ABSTRACT
There is a prevailing opinion that the Greeks had a negative attitude towards tattooing the body and regarded it as shameful and degrading. In the Greek and Roman written sources, tattooing is most commonly mentioned as a form of punishment for criminals and slaves, as a form of humiliating prisoners of war, and as a way of manifesting religious sentiments in some cults. As a body decoration, it was associated only with the customs of some barbarian peoples. It is believed that the Greeks adopted the custom of tattooing slaves and prisoners from the Persians. However, long before the birth of the Persian Empire, the motifs which appear in the decorations on pots from workshops on the Aegean Islands and in Attica feature images of warriors, heroes, and gods whose bodies were decorated by ornaments that can be interpreted as tattoos. An analysis of these images and scattered information in written sources allows us to put forward the thesis, contrary to the opinion prevalent in the literature, that Greek men in the Archaic period used to adorn their bodies. The tattoo worn by a man on his thigh or upper arm seems to emphasize his heroic qualities. But wearing it was not a common practice and only some warriors and athletes chose to do so. With the invasion of Xerxes, the tattoo suddenly and radically changed its meaning, becoming a sign of humiliation. In effect, it was pushed to the margins of Greek culture.
