Donning footwear: The invention and diffusion of an iconographic motif in archaic Athens

The purpose of this chapter is to discuss a group of images presenting men and women donning footwear. These images first appear in Athenian vase-painting by the end of the sixth century bc and they continue into the fifth century bc, proliferating during its second half. The productive painter Oltos, active during the last quarter of the sixth century bc, was probably the pioneer of depicting figures performing this action. The scenes present men and women in a repeated posture: they bend their back and stretch both hands towards an elevated leg to don footwear. In order to better understand the meaning of this iconography, these images will be compared with arming scenes, where we see men bending their back and stretching both hands to an elevated leg to put a greave on the shin. They put on greaves in a similar attitude to the one described above. Such arming scenes are very common, and they predate the footwear donning scenes. These scenes present men in the dynamic, liminal process of arming before performing as warriors. Thus, they visualise the metamorphosis, the physical and mental changes required to perform that martial role. The formal similarity between the arming scenes and the footwear donning scenes allows us to interpret the later in the same vein. These scenes present men and women before executing a social role, such as that of a musician in a symposium, an athlete or a hetaira. Like the warriors in the arming scenes, they too need to get dressed in order to accomplish their role. The two types of scenes are seemingly related to each other and present a notion important to Athenian society - that of role performing.