TRIBON
TRIBON The
τρίβων was a
variety of
ἱμάτιον, belonging to the class
of the
χλαῖναι διπληγίδες [see
PALLIUM p. 321], and was the
national garb of Sparta, worn by every male over twelve years of age. Its
use spread to Athens, having been introduced by such imitators of Spartan
life (
λακωνίζοντες) as Cimon. It is best
known in history as the dress of Socrates (Plato,
Symp. p.
219 B), adopted afterwards by the Cynics, with whom it became a professional
costume. The chief merit of the
τρίβων was
that it was worn alone, without a shirt. The references to the
“shirtless” condition of the Cynics are countless, from the
sneer of Kerkidas at Diogenes as being
διπλοείματος (cf.
Hor. Ep. 1.17,
25, “quem duplici panno patientia
velat” ) down to the time of Juvenal, who describes the only
difference between the Stoic and the Cynic as being a shirt ( “tunica
distantia,”
Sat. 13.122). The Cynic women followed the same
fashion, as did also the wife of Phocion, who on occasion wore her husband's
mantle. The
τρίβων was of a dark colour
(
φαιὸς) and of coarse but thick
material. The manner of wearing it seems to have varied according to the
length at which the owner wished to have it. It was of coarse woollen cloth,
worn with a brooch, but the pinning does not seem to have been invariable,
for on many of the statues of philosophers on
[p. 2.870]which it appears there is no brooch or pin shown. [
PALLIUM]
[
W.C.F.A]
