History of the Greek Bath

The earliest mention of baths in ancient Greece comes from Homer. In the Odyssey, Menelaus is described as having two silver baths and two tripods, which were very much like portable sinks (Hom. Od.2.4.252ff). Homer also refers many times to polished bathtubs that were filled with hot water, poured from large cauldrons (Hom. Od.2.8.449ff).

The earliest archaeological evidence for baths in Greece comes from the palace at Knossos (Cook 32). At Knossos, Sir Arthur Evans discovered a ground floor room, known as the queen’s megaron, where pillars and a balustrade screened off the innermost corner (Cook 32). In this area, Evans found the remains of a terra-cotta bathtub that was slightly longer than four feet in length and painted with designs (Cook 33). The bather would most likely have sat in the tub and had heated water poured over them (Gill 8-9). The locations of Bronze Age baths such as this one, suggests that the practice of bathing was a private affair (Gill 5).
    
In the 5th century BCE, public baths appear in Athens (Cook 39). These bathhouses were circular rooms with adjoining individual bathtubs radiating in a circle; there were no dividing walls between these tubs (Gill 8,10). In cases of rectangular buildings the tubs would be lined up against the wall, sometimes with niches carved overhead to store personal belongings (Yegül 24). Bathhouses were often carved into soft rock or into caves and were then covered by small amounts of materials (Yegül 25). They were roofed with conical domes and were kept small, cramped, and windowless in order to keep the room heated (Yegül 24). These baths had no formal heating elements, and it was not until much later, in the Roman period, that we begin to see mechanical methods used for heating these bathing rooms (Yegül 24). In Greek baths the heat usually came from the steaming water or metal pans used for burning charcoal (Yegül 24). In some instances, such as in the bath at Olympia, a type of stove that both boiled water and heated the room was used (Yegül 24).

In the early Hellenistic period, rock-cut hipbaths began to emerge (Gill 12).These hipbaths were carved out of caves or solid rock, and were about half the size of terra-cotta tubs (Yegül 24). However, the only example of this type of bath in Greece is in the port town of Piraeus where there are remains of round chambers that housed thirty hipbaths which encircled heated stones that served as a kind of sauna (Gill 12). Other Hellenistic tubs were wedge shaped with a seat raised so that the bather would be above the water level (Gill 20). This may have been a reflection of ancient medical advice against lying back in the tub (Gill 20).

In public baths the water was heated before use, while in baths connected to gymnasia, cold water was always considered best (Gill 17). The loutron, or cold-water bath, was similar to a modern day pool (Gill 12). In these types of baths, such as the bath at Delphi, water was transported through lion-headed spouts into elevated basins made from marble (Gill 12). From there the water would drain into a center basin where the water would collect and then drain into drainage pipes on the floor that flowed into the bath (Gill 31). These types of baths would have been uncovered. Exposing the bath to the elements would have been in keeping with the ideals of tough Greek athletes (Gill 18-19).

Baths would continue to evolve well into the future. When the Romans embraced public bathing, making it their own by inventing complex systems of heating and drainage, the Greek bath faded into the shadows. Nonetheless, Greece is the beginning of the culture and experience of the public bath.

Primary Sources

Hom. Od. 4.252ff
Hom. Od. 8.449ff