A Man of Many Scents

Men of ancient Athens used different aromatics for different parts of the body. A poem by Antiphanes reads:

He really bathes

In a large gilded tub, and steeps his feet

And legs in rich Egyptian unguents:

His jaw and legs with thick palm oil,

And both his arms with extract sweet of mint;

His eyebrows and his hair with marjoram,

His knees and neck with essence of ground thyme.

Butler, Hilda and Poucher, William Arthur. Poucher’s Perfumes, Cosmetics, and Soaps. Dordrecht, The Netherlands, 1923. Pp. 23.