Coma
（
κόμη). The hair of the head. Besides this general term,
there are various other words, both in Greek and Latin, signifying the hair, each of which
acquires its distinctive meaning from some physical property of the hair itself or from some
peculiarity in the mode of arranging it, the principal of which are as follows:
- 1. Ἔθειρα, a head of hair when carefully dressed.
- 2. Χαίτη, properly the mane of a horse or lion, is
used to signify long, flowing hair.
- 3. Φόβη, when accurately used, implies the hair of
the head in a state of disorder incident to a person under a sense of fear.
- 4. Ποκάς, from πείκω
or πέκω, the hair when combed and dressed.
- 5. Θρίξ, a general term for hair, from the plural of
which the Romans perhaps borrowed their word tricae—τρίχωσις and τρίχωμα are used in
the same sense.
- 6. Κόρση (
αττ.κόρρη), from the old word κόρ,
“the head,” signifies properly the hair on the top of the head; and
hence a particular fashion of arranging the
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Apollo Belvedere; Artemis. (British Museum.)
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hair among the Greek women was termed κόρυμβος; or,
when worn in the same style by the men, it was designated by another derivative from the
same word, κρώβυλος. To produce this effect the hair was
drawn up all round the head from the front and back, and fastened in a bow on the top, as
exemplified in the two preceding busts—one of the Apollo Belvedere, the other of
Artemis—from the British Museum. Instead of a band, the people of Athens
fastened the bow with an ornamental clasp, fashioned like  |
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Heracles. (British Museum.)
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a grasshopper, to show that they were aborigines. Κρώβυλος is also used for a cap of network. (See Calantica.)
- 7. Μαλλός, which properly means wool, was also used
for the short, round, curly hair, which resembles the fleece of a lamb, such as is seen in
some of the early Greek sculptures, particularly in the heads of Heracles, one of which is
subjoined from a specimen in the British Museum.
- 8. Κέρας was a Greek term used when the hair was
combed up from the temples on each side, so as to give it the appearance of two horns, as is
seen in the heads of fauns and satyrs, and in the bust of Zeus on the following page.
- 9. Κίκιννος, πλοχμός, χλιδαί, the hair which falls
in ringlets, either natural or artificial, which was sometimes called βόστρυχος and πλόκαμος. All these terms, when
strictly appropriated, seem to designate that singular style of coiffure which is observable
in Etruscan and early Greek works, and common to both sexes, as is seen in the casts from
the temple of Athené at Aegina in the British Museum.
Besides the generic
coma, the Romans made use of the following terms,
expressive of some peculiar qualities in the hair, or particular mode of arrangement:
- 1. Capillus, according to the old etymologists, quasi
capitis pilus.
- 2. Crinis, the hair when carefully dressed.
- 3. Caesaries, which is said, though without much probability, to be
connected with caedo, the hair of the male sex, because they wore it
short, whereas the women did not.
- 4. Cincinnus, κίκιννος, the hair when
platted and
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Cupid. (British Museum.)
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dressed in circles, like the head on page 17 (s.v. Acus), as it is still worn by the women of Mola di Gaieta (Formiae).
Martial terms these circles anuli, and Claudian orbes.
- 5. Cirrus, a lock of curly hair. The locks which fell over the forehead
were termed capronae (προκόμιον), the
modern “bang” or “fringe”; those which fell from the
temples over the ears, antiae. Both the antiae and
capronae are accurately traced in the figure of Cupid bending his bow,
in the British Museum, from which the accompanying illustration is taken.
All the Greek divinities are distinguished by a characteristic coiffure, modified in some
respects as the arts progressed, but never altered in character from the original model; so
that any person tolerably conversant with the works of Greek art may almost
invariably recognize the deity represented from the disposition of the hair. We proceed to
specify some of the principal ones.
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Lion's Head. (British Museum); Zeus. (Vatican.)
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The head of the lion is the type upon which that of Zeus is formed, particularly in the
disposition of the hair, which rises from the forehead and falls
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Serapis. (British Museum.)
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back in loose curls down the sides of the face, until it forms a junction with the
beard. This is made clear by the two preceding illustrations, one of which is from a statue of
Zeus in the Vatican, supposed to be a copy of the Phidian Zeus; and the other is a lion's head
from the British Museum. The same disposition of the hair is likewise preserved in all the
real or pretended descendants from Zeus, such as Aesculapius, Alexander, etc.
Pluto or Serapis has the hair longer, straighter, and lower over the forehead, in order to
give severity to the aspect, and with the modius on his head, as represented in the above
drawing from the British Museum. The modius is decorated with an olive
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Poseidon. (British Museum.)
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branch, for oil was used instead of wine in sacrifices to Pluto.
The hair of Poseidon is cut finer and sharper than that of Zeus. It rises from the forehead,
and then falls down in flakes, as if wet, in the manner represented in the accompanying head
from the British Museum.
Apollo is usually repre
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Apollo. (British Museum.)
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sented with the
κρώβυλος; but when the hair is not
tied up on the top of the head it is always long and flowing over the neck and shoulders, as
represented in the annexed illustration from a very beautiful and early Greek sculpture in the
British Museum. Hence he is called
intonsus and
ἀκερσεκόμης.
Dionysus also wears his hair unshorn; for he, as well as Apollo, is typical of
perpetual youth.
