Aphrodite's tortoise
Subtitle: the veiled woman of ancient Greece
By: Lloyd Llewellyn-Jones.
Publisher: Classical Press of Wales; Distributor in the United States, David Brown
Published: 2003
Place of publication: Swansea, Wales; Oakville, CT
Language: eng
Number of pages: 358
Subjects: Veils -- Social aspects -- Greece.; Veils in art.; Women in art.; Sculpture, Greek.; Women -- Greece -- Social conditions.; Greece -- Social conditions -- To 146 B.C.
Description: Greek women routinely wore the veil. That is the unexpected finding of this major study. The Greeks, rightly credited with the invention of civic openness, are revealed as also part of a more eastern tradition of seclusion. Llewellyn-Jones' work proceeds from literary and, notably, from iconographic evidence. In sculpture and vase painting it demonstrates the presence of the veil, often covering the head, but also more unobtrusively folded back onto the shoulders. This discreet fashion not only gave a priviledged view of the face to the ancient art consumer, but also, incidentally, allowed the veil to escape the notice of traditional modern scholarship.
Notes: Includes bibliographical references (p. 319-352) and index.