Wednesday, September 17, 2014

Defending Ancient Greeks

By Maria K.

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Despite wars and invasions, Ancient Greeks left us enough cultural heritage to make any civilization proud. Sadly most of their bronze statues were lost to weapon making, although, some were copied in marble by the Romans - thankfully, because this allows us to get a glimpse of the incredible humanity and artistry of Ancient Greek sculptors. In addition, we have numerous pieces of jewelry, ceramic, frescoes, and entire structures. Musical and literary experts spent decades gathering information about Ancient Greek culture's songs, dances, tales, scientific, philosophical, and literary works. It is no wonder this fantastic land with such rich historic and cultural heritage inspired so many works of art, literature, and even fashion trends. Celebrated designers, like Halston, Eta Hentz, Mariano Fortuny, Madam Gres, Raymond Duncan, and many others used the Greek tradition as a foundation for their designs - skilfully combining a reverent and respectful treatment of classical sartorial canons with modern ideas and techniques.

With all this wealth of written and visual information, one cannot help but be puzzled, why cover designers for Ancient Greek romance novels can't be bothered to maintain some level of historic accuracy? The best we can hope for is a nude model, attempting (and usually failing) to cover up with some sort of a sheet. Otherwise, we have women dressed in garments that look more like modern cocktail dresses, one-shoulder evening gowns, or cotton lingerie. As if purposely trying to destroy any lingering hint of authenticity, cover designers throw in modern haircuts and coloring, modern makeup, and use background images clearly shot in modern electric light.

Dear cover designers! Stop it. There are hundreds of thousands of wonderful, royalty-free stock images of Greece from talented amateur and professional photographers - shot on locations, in natural light, and with great consideration for the mood the image is meant to project. Some of them are even free! (Sites like 123RF have a huge section of free photos and vector images, if you don't require supremely high resolution.) There are tons of statues, vases, and frescoes to show you exactly what people wore and what they looked like at work and in play. There are numerous photos of Greek-inspired garments (like the ones shown above) to help you model a piece of fabric into one, when dressing your cover girl (or boy). Use these resources! Use them all the time to create covers that are worthy of well-written and exciting content within.

Dear Writers! Put your foot down. Do not accept a cover that has a girl fresh from the prom on it. Contrary to popular opinion created by some less-than-sophisticated reading audiences, most readers DO care and ARE selective. If you say it's an Ancient Greek romance - then put something Ancient Greek on the cover. Respect and educate your readers, and - above all - respect your own writing and have the balls to demand what you want when it comes to cover design.

P.S. The same applies to Ancient Rome, while we are at it - for all the same reasons: easy availability of information, easy adjustment, authenticity. A woman wealthy enough to buy delicate silk fabrics that look like chiffon would not wear them at home - she would wear them to an assembly to demonstrate her wealth. A girl in a slave tunic would not be wearing a Hanes bra under it and would have no makeup on - that was for wealthy ladies. And - once again - a prom dress does not a Roman attire make.