About Dancing with the Lion: Rise
The story of Alexander before he became “the Great.”
Finished with schooling, Alexandros is appointed regent of Makedon while his father is away on campaign. He thrives with his new authority—this is the role he was born for—yet it creates conflict with his mother and Hephaistion. And when his soldiers, whom he leads with unexpected skill, start to call him “The Little King,” his father is less than delighted.
Tensions escalate between Alexandros and his father, and between Makedon and the city-states of southern Greece. As the drums of war sound, king and crown prince quarrel during their march to meet the Greeks in combat. Among other things, his father wants to know he can produce heirs, and thinks he should take a mistress, an idea Alexandros resists.
After the south is pacified, friction remains between Alexandros and the king. Hostilities explode at festivities for his father’s latest wedding, forcing Alexandros to flee in the middle of the night with his mother and Hephaistion. The rigors of exile strain his relationships, but the path to the throne will be his biggest challenge yet: a face-off for power between the talented young cub and the seasoned old lion.
About the Series
Alexandros is expected to command, not to crave the warmth of friendship with an equal. In a kingdom where his shrewd mother and sister are deemed inferior for their sex, and his love for Hephaistion could be seen as submission to an older boy, Alexandros longs to be a human being when everyone but Hephaistion just wants him to be a king.
Clothing and Hairstyles in ancient Macedonia
Ancient Greek and Macedonian clothing was relatively simple, in terms of not requiring much stitching. It usually amounted to a large, rectangular piece of cloth that was then folded, pinned, and tied in various ways.
Women wore one of two primary garmets: the peplos (both left below) or the khiton (sometimes chiton, both right below, Ionic-style). The choice was more regional than one of personal preference. In Macedonia, most women would wear the peplos. A peplos was secured by long pins (with protective endpiece) while the khiton was secured by fibulai, which amounted to safety pins (bee fibula, above left).
For men, there’s just the khiton really, either shorter (above knees, below left, Macedonian) or longer (mid-calf). In Macedonia, men may also have worn a long-sleeved version (below right).
Greeks also had “outer-wear.” First, the himation (not to be confused with a toga). It could be worn over a long men’s khiton, or alone (as below left); it’s sort of the ancient Greek version of a suit, more formal than a khiton. Women also wore the himation, especially outdoors. When raised over her head (below right), it was called “Aphrodite’s tortoise,” as she symbolically carried her “house” on her body (concealing her from the gaze of non-familial males).
Men might also wear a short cloak outdoors, the khlamys, especially associated with soldiers and men traveling . See the hunters below; the one on the left is identified as Alexander himself. And no, nobody really hunted naked; that’s “heroizing.” Notice also Alexander’s hat. That’s the petasos, a floppy, straw sunhat worn against the unforgiving solar glare of Greece.
Sandals came in a wide variety; there was even a “sandal boot” common to cavalrymen, et al. (See top left image below, or statue of man’s short khiton up above.) Additional sandal styles:
Finally, hair. Most of the men in the novel wear their hair short, following a style borrowed from soldiers and athletes. But Hephaistion wears his long, after a fashion among boys in Athens (see image on the pot below), but also among young men and even adults of the Archaic Age. I present you with … the ancient Greek mullet!
Despite what comic-book films would have you believe, fighting with long hair down may look lucious, but is pretty much impossible if you want to be able to see (and so, stay alive)—why most militaries insist that women (or men) with long hair keep it up. So also in ancient Greece. Hephaistion is described as wearing it braided in a crown around his head. Costume designer Ann Patricia demonstrates how that might work:
As for women’s styles, these varied a great deal. I’d like to point to the experimental archaeology of Janet Stephens, who pursues her love of figuring out hair designs in ancient statuary. Most of her work is not Greek, but of particular interest might be the Classical Greek chigon and Aphrodite’s Knot. Finally, the Sakkos, which Kleopatra is described as wearing once she’s old enough to be married off. The last video explains how ancient hair nets were made, and demonstrates weaving techniques on a small scale, for those interested. She then shows how to put the sakkos on the hair. (The model, incidentally, is wearing a peplos.)
About Jeanne Reames
Jeanne Reames has been scribbling fiction since 6th grade, when her “write a sentence with this vocabulary word” turned into paragraphs, then into stories…and her teacher let her get away with it—even encouraged her! But she wears a few other hats, too, including history professor, graduate program chair, and director of the Ancient Mediterranean Studies Program at her university. She’s written academic articles about Alexander and ancient Macedonia, and does her best to interest undergrads in Greek history by teaching them (et al.) to swear in ancient Greek.
On Facebook: facebook.com/jeanne.reames.3
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On Twitter: twitter.com/DrReames
Giveaway
To celebrate this release, one lucky person will win a $10 gift card to Riptide. Leave a comment with your contact info to enter the contest. Entries close at midnight, Eastern time, on October 26, 2019. Contest is NOT restricted to U.S. entries. Thanks for following along, and don’t forget to leave your contact info!
I guess you never really had to worry about your clothes fitting.
ReplyDeletejlshannon74 at gmail.com
Ha, not too much.
ReplyDeleteThank you for the post! Learning so much!
ReplyDeletehumhumbum AT yahoo DOT com
You're welcome.
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