The Homer Reader The Iliad & Odyssey · Greek and English

χιτών

chiton

garment worn next the skin, tunic

Appears 70 times across Homer's epics.

Frequency by work

Click a work to list every occurrence by book & line — each links into the reader.

Dictionary (LSJ)

χιτών, in Ion.Prose κῐθών, ῶνος, ὁ (also prob. in Sammelb. 4291), Dor. κῐτών (q. v.):—A. garment worn next the skin, tunic. I. in early times, only of a manʼs tunic (the womanʼs being πέπλος, Sch.BT Il. 2.42), χιτῶνα περὶ χροΐ δῦνεν Od. 15.60; κιθῶνας ὑποδύνειν τοῖσι εἵμασι Hdt. 1.155: sts. with a girdle, Od. 14.72; τερμιόεις 19.242, Hes. Op. 537; μαλακός, ἐΰννητος, Od. 1.437, Il. 24.580; [χ.] λαμπρός . . ἠέλιος ὥς Od. 19.234; χλαῖνάν τε χιτῶνά τε 14.132, 154; οἱ δʼ ἀροτῆρες ἤρεικον χθόνα δῖαν ἐπιστολάδην δὲ χιτῶνας ἐστάλατʼ Hes. Sc. 287. 2. later worn also by women, ἅμα κιθῶνι ἐκδυομένῳ συνεκδύεται καὶ τὴν αἰδῶ γυνή Hdt. 1.8; σύροισα χιτῶνα Theoc. 2.73; the Ionian sleeved χ. was distd. fr the Dorian, fastened with περόναι, μετέβαλον [αἱ τῶν Ἀθηναίων γυναῖκες] ἐς τὸν λίνεον κ. ἵνα δὴ περόνῃσι μὴ χρέωνται Hdt. 5.87; οἱ πρεσβύτεροι [τῶν Ἀθηναίων] οὐ πολὺς χρόνος ἐπειδὴ χιτῶνας λινοῦς ἐπαύσαντο φοροῦντες Th. 1.6, cf. Eust. 954.50; χ. ποδήρης, ὀρθοστάδιος, στατός (v. sub vocc.); κιθὼν ποδηνεκής, worn by Babylonians, Hdt. 1.195; κιθῶνες λίνεοι περὶ τὰ σκέλεα θυσανωτοί, worn by Egyptians, Id. 2.81; κιθῶνες εἰρίνεοι, worn by Cilicians, Id. 7.91; dub. in E. IT 288(pl.). II. coat of mail, prob. of leather covered with scales or rings, στρεπτὸς χ. Il. 5.113; χ. χάλκεος 13.439; κιθῶνες χειριδωτοὶ λεπίδος σιδηρέης coats of iron scales with sleeves, Hdt. 7.61 (s. v.l.): but distd. fr. θώρηξ Id. 9.22, cf. X. Cyr. 6.4.1. III. part of a shoe that coats the foot, upper, ib.8.2.5 (pl.), Arist. Rh. 1392a31. IV. metaph., any coat, case, or covering, λάϊνος χιτών (v. λάϊνος) τειχέων κιθῶνες, i. e. walls, Hdt. 7.139; in Anatomy, coat, membrane, τὸν ἀμφὶ τὴν ὄψιν χ. Hp. VM 19, cf. Aph. 7.45, Epicur. Nat. 2.993.1; ὁ . . χ. τῆς καρδίας Arist. Resp. 480a4; χ. ὑμενώδης, ἀραχνιώδης, Id. PA 679a1, HA 557b16; τοῦ ᾠοῦ οἱ χ. οἱ περιέχοντες ib. 561a14; of foetal membranes, Sor. 1.7,58, al.; τριγλοφόροι χιτῶνες, of fishing-nets, AP 6.11 (Satyr.); χιτῶνες ἀραχνίων spiders’ webs, Hp. Int. 3: pl., pods or coats of seeds, bulbous roots, etc., Thphr. HP 1.12.3, 8.4.1, CP 1.4.1, al. 2. vesture, [φύσις] σαρκῶν ἀλλογνῶτι περιστέλλουσα (sc. ψυχάς) χιτῶνι Emp. 126; σῶμα χ. ψυχῆς IG 14.2241: pl., προσθέσει χιτώνων ἐνυλοτέρων, of the soul, Procl. Inst. 209. (Accad. kitinnu ‘linen garment’, Hebr. kètōnet ‘tunicʼ; χεθὼν γὰρ τὸ λίνον ἡμεῖς καλοῦμεν J. AJ 3.7.2.)
‹ All lexicon entries