Illustrated Companion to the Latin Dictionary/Calantica

Illustrated Companion to the Latin Dictionary, and Greek Lexicon (Rich, 1849)

CALANT'ICA, CALAUT'ICA, or CALVAT'ICA (κρήδεμνον). A cap fastened on by a ligature round the head, with a kind of curtain or lappets hanging down on both sides as far as the tips of the shoulders (Eustath. ad Il. xiv. 184.), so that they might be drawn together at pleasure, and made to conceal the whole face. (Hom. Od. i. 334. Il. xiv. 184.) It was commonly worn by the Egyptians of both sexes (Riddle, s. v.), and is consequently of frequent occurrence in the {{PICTURA|paintings} and sculptures belonging to that nation, precisely similar to the example (Calantica/1.1) here introduced, which is copied from a statue of Isis in the Capitol at Rome. When adopted by the Greeks and Romans, its use was confined to the female sex (Non. Marc. s. v. p. 537.), or to persons who affected a foreign or effeminate costume. Cic. Fragm. Or. in Clod. p. 115. ed. Amed. Peyron. Lips. 1824.

The affinity of the Greek and Latin words, and their identity with the figure in the engraving, may be established thus. The Greek term is derived from κράς, and δέω or δέμα, meaning literally that which is fastened by a ligature to the head, and Nonius (l. c.) gives a similar interpretation to the Latin one — quod capiti innectitur: whilst Ausonius (Perioch. Od. 5.), translates the κρήδεμνον of Homer by the Latin calantica or calvatica. The illustration and derivation of the Greek word also explain another of the senses in which it is used (Hom. Od. iii. 392.); viz. a leather cap tied over the mouth and bung of a vessel containing wine or other liquids, which the lexicographers erroneously translate, "the lid of a vessel." The illustration moreover will explain why Cicero (l. c.) and Servius (ad Virg. Aen. ix. 616.) use the words calantica and mitra as nearly convertible terms (compare the illustrations to each word); and, at the same time, account for one of the Latin names, calvatica, which is probably the only true one, because in Egypt it really was used to cover the bald heads of the priests of Isis (grege calvo, Juv. Sat. vi. 533.), and at Rome by old women who had lost their hair, as in the medal of Aurelia, the mother of Julius Caesar (Guasco, Ornatrici, p. 91.), which is fastened round the head with a band, precisely like the example introduced above.

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  Calantica/1.1