A Companion to Science, Technology, and Medicine in Ancient Greece and Rome, First Edition. edited by Georgia L. Irby. © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Published 2016 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc. c41 672 27 October 2015 7:20 PM 246mm×189mm CHAPTER 41 Greek Interior Decoration: Materials and Technology in the Art of Cosmesis and Display Hariclia Brecoulaki Introduction The concept of “ordering” and “adornment” is expressed in Greek culture with the word cosmesis. The interior space—be it domestic or public—adapted to architectural features and building functions is transformed into a suitable setting for the human activities that are to occur there; a setting where various movable objects and ixed decorations inter- act to order and adorn it. The interior space becomes its own closed universe, cosmos, combining a variety of materials, textures, colors, and light. To enhance a temple with monumental statues, to adorn a tomb with paintings or a house with mosaics, to display domestic paraphernalia in gynaecea (women’s quarters) or bronze armor on the walls of andrōnēs (men’s dining rooms