Sartorial Adventure

Rock crystal ring with sphinx, Egypt, IX-XX Dynasty, 1295-1069 BC

Crooklyn (1994) dir. Spike Lee

Blue Silk Satin Bodice

c. 1891

I found the art direction to be once again very odd, especially the long sleeves, which look more like modern sweatshirts. But that made me wonder, which garments should Menelaus and Telemachus be wearing for a hunting trip? Would a simple chiton, a chlamys, and a petasos hat be the norm, like in this vase? As noblemen, would they have specific hunting gear?

At this point I feel like I’ve talked myself half to death about Nolan’s Odyssey. The visuals are quite frankly unforgivable, not just from any metric of historicity but in terms of any sort of character or costume design in general. Pretending like this movie doesn’t exist is the only thing that seems to quell my rage.

But let’s talk about hunting garb!

Long story short, noblemen probably wore the same sort of gear hunting as anybody else, save for maybe of a slightly finer quality. I believe physical ornamentation was considered to be feminine, at least post-Bronze Age, so any sort of needless embellishment might have taken away from the masculinity of the wearer’s character and prowess as a hunter. 

Moreover, in depictions of hunting, we see that some if not all men are nude. This may just be an artistic convention, but given the climate of the region, potential damage to clothing (which was time consuming and costly to make), and the level of flexibility nudity allowed, it isn’t inconceivable to imagine this was done. Not to mention, many if not all athletic activities were also undertaken in the nude, so why not hunting? However, for the purpose of SFW artistic interpretation, having men dress in a short tunic with a chlamys and petasos with some sturdy sandals would be more than appropriate. 

If we’re looking at Bronze Age sources, hunters seemed to have worn short tunics. 

It’s also worth mentioning that @kyleesarthell did a pretty great job redrawing the screenshot in a more historical style.