Aphrodite's Tortoise: The Veiled Woman of Ancient Greece

by Lloyd Llewellyn-Jones

Greek women routinely wore the veil. That is the unexpected finding of this meticulous study, one with interesting implications for the origins of Western civilisation. The Greeks, popularly (and rightly) credited with the invention of civic openness, are revealed as also part of a more Eastern tradition of seclusion. Llewellyn-Jones' work proceeds from literary and, notably, from iconographic evidence. In sculpture and vase painting it demonstrates the presence of the veil, often covering the head, but also more unobtrusively folded back onto the shoulders. This discreet fashion not only gave a privileged view of the face to the ancient art consumer, but also, incidentally, allowed the veil to escape the notice of traditional modern scholarship. From Greek literary sources, the author shows that full veiling of the head and face was commonplace. He analyses the elaborate Greek vocabulary for veiling and explores what the veil meant to achieve. He shows that the veil was a conscious extension of the house and was often referred to as 'tegidion', literally 'a little roof'. Veiling was thus an ingenious compromise; it allowed women to circulate in public while maintaining the ideal of a house-bound existence. Alert to the different types of veil used, the author uses Greek and more modern evidence (mostly from the Arab world) to show how women could exploit and subvert the veil as a means of eloquent, sometimes emotional, communication. First published in 2003 and reissued as a paperback in 2010, Llewellyn-Jones' book has established itself as a central - and inspiring - text for the study of ancient women.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Mythology, Classical Studies, Feminism, Academic, Greece

350 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2002

About the author

Lloyd Llewellyn-Jones is Professor of Ancient History at Cardiff University and a specialist in the histories and cultures of ancient Iran and Greece. He also works on dress and gender in antiquity and on the ancient world in popular culture, especially Hollywood cinema.

Reviews

[Dee Eisel · Rating 5 out of 5]

Sometimes you read a book that changes your entire perspective on a people you were interested in getting to know. For me, this was that book. Llewellyn-Jones has done an excellent job of building and arguing a case that women in ancient Hellas were veiled for many of the same reasons as women in modern cultures throughout southern Europe and south and east Asia, and it has me re-evaluating some of what I assumed. This can only be a good thing!

When I was in college, I absolutely loved the comedic play Lysistrata, as I still do, but despite my still-naiive proto-feminist viewpoint I didn't take some of the points of that play to heart. I was focused on the girls getting one back from the guys. I ignored the context that there had to be something to get back: the women in the play were speaking for the first time and it was funny because it was shocking. Llewellyn-Jones points out much about the culture that points to veiling as keeping women "safely" confined, arguing that polluting miasma and the Arabic fitna are very much the same. I've known for some time that telling an ancestor that I am the head of my oikos, or household, would have had that ancestor in fits. I have a deeper understanding now as to how and why that would be, and how I can put my own life in context of the prior pagans who lived in that region.

I needed to read this book. Especially as a follower of the Hellenic Gods, it behooves me to have a realistic and not idealistic perception of the people living in the times when those Gods were honored, and some of what the rituals and ways of honoring them may have meant below a surface level. (The chapter on "upper mouth" and "lower mouth" should be required reading for anyone wanting to understand more about how women may have been viewed, for instance.) I don't feel the more comfortable for having read this, and that is just as it should be.

Five of five stars.

[Kathy Duffy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting book on the veiling of women going all the way back to Ancient Greece, really well documented -- it probably started life as a Thesis. The uses of veils as expressions of emotion and flirtation as well as the male and female experiences with both veiling and unveiling are explored. A good deal of the documentation quotes Greek literature, history and philosophy which help to shed light on the extent of the veiling of Greek women and the various types of veils. There is also a number of similarities to veiling practices in the Middle East.

Some of it, I found fascinating -- like how veiling actually sexualizes the wearer and the fact that in Mid-Eastern societies this focuses on a social cultural construct. The Fitna is deeply feared in Muslim society, since it is a world that not only means ‘disorder’ or ‘chaos’ but also a ‘beautiful woman who makes men abandon self-control’. This dread of female sexuality is at the core of Muslim culture where women are seen as having a more rapacious appetite for sex than men and are skilled in luring men away from the path of righteousness.

An amazing concept, that as a western raised woman I have trouble wrapping my brain around.

[Matias · Rating 4 out of 5]

At first, I felt a slight lack of nuance when it came to the contemporary use of the veil as a free choice for women. The author made it seem like the veil is inherently a consequence of patriarchy, almost as if it couldn't be reclaimed and used positively by women.

However, since it focuses on Ancient Greece - a deeply misogynistic society - I overlooked this lack of nuance. Otherwise, it was quite informative and thorough, and I loved the included analyses. The author, in addition to demonstrating literary and iconographic evidence for the veil in a clear and concise manner, was able to present an academic interpretation of why the veil was worn in antiquity. He also pointed the finger at the persistent neglect of the veil by Western scholars, which, according to the author, is due to the fallacious need to separate "the cradle of Western civilization" from typically Eastern characteristics.

[Jill · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really 4.5. Fascinating discussion of veiling practices in the ancient world extending to current times.

[Ella Keogh · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fabulous fabulous fabulous