Girdle

Today, girdles are part of Christian liturgical vestments, and the word is used in other contexts, such as American sports (for what is really a kind of underwear).

In the small bronze Pallas of the Villa Albani, and in figures on the Hamilton Vases, are three cordons with a knot, detached from two ends of the girdle, which is fixed under the bosom.

Upon the youngest the ends of the girdle pass over the shoulders, and upon the back, as they do upon four Caryatides found at Monte Portio.

As a Christian liturgical vestment, the girdle is a long, rope-like cord tied around the waist over the alb or cassock.

The Parson's Handbook describes the girdle as being made "generally of white linen rope, and may have a tassel at each end.

In addition, they would often knot the ends of the girdle thrice, in order to represent the "vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience.

It will be good for those servants whose master finds them ready, even if he comes in the middle of the night or toward daybreak.Saint Paul, in Ephesians 6:14 also references the term, stating "Stand therefore, first fastening round you the girdle of truth and putting on the breastplate of uprightness", further buttressing the concept of the girdle as a symbol of readiness.

The girdle, for men, symbolizes preparation and readiness to serve, and for women, represents chastity and protection;[4] it was also worn by laypersons in the Middle Ages, as attested in literature.

It is commonly explained that separating the upper and lower parts of the body manifests a control of the animal instincts of the person by the distinctly human intellect.

: ske rags), one of the 'Five Bone Ornaments' (aṣṭhiamudrā) symbolizes Amoghasiddhi and the 'accomplishing pristine awareness' (Kṛty-anuṣṭhāna-jñāna), one of the 'Five Wisdoms' (pañca-jñāna).

Hephaestus gifted his wife Aphrodite with a girdle that made the wearer irresistible to others, which Hera used to seduce Zeus in the Iliad.

Monsters and all types of evil are recorded as being subdued by girdles in literature, a famous one being the dragon slain by Saint George.

Often in literature, women are portrayed as safe from sexual or other attack when wearing a girdle, but suddenly vulnerable if it is missing or stolen.

[13] Non-clothing uses in literature include Tolkien's "Girdle of Melian", a magical, protective "wall" surrounding an elven kingdom.