In the mature age of Greek art, Hermes has short curly hair, as represented by the head on
the left hand in the illustration below, from a statue in the Vatican, which was for a long
time falsely ascribed to Antinoüs; but in very early Greek works he is represented
with braided hair, in the Etruscan style, and a sharp-pointed beard (see the right-hand
illustration, from an altar in the Museum of the Capitol at Rome), whence he is termed
σφηνοπώγων.
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Hermes. (Vatican); Etruscan Hermes. (Cap. Mus.)
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Hercules has short, crisp hair, like the curls between the horns of a bull, the head of
which animal formed the model for his, as is exemplified in the subjoined drawings, one being
the head of the Farnese Hercules, the other that of a bull, from a bas-relief at Rome, in
which all the characteristics of Hercules, the small head, thick neck, and particular form of
the hair, are strongly preserved.
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Farnese Hercules; Head of Bull.
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The hair of Heré or Iuno is parted in the front, and on the top of the head is a
kind of diadem, called in Latin
corona, and in Greek
σφενδόνη, from its resemblance to a sling, the broad part of which
is placed above the forehead, while the two lashes act as bands to confine the hair
on the sides of the head and fasten it behind, in the manner represented in the annexed
illustration from the British Museum.
Pallas is rarely seen without her helmet; but when portrayed with her head uncovered the
hair is tied up in a knot at some distance from the head, and then falls from the band in long
parallel curls.
Aphrodité and Artemis are sometimes adorned with the
κόρυμβος; but both these divinities are more frequently represented with their
hair dressed in the simple style of the young Greek girls, whose hair is parted in front, and
conducted round to the back, so as to conceal the upper part of the ears. It is then tied in a
plain knot at the nape of the neck, or, at other times, though less frequently, at the top of
the head; both of which fashions are represented in the two illustrations subjoined; one, that
on the right, Niobé, and the other from a bas-relief at Rome.
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From a bas-relief at Rome; Niobé.
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False hair, or wigs,
φενάκη, πηϝίκη, κόμαι προσθέται, τριχὲς
προσθέται,
galerus, corymbium, caliendrum, capillamentum,
were also worn by the people of both countries (
Mart.v. 68; xii.
23), and much esteemed by them.
Several passages of Latin literature show the fondness of the Roman women for blond hair,
quantities of which were imported from Germany to be made up into wigs. (See Juv. vi. 120;
Ovid. A. A. iii. 163.) Hence, in some of the
statues, the hair was gilt, remains of which are discernible in the Venus dei Medici and in
the Apollo of the Capitol; and both sexes dyed their hair when it grew gray (
Plin. H. N. xxvi. 164).
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Ancient Wig. (Museum at Ghizeh.)
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In very early times the Romans wore their hair long, as was represented in the oldest
statues during the age of Varro, and hence the Romans of the Augustan Age designated their
ancestors
intonsi and
capillati. But this fashion
did not last after the year B.C. 300, as appears by the remaining works of art. The women,
too, dressed their hair with simplicity, at least until the time of the emperors, and probably
much in the same style as those of Greece; but at the Augustan period a variety of different
head-dresses came into fashion, many of which are described by Ovid. Four specimens of
different periods are given below. The first head on the left represents Octavia, the niece of
Augustus, from the Museum in the Capitol at Rome; the next, Messalina, fifth wife of the
emperor Claudius; the one below, on the left, Sabina, the wife of Hadrian; and the next,
Plautilla, the wife of Caracalla, which last three are from the British Museum.
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1. Octavia. (Capitol. Mus.); 2. Messalina, wife of Claudius; 3. Sabina, wife of
Hadrian.; 4. Plautilla, wife of Caracalla. [The last three from the British Museum.]
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Both countries had some peculiar customs connected with the growth of their hair and
illustrative of their moral or physical conditions. The Spartans combed and dressed their
heads with especial care when about to encounter any great danger, in which act Leonidas and
his followers were discovered by the spies of Xerxes before the battle of Thermopylae. The
sailors of both nations shaved off their hair after an escape from shipwreck or other heavy
calamity and dedicated it to the gods. In the earlier ages, the Greeks of both sexes cut their
hair close in mourning; but subsequently this practice was more exclusively confined to the
women, the men leaving theirs long and neglected, as was the custom among the Romans.
In childhood—that is, up to the age of puberty— the hair of the males
was suffered to grow long among both nations, when it was clipped and dedicated to some river
or deity, from thence called
κουροτρόφος by the poets, and
therefore to cut off the hair means to take the
toga virilis. At Athens
this ceremony was performed on the third day of the festival Apaturia, which is therefore
termed
κουρεῶτις.
In both countries the slaves were shaved as a mark of servitude. On barbers, see
Tonsor.
The Vestal Virgins also cut their hair short upon taking their vows; which rite still
remains in the Roman Church, in which all women have their hair cut close
upon taking the veil. The hair was fastened up with hair-pins (
acus
crinales) and combs (
pectines), which we find made of boxwood,
ivory, and tortoise-shell. The hair was also at times fastened with bands (
diademata) of gold set with jewels, like the Greek
στεφάνη. As to nets, the women used to wear
reticula,
sometimes made of gold threads. The
mitra (
Juv.iii.
66) has been explained elsewhere, and the
calautica, or
calantica, or
calvatica was a cap with lappets
covering the ears and with two strings for tying under the chin. Nonius says it was worn by
women only. For other matters relating to the modes of dressing the hair, etc., see
Acus;
Diadema;
Mitra;
Pecten; Reticulum.
