DYES AND DYEING - Ancient Greece and Rome: An Encyclopedia for Students (4 Volume Set) (2024)

FAQs

What dyes did the ancient Greeks use? ›

Apart from the conchyliae, kermes was the only animal dye used by the Ancients. Kermes dye was expensive, but it was cheaper than purple, and therefore frequently used as a substitute for it.

Dyestuffs used in textile production derive from plants and animals. Besides of substances mentioned in ancient texts, ancient Greeks were able to use a large variety of everyday plants, many of which were still used in textile dyeing in the Greek countryside until recently.

The plant that renders this beautiful dye, Rubia tinctorum, grows all over the world, including Greece. Textual evidence exists for the use of madder in dye-making as early as Classical times, but it was apparently used before then in Crete. The plant's roots are severed and mashed, then heated to produce the dye.

The dyes used by the Romans included madder, kermes, weld, woad, walnut hulls, oak galls, saffron and lichen purple. With the exception of kermes, which is no longer available, these were the dyes we used on the course. According to Pliny the Elder, orange, red and purple were colours worn by priests and priestesses.

Natural and synthetic

The majority of natural dyes are derived from non-animal sources: roots, berries, bark, leaves, wood, fungi and lichens. In the 21st century, most dyes are synthetic, i.e., are man-made from petrochemicals.

Ancient Romans used a number of materials to change the color of their hair. Some of these dyes were plant-based and were made out of the henna tree or from berries. Dyes to make hair black included a solution made out of leeches and vinegar. Gold dust was also used to lighten the appearance of hair.

For their yellows, Greek and Roman painters used Massicot and Naples Yellow, as well as the traditional Orpiment. Massicot came from lead oxide, while Naples Yellow - a warm yellow pigment - derived from Lead Antimoniate and appeared at the same time as Vermilion.

Mineral dyes came from minerals found on the earth's surface and in mines. Hematite for red, limonite for yellow and lazurite for blue were used to provide the necessary colours for textiles. By scratching the rocks' surface, a powder was created, which after solving with water or oil, was ready to use.

Linen was the most common fabric due to the hot climate which lasted most of the year. On the rare occasion of colder weather, ancient Greeks wore wool. Common clothing of the time was plain white, or neutral-colored, sometimes incorporating decorative borders.

The Romans liked bright colors, and many Roman villas were decorated with vivid red murals. The pigment used for many of the murals was called vermilion, and it came from the mineral cinnabar, a common ore of mercury.

How did Ancient Greeks dye their hair? ›

The Romans and Greeks wanted color that was fade-resistant

It is believed people initially used a combination of lead oxide and calcium hydroxide to color their strands, but when that was determined too toxic, they switched to a formula created by fermenting leeches.

The most prized and expensive dye was called Tyrian purple, which came from small mollusks called murex snails. The natural historian Pliny remarked on the rather unpleasant smell of the murex conchylium — one of the marine gastropods often used to produce the prized purplish-red dye.

Tyrian purple was one of the most important natural dyes to have ever been found. As legend has it, a sheep dog belonging to Hercules was walking along the beach in Tyre. He bit into a small mollusk which turned his mouth the color of coagulated blood. This became known as royal or tyrian purple.

Prominent types are 1) acid dyes for polyamide and protein substrates such as nylon, wool, and silk; 2) disperse dyes for hydrophobic substrates such as polyester and acetate, and 3) direct and reactive dyes for cellulosic substrates such as cotton, rayon, linen, and paper.

Most people in ancient Greece had dark hair and, as a result of this, the Greeks found blond hair immensely fascinating. In the Homeric epics, Menelaus the king of the Spartans is, together with some other Achaean leaders, portrayed as blond.

Ancient civilizations used rudimentary hair colorants, based on recipes that included cassia bark, leeks, leeches, charred eggs, henna -- still commonly used across the Middle East and India -- and even gold dust.

Going Dark in Ancient Rome

While blonde was fashionable, gray hair was not, so graying Romans turned to hair dye to darken their once-raven locks. Once popular recipe used a mixture made from ashes, boiled walnut shells, and earthworms.

Encaustic painting is one of the world's oldest art forms! The earliest applications of encaustic wax paint was done by the artists of Ancient Greece -- hence, where the Greek word "enkaustikos" meaning "to burn in". Greek artists were using wax paint to adorn sculptures, murals, boats, and even architecture.

