Modifications to the body constitute primary dress behaviors of the dresseD individual. As defined by Eicher and Roach-Higgins, body modifications may be temporary or permanent and include transformations of the hair, skin, nails, musculoskeletal system, teeth, and breath.1 Although we tend to think of body modification in terms of such extreme practices as tattooing, piercing, or cosmetic surgery, the mundane habits of diet, exercise, and bathing; the application of perfume and cosmetics; and the maintenance of body - and head-hair are likewise significant for the construction of identity.
The theoreticaL literature on body modification has expanded exponentially in recent years, reflecting increased scholarly interest in the body as well as current fashions.2 Modifications to the body are essential to the negotiation of individual and group identities. Transformations of the skin, in particular, serve to mediate the dynamic relationship between the body and society.3 As proposeD by Mary Douglas, the boundaries of the body reflect the boundaries of society; hence, modifications to the body are strictly policed.4 Although the Western tradition has conventionally perceived of the Classical body as “natural,” the Greeks engaged in body modification in many forms, reflecting fundamental ideological structures of ancient Greek society: male/female; elite/ non-elite; Greek/barbarian. While the Greek elite displayed a broad range of temporary body modifications as a way of reaffirming their elite identities, non-ideal figures were often marked perpetually as such by means of permanent modifications to the body.
TEMPORARY BODY MODIFICATIONS
Diaita
Ancient Greek writers are surprisingly modern in their attitudes toward the maintenance of the body through diet, exercise, and hygiene. The term diaita refers not just to diet but to an entire regimen of healthful behaviors that were intended to maintain the proper balance of hot and cold, wet and dry. There was no single ideal regimen; rather, diaita could be adapted to meet individual needs, which were determined primarily by gender, age, and social status.5
World History
