Overview

The Greek Bath: An Overview

The ritual of bathing was an important one for the citizens of ancient Greece and it was an essential part of daily life from the 8th century B.C.E. onward. The earliest form of communal bathing originated in Greek gymnasia. The Greeks believed that being physically fit and athletic were important traits for a well rounded person to possess. Because of this, gymnasia were staples in Greek cities. When the Greeks first created gymnasia they often included sink-like basins for the athletes to wash in. Soon the Greek bath house evolved into a social activity that included philosophy lectures, sporting activities, and various communal meetings.

  Swimming pools, known as kolymbethrai were utilized as cold water rectangular plunge baths and were often built in open air spaces beside the gymnasia. The best known bath of this type comes from Olympia. Cold water plunge baths were most surely associated with athletic competitions and swimming as a form of physical fitness. The Greeks thought highly of the activity of swimming so it was natural that pools were built on gymnasia premises. People had the choice to wash themselves in either the cold water which sprang from fountains that were connected with a basin raised on a pedestal or they could take a plunge in a cold water pool that was available in many bath houses.

Public baths in Greece, known as balaneia, reached their height in Greece in the Classical period. Numerous facilities, such as the baths in Athens, were built during this time for the sole purpose of bathing. Although public bathing was an extremely popular activity for the ancient Greeks it never shared the same level of prestige as a form of exercise that swimming held. Many ancient authors such as Aristophanes condemned the bath houses as wicked and dissolute (Ar. Nub. 5.991, 1045 ff.761c). The bath was becoming more independent from the gymnasium and Aristophanes suggested that only the lazy and idle attended the public baths (Ar. Nub.1050ff).

  While cold water plunges were one of the first types of public baths, the Greeks also employed other types of bathing. Hip baths, such as those in the Sanctuary of Apollo soon became an extremely popular form of public bathing. The patron would sit in his own individual tub, which was usually made of stone or terra cotta, and an attendant would pour hot water over him. Although this type of “shower” bath was the most prevalent form of bathing, immersion baths were present in several balaneia. This kind of bath was taken lying down in a round-bottomed tub in which a person could immerse his entire body. The sweat-bath was another type of bath that was available at several balaneia and it occupied its own small chamber that was heated from the floor.

The heating systems of the Greek baths were extremely simple until the 1st century B.C.E. In the earliest Greek baths, steam from hot water and coals were enough to sufficiently keep the small spaces where the baths were located warm. Brass cauldrons of water were heated on the fire and then carried to the bath. The Greeks eventually used more advanced ways to heat the baths. A dual-purpose stove that boiled the water which heated several chambers at once and a furnace-boiler combination that was able to heat many bath chambers at the same time were more advanced ways the Greeks heated their baths. The Greek baths were simple in structure, but they offered various types of baths for  patrons to use. The bath was an essential activity in ancient Greek cities and was extremely influential as the forerunner to elaborate Roman bath houses.

Primary Sources:

Aristophanes, Nubes 5.991, 1045 ff.761c
Aristophanes, .Nubes 1050ff