Romans loved color. Many people wore bright clothing dyed in vibrant hues of purple, red, green, gray, and yellow, often decorated with dyed threads. Going about their daily business, they moved through streets lined by red, yellow, blue, and black buildings, which were often embellished with colored graffiti.

In ancient Rome, purple was the color of royalty, a designator of status. And while purple is flashy and pretty, it was more important at the time that purple was expensive. Purple was expensive, because purple dye came from snails.

How was the first dye made? ›

In 1856, an 18-year-old English chemist, William Henry Perkin, accidentally discovered one of the first synthetic dyes. In search of a treatment for malaria, Perkin experimented with coal tar, a thick, dark liquid by-product of coal-gas production.

It's true—ancient Egyptians were some of the first known people to use hair dye, applying henna to cover gray hair. Natural hair color was also used years later in Ancient Greece and Rome, where people pulled different plant extracts to modify the color of their hair.

In general, organic compounds such as naphthalene are reacted with an acid or an alkali along with an intermediate (such as a nitrating or a sulfonating compound) and a solvent to form a dye mixture. The dye is then separated from the mixture and purified.

The toga was considered Rome's "national costume," privileged to Roman citizens but for day-to-day activities most Romans preferred more casual, practical and comfortable clothing; the tunic, in various forms, was the basic garment for all classes, both sexes and most occupations.

The blue and white colors have been identified as the traditional colors of Greece: blue symbolizes the sky and the sea, white symbolizes the clouds and the waves.

According to the painter Renzo Vespignani, an unsurpassed portraitist of the city, the color of Rome is the yellow ocher of burnt bread, not surprisingly, a synthesis between gold and red.

Red dye 40 — also known as Allura Red AC, red 40, and red No. 40 — is an artificial coloring that's added to processed foods, medications, and cosmetics. In fact, a 2016 research article in Clinical Pediatrics suggests it's the most commonly used artificial food coloring in grocery items.

Red, black and white were the first colors used by artists in the Upper Paleolithic age, probably because natural pigments such as red ochre and iron oxide were readily available where early people lived. Madder, a plant whose root could be made into a red dye, grew widely in Europe, Africa and Asia.

Greece and Rome – 400 CE

Later in history, in Ancient Greece and Rome, it was considered uncivilized to have pubic hair, so men and women used tools to pluck the hairs individually or singed them off with fire. Other forms of hair removal included razors, sharpened stones, and even forms of depilatory cream.

What was first hair dye made of? ›

In the mid-1800s, English chemist William Henry Perkin serendipitously synthesized the first non-natural dye: Starting with coal tar, he was hoping to produce the malaria drug quinine, but instead created mauve.

Generally, your hair color should complement your skin undertones: warm with yellow, golden, or orange-infused hues; cool with pink, violet, or blue-toned shades. "Neutral [undertones] can go with any hair color," says Papanikolas, whereas "Olive skin has green undertones and looks best with its opposite warm tones."

The color purple's ties to kings and queens date back to ancient world, where it was prized for its bold hues and often reserved for the upper crust. The Persian king Cyrus adopted a purple tunic as his royal uniform, and some Roman emperors forbid their citizens from wearing purple clothing under penalty of death.

Tyrian purple dye was first manufactured by the Phoenicians in the 16th century BCE. According to the legend recorded by the Greek scholar Julius Pollux in the 2nd century CE, the dye was discovered by the Phoenician god Melqart while walking along the seashore with his dog and the nymph Tyros.

To this day, we think of purple as the color of royalty and luxury. Consequently, it brings up a feeling of trust and reliability. Purple's rarity also gives it an air of mystery. It's associated with creativity and the realm of fantasy — think about how many times magic gets portrayed as purple in popular culture.

Examples of dyes, each containing a different chromophore, include azobenzene, xanthene, and triphenylmethane. Alizarin contains the anthraquinone chromophore.

1. Basic dyes are water-soluble cationic dyes that are mainly applied to acrylic fibers, but find some use for wool and silk. Usually acetic acid is added to the dye bath to help the uptake of the dye onto the fiber. Basic dyes are also used in the coloration of paper.

There are three categories:

Cellulose fiber dye. Protein fibers dye. Synthetic fibers dye.

The dyeing of cloth after it is being woven or knitted is known as piece dyeing. It is the most common methods of dyeing used. The various methods used for this type of dyeing include jet dyeing, Jig dyeing, pad dyeing and beam dyeing.

What was the first natural dye? ›

Indigoids (Indigo and Tyrian purple) are perhaps the most important group of natural dyes and the oldest dyes used by human civilizations. Natural indigo is a dye having distinctive blue color with long history and is regarded as one of the most important and valuable of all coloring matters.

Archaeologists recently uncovered several scraps of indigo-dyed fabric at the Huaca Prieta ceremonial mound in northern Peru. Believed to be about 6,200 years old, this find pushes back the date for the earliest known use of the dye by roughly 1,600 years, Cynthia Graber reports for Scientific American.

Erythrosine, also known as Red 3, is the most controversial dye. Male rats given erythrosine had an increased risk of thyroid tumors ( 23 , 24 ). Based on this research, the FDA issued a partial ban on erythrosine in 1990, but later removed the ban.

Dyes are used primarily to impart color to textiles, leather, paints, photographs, cosmetic and pharmaceutical products, biological stains, and food. Many natural dyes have been largely replaced by synthetic dyes that were developed at the end of the nineteenth century.

The most prized and expensive dye was called Tyrian purple, which came from small mollusks called murex snails. The natural historian Pliny remarked on the rather unpleasant smell of the murex conchylium — one of the marine gastropods often used to produce the prized purplish-red dye.

Production of Tyrian purple for use as a fabric dye began as early as 1200 BCE by the Phoenicians, and was continued by the Greeks and Romans until 1453 CE, with the fall of Constantinople. The pigment was expensive and complex to produce, and items colored with it became associated with power and wealth.

The Romans and Greeks wanted color that was fade-resistant

It is believed people initially used a combination of lead oxide and calcium hydroxide to color their strands, but when that was determined too toxic, they switched to a formula created by fermenting leeches.

They were the most used in antiquity as they were the easiest to find and develop. The most common dyes were made of madder for red, saffron and safflower for yellow and indigo for blue and blueish purple. Items dyed in indigo were considered luxurious, as they were hard to find.

In ancient Rome, purple was the color of royalty, a designator of status. And while purple is flashy and pretty, it was more important at the time that purple was expensive. Purple was expensive, because purple dye came from snails.

The ancients also used saffron, indigo, and alfalfa. But natural dyes only coat the hair temporarily, and people wanted chemically altered tresses. Analyzing hair samples has revealed that the Greeks and Romans used permanent black hair dye thousands of years ago.

What did purple mean in Greek? ›

Color symbolism in ancient Greece

Death shrouds were red. Black:Worn for mourning, but also to draw attention to the mourner's social status. Purple:Indicated royalty or high rank, due to the rarity of purple dye.

Like ancient, like modern

There are of course exceptions, with the odd blond-haired, blue-eyed Greek thrown into the mix, as well as other colorations, sometimes described in the ancient texts.

Greek fire burns green and can be made used as bombs. Greek fire can also burn underwater as shown in The Last Olympian when Percy goes to Poseidon's underwater palace. Greek fire is described as a swirling green liquid that explodes if dropped on the ground and the container is broken.

It's true—ancient Egyptians were some of the first known people to use hair dye, applying henna to cover gray hair. Natural hair color was also used years later in Ancient Greece and Rome, where people pulled different plant extracts to modify the color of their hair.

All the dyes that are derived from organic and inorganic chemical compounds are synthetic dyes. Acidic dyes, basic dyes, azoic dyes, nitro dyes, vat dyes, mordant dyes, and sulphur dyes, etc. are synthetic dyes.

Mauveine, or aniline purple as it is more formally known, was the world's first synthetic dye and was among the first mass-produced chemical dyes. The Perkin collection includes four copies of the third edition of Perkin's patent, as well as a bottled sample of the dye prepared by Perkin in 1862.

In 1856, an 18-year-old English chemist, William Henry Perkin, accidentally discovered one of the first synthetic dyes. In search of a treatment for malaria, Perkin experimented with coal tar, a thick, dark liquid by-product of coal-gas production.