Word of the Day

: April 19, 2021

chlamys

noun KLAM-us

What It Means

: a short oblong mantle worn by young men of ancient Greece

chlamys in Context

"Perhaps her effect on him was as despotic and intoxicating as the poets claimed. Rumors reached Rome that he had abandoned his toga for the Greek chlamys; that she reviewed his troops with a bodyguard of Praetorians; that he followed her litter humbly on foot…." — Judith Thurman, Cleopatra's Nose, 2007

"Ann Moore displays a black-and-white photo in a 1953 issue of Vogue magazine of a woman modeling an elegant silk taffeta chlamys with beading and rhinestones." — Shelia M. Poole, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, 1 Sept. 2016

Did You Know?

If you had been a man of ancient Greece, you'd likely have worn a chlamys from time to time. This cloak was a short, oblong mantle, typically made of dark wool, and worn draped over the left shoulder and fastened with a fibula at the right shoulder, leaving the right arm uncovered. The chlamys was popular especially among soldiers and messengers. Modern encounters with the chlamys are most likely to occur at museums where a statue of the messenger god Hermes or the Greco-Roman god Apollo might be seen garbed in such. As deities frequently on the move, these two would have appreciated the fact that the garment provided both protection from the elements and freedom of movement.