CRE´PIDA
CRE´PIDA (
κρηπίς), also
called
crepidula (Plaut.
Pers.
4.2, 3), was a kind of shoe of the nature of sandals (
Gel. 13.21,
5); but as it was
different from the latter (
Ath. 14.621 b; Hor.
Sat. 1.3, 127), it is to be considered as
occupying a middle position between a closed boot and plain sandals.
Originally it appears to have been worn by peasants, having a high and
strong sole, often studded with nails (Bekk.
Anecd. 273, 18;
cf.
Plin. Nat. 36.127), sometimes fitted
with leaden or brazen plates called
Χῖαι
κρηπῖδες (Hippoc. ap. Galen, xviii. A. p. 678, ed. Kuhn; Tert.
de Pall. 4;
Ael. VH
12.32), and we are told that Hagnon, one of the followers of
Alexander, had gold or silver nails in his
crepidae (
Ath. 12.539 c;
Ael. VH 9.3;
Plut. Alex.
40). It sometimes had a low upper (cf. the story in Parthen.
Erot. 8), with eyes (
ansae）
through which straps (
obstragula,
ἱμάντες), which were at times adorned with
jewels (
Plin. Nat. 9.114) or dyed with
purple (Heliod.
Aethiop. 3.3), were passed, fastening it over
the instep: often it was closed at the back (this is probably the
ὀπισθοκρηπὶς of Poll. 7.91): but generally the
upper consisted of a series of large loops (also called
ansoe), through which the fastening thong or thongs were passed.
This kind of open network covering the instep explains the epithet
πολυς χιδές (Lucian,
Rhet. Praecept.
 |
|
Crepida. (Foot of Hermes.)
|
15). Examples Crepida. (Foot of Hermes.) of
crepidae are given among the Greek shoes under
CALCEUS 3 and 4, and in the
accompanying cut of the
[p. 1.563]foot of the Hermes of
Praxiteles. There appear to have been a definite number of
ansae in special kinds of
crepidae (see the story which led to the proverb
ne sutor supra crepidam judicaret in
Plin. Nat. 35.85). In some vase-paintings
of ephebi the bands fastening the
crepidae
reach half-way up the calf (see Saglio, fig. 2057). The
crepida would fit either foot (Isid.
Orig.
19.34, 3). They were of course made of leather (
Xen. Eq. 12, 10). Lamps made in the form of
crepidae or
caligae, with nails in the soles, have been found, and
illustrations of them are given in Saglio (fig. 2059) and Baumeister (fig.
619).
The
κρηπὶς was the national Greek shoe
(Plut.
Aemil. 34; Pers. 1.127;
Suet.
Dom. 4); hence at Rome a tragedy in Greek costume was called
fabula crepidata. It is especially mentioned as a
Macedonian military boot (Theocr. 15.6), while the Roman military boot with
nails was called
CALIGA We find
the
crepida frequently worn with the
pallium (
Liv. 29.19,
12;
Suet. Tib.
13), and with the
chlamys and
causia (
Cic. Rab. Post.
10,
27;
Plut. Ant. 54; Herodian, 4.8, 2): in all these
passages it is spoken of in pointed contrast to Roman costume.
As
κρηπὶς sometimes (
Ath. 12.522; Lucian,
l.c.) appears as a
soft shoe worn by women, we cannot suppose that this kind resembled the
heavy
κρηπὶς of peasants or soldiers
otherwise than in shape. We are also told that Sophocles (
Vit.
Soph. p. 128, 30; ed. West.) introduced white
κρηπῖδες for the
choreutae and for
actors who performed (Wieseler,
Satyrspiel, p. 82)
subordinate female parts or the parts of effeminate men. More probably,
however, these
κρηπῖδες were of the nature
of the high-soled peasants' shoes mentioned above.
The word
κρηπὶς was also used in the sense
of a kind of pancake or cake made of dough with fruit inside it (
Ath. 14.645; Poll. 6.77;
Hesych. sub voce).
(Hermann-Blümner,
Privatalterthümer, p. 182;
Marquardt,
Privatleben der Römer, p. 577;
Becker-Göll,
Charikles, 3.274-277; and Pottier, in
D. & S.)
[
L.C.P]
