10-11-2011, 04:59 PM
Quote:"Now as for their equipment for battle, he arranged that they should have a red cloak and a bronze shield, on the reckoning that the former presents the greatest contrast with any female dress, as well as the most warlike appearance; the latter certainly can be polished ver quickly and is very slow to tarnish."
- Xenophon, in his "spartan society"
it only says cloak, not chiton? so where do people get that Spartans wore red chiton? It seems to be a generally accepted view, so I assume there must be other sources. I suppose if they preferred red for their cloaks, its safe to assume the same for their clothing as well.
Now, neither of those says a thing about body armour.
Elsewhere, you find suggestions that the Spartans were the last to be wearing bronze (and like you, I can't remember--is it the suggestion in Thucydides that they were the "heaviest?".But regardless--why associate white with femininity? The colours of femininity were yellow and orange, in ancient Greece. This is so easily proven I'll just say "go look." Look at what Lysistrada wears, or what girls wore when they made the transition from girlhood to maidenhood, or what colours are considered "sexy" or indicated a man was effeminate...
white is the colour of purity and religious devotion. Even that is a bit of a stretch.. off white, or natural white, was not a colour with any specific meaning. Only PURE white had another symbolism..
and hey, I'm sorry to sound pedantic, but this info is in all the literature.
Qui plus fait, miex vault.
