11-04-2010, 01:13 AM
Quote:The 'tribon' was of course the Lakedaimonian cloak, as worn by Paul Bardunias' Avatar - a single, cloak/robe worn summer and winter, allowed to wear thin and seldom washed - a mark of Spartan 'toughness'.
As such, like other Spartan fashions ( e.g. long hair), it was widely imitated by those soldiers in other states aping Spartans, along with single soled sandals and the Spartan staff or 'crutch'. Later this dress of large cloak, thin sandals and staff(bakterion) would be taken up by 'austere' philosophers too.
There seems to be little difference between a 'tribon' and a 'himation' save that the former was probably simpler, less decorated, and not so fine-spun.....
This dress was seen as older, more conservative, and soldierly than the later 'chlamys'......
A tribon is simply a threadbare or otherwise worn-out garment, as noted, and the word has no associations with the Spartans by itself - Aristophanes mentions slaves wearing tribones, for instance. It is mentioned in connection with the Spartans to emphasize their laconic ways, but it wasn't a particular kind of garment, and the intended meaning in this passage is almost certainly simply that Dionysus is lamenting the different in lifestyle - from beautiful robes to worn out tunic.
Ruben
He had with him the selfsame rifle you see with him now, all mounted in german silver and the name that he\'d give it set with silver wire under the checkpiece in latin: Et In Arcadia Ego. Common enough for a man to name his gun. His is the first and only ever I seen with an inscription from the classics. - Cormac McCarthy, Blood Meridian
He had with him the selfsame rifle you see with him now, all mounted in german silver and the name that he\'d give it set with silver wire under the checkpiece in latin: Et In Arcadia Ego. Common enough for a man to name his gun. His is the first and only ever I seen with an inscription from the classics. - Cormac McCarthy, Blood Meridian
