, topped by layers of intricately woven fabrics and pillows. These furnishings would have been made of leather, wool, or linen, though silk could also have been used. Stuffing for pillows, cushions, and beds could have been made of wool, feathers, leaves, or hay.[19]
the tortoise whose shell he ripped so painfully off to make the first soundbox to his lyre
The hair and beards of the men of Ancient Greece era were inspired by their great heroes: Achilles, Menelaus, Paris... and were described by Homer as beautiful men with long abundant curls.
However, to understand the development of the Hellenic hairstyles it is necessary to give a look to the precedent set by the Assyrians. Settled on the banks of the rivers Euphrates and Tigris, and organized in City-States of the Mesopotamian civilizations, gods and warriors were represented with abundant hairs and frizzy beards, covering their face and chest.
To get those sorted curls a hair iron had to go to great lengths, and that's why many historians point to them as the inventors of the curly 'dos. In Greece, these highly complex hairstyles distinguished them from the barbarians of the North, carrying short and unkempt hair. Thus, the curls became an obsession for the Greeks, who devoted much time to hair care: washing it, braiding it, curling it, adding color and even sweetening it. They used combs made from bone, bronze or ivory, often richly decorated, and of course, curling iron to curl.
In Olympus, the goddesses represented had long beautiful hair, such as the Aphrodite. Artemis, goddess of hunting and warrior, was combed by the nymph Psecas, who became the patron saint of the Greek hairdressers - for this reason they were called psecades. Elaborate aromatic essences based on flowers, spices and oils, were used on the hair and body. They also believed that fragrances and aromas were essential and had been sent to the world by the gods of Olympus. They used to boil flowers and herbs such as myrrh or the frankincense, vine leaves and rose extracts, and linked the preparation with olive oil. To soften the hair, and comb it, they used lotions, balms and bees wax.
Despite the abundance of men and women with dark hair, blonde was the most appreciated, as it would then be in Rome. Therefore they clarified the tonality of hair with a variety of soda and oil soaps, and alkaline lyes from Phoenicia, then center of Mediterranean soap. For transient colouring, they arranged with a mixture of pollen, yellow flour and gold dust!
Men also had long beards until the times of Alexander (330 BC), who forced his soldiers to cut them to avoid injuries during fighting. He knew the enemy could stretch and grab the beards and use it as an advantage. It was not until many centuries later, in the Byzantine period of Justinian I (s. v-VI d. C.), that the armies returned to allow the long beards. Philosophers kept their long beards, always ignoring trends and norms of their peers. They let them grow as a hallmark of the thinkers and a symbol of his wisdom. Examples of this are Socrates and Plato.
Later, in Athens in the 5th century b.c., in agora, they built the first lounges of hairdressing, called koureia. Women wore typical symmetric hairstyles, with a middle part, usually wearing it curly and picked up at the nape of the neck. Krobylos, a completely collected braided hairstyle was very popular.
It is at this time, surely, when barbers began to acquire fame. The narrated myth as King Midas, who had ears of a donkey for having dared to humiliate the God Apollo, hiding them under a hat. As described in 'The metamorphoses of Ovid', his Barber, learned his secret to cut his hair. The Barber did run the news to the four winds, and very quickly, the King was ridiculed by all.
http://www.esteticamagazine.com/education/item/3651-coiffure-legendaire-the-hair-gods-of-olympus
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