Earrings

Earrings are the jewel of the ear, scholarikion in the Byzantine world, and enotion in Ancient Greece, a word deriving from en (in) and oti (ear). In Byzantium, there was an elite battalion of Armenian descent, called the scholars, guarding the emperor’s palace. One of the parts of their outfit was an impressive pair of earrings, called scholarikion enotion, the earring of the scholars. In modern Greek, the word  evolved from scholarikion to skoulariki, which is how earrings are called today. The habit of piercing and decorating ears began in Ancient Egypt, and has been continuing ever since. Judging by the finds, some of the biggest earring lovers were the Myceneans, the Perse, the Romans, and the Byzantines. The Aztec would pierce all the ears of their young children, during a ceremony dedicated to the god of fire, Xiutecutli. The body of the god was also adorned with jewelry and, of course, earrings.  In Homer’s Iliad the earrings of Hera were described as ermata triglina moroenda, jewels composed of three shining dark colored stones, and were created by Hephaestus. The word moroenda has been defined by some linguists as mouro, berry, meaning that the kokkidosis technique had been used on them, thus creating a surface similar to berries.  In the Odyssey, Homer describes with amazement the earrings of Penelope stating that “charis d’elabeto polli”, they were gracefully shining. Today the youngest generation is particularly fond of earrings, which lead to the body piercing fashion, where earrings adorn not just the ears, but many different parts of the body. Nevertheless, piercing the ears and body has to be done by professionals, guaranteeing the best hygiene and the use of specific tools created for that matter. See all related to this category articles here {gallery}jewel_earrings{/gallery}