From Surf Wiki (app.surf) — the open knowledge base
Polos
Headdress of certain ancient Greek female gods
Headdress of certain ancient Greek female gods

The ***polos'' crown''' (plural ***poloi'''''; ) is a high cylindrical crown worn by mythological goddesses of the Ancient Near East and Anatolia and adopted by the ancient Greeks for imaging the mother goddesses Rhea, Cybele and Hera.
The word also meant an axis or pivot and is cognate with the English, 'pole'. It was often open at the top with hair cascading down from the sides, or it could be reduced to a ring.
In the classical period, mortal women seem not to have worn poloi, but they are more commonly seen in terracotta statues of women from the Mycenaean period, thus the use in statues of goddesses can be seen as a deliberate archaism.
Some poloi seem to have been made by weaving, though it is not clear what material. None have been found in archaeological digs, suggesting that they were not made of metal.
Notes
References
- [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:1999.04.0057:entry%3Dpo/los Liddell and Scott define πόλος as 'a head-dress worn by goddesses.']
- (10 May 2011). "Household Archaeology in Ancient Israel and Beyond". BRILL.
- [http://www.fjkluth.com/polos.html The Role of Women in the Art of Ancient Greece] {{webarchive. link. (2010-10-05)
This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page.
Ask Mako anything about Polos — get instant answers, deeper analysis, and related topics.
Research with MakoFree with your Surf account
Create a free account to save articles, ask Mako questions, and organize your research.
Sign up freeThis content may have been generated or modified by AI. CloudSurf Software LLC is not responsible for the accuracy, completeness, or reliability of AI-generated content. Always verify important information from primary sources.
Report