Warm Water Bathing

The ancient Greeks believed that bathing daily was a ritual that allowed them to be both mentally and physically healthy. Ancient Greek testimonia suggest that people from every social class attended the baths (Polyb.30.29).

Before public baths became extremely popular in Greece during the Classical period, the majority of people utilized the cold water plunge baths like the one in Delphi, that were constructed next to the gymnasia (Rep.Ath.210ff). While warm water bathing was considered an aristocratic privilege, those who wanted to live a more disciplined and prudent life opted for icy plunges. It is evident through ancient sources, such as Hippocrates, that wrestlers took cold baths after their matches (Ep. 5.52). Some ancient sources such as the playwright Aristophanes, thought that young men should only participate in cold baths because warm water caused them to sit and talk all day instead of participating in the manlier games (Nub. 1050ff).

Along with athletes some ancient Greek authors also saw the pros of cold water bathing. Aristotle stated (Pr. 1.39.863b) that those who bathed in frigid water only felt cold for a short period of time and remained warm throughout the day while hot water bathers were warm only briefly and stayed cold for the rest of the day. Strabo mentions that the Laconians took only cold water baths and commends them for living so cleanly and simply (3.36). Homer writes that Odysseus and his men reveled in washing themselves in the cold river and enjoyed the warmness of the suns rays on their naked bodies (Od. 6.96ff). Other authors, such as Plutarch, scoffed at the practice of cold water bathing, saying it was ostentatious and juvenile rather than helpful for a man to bathe in icy water (Mor. 131.7).

Although cold water bathing remained the accepted method of bathing for athletes, the public baths that were constructed in the fifth and fourth centuries caused warm baths to become the standard. Initially the upper classes looked down on public baths thinking they were places of debauchery. Because of this train of thought many men stayed loyal to the gymnasia. Soon, though, even the aristocrats were attending the public baths (Polyb.30.29).

Young and old, sick and healthy all enjoyed bathing in warm water and it was thought to cure different types of illnesses. Hippocrates recommended warm baths to those with stomach troubles and his patients with fevers (Ep. 7.102). The philosopher Plato stated that a warm bath could “give a kindly welcome and a helping hand to the sick folk and to those whose bodies are worn with the toils of husbandry – a welcome far better than a doctor who is none too skillful” (Leg. 6.761c,d).

Whether a man chose to bathe in warm water or cold he was recommended not to bathe with females. The earliest reference to women bathing comes from Hesiod who says…. (Op. 753-55). Theopompus wrote that if women and men did bathe together bathing drawers should be worn to hide private parts. Although men were the primary patrons of the bath houses women enjoyed the ritual of bathing also and did so in private.

Primary Sources:

Nub. 1050ff
Ep. 5.52
Ep. 7.102
Hesiod Op. 753-55
Leg. 6.761c,d
Mor. 131.7
Od. 6.96ff
Polyb.30.29
Pr. 1.39.863b
Rep.Ath.210ff
Strabo 3.36