ATHENA AND HER TEMPLES

Nine months, durring the Chalcaea festival, the king archon had selected four yong girls of noble family. The girls ages 7-11 set up a loom on which the new peplos for Athena was to be woven. It was a simple rectangular cloth, which wrapped around the wearer and pinned at the shoulders. it was made to clothe the statue of Athena Polias, the protector of the city.

Another peplos for Athena was made by the professional weavers of Athens. It took countless men to raise it to the top of a mast. It may have been drapped over the Athena Parenthos, or it may have hung from the walls of her temple.