Menelaos

Hair, part 1 | Male hair: descriptions

"Beautiful were the locks of hair as they waved in the breeze surrounding him." How did the ancient Greeks view hair? There are many passages in which it is mentioned or described, and this series of blog posts will explore different aspects of how it is featured in some of the texts. In this first post, we are looking at physical descriptions of men's hair. Read more

Ivory for the ancient Greeks

In the ancient world they made use of ivory. How did the ancient Greeks perceive it and use it? I assumed it would be for ornamental purposes, and would have been carefully carved, but what do the texts and artifacts actually tell us? Was ivory regarded as a special or precious material? What properties did the ancient Greeks associate with it? Read more