Ancient Greek Open-Air Shower, 6th Century BC

Ancient Greek Open-Air Shower, 6th Century BC

Entitled: "Greek Open-Air Shower Baths for Men" men standing under water which spouts from two stone panthers' heads. On either side are others anointing themselves. In The Book of the Bath, Françoise de Bonneville wrote, "The history of public baths begins in Greece in the sixth century B.C.," where men and women washed in basins near places of exercise, physical and intellectual. Later gymnasia had indoor basins set overhead, the open maws of marble lions offering showers, and circular pools with tiers of steps for lounging. Bathing was ritualized, becoming an art - of cleansing sands, hot water, hot air in dark vaulted vapor baths, a cooling plunge, a rubdown with aromatic oils. Cities all over Ancient Greece honored sites where "young ephebes stood and splashed water over their bodies."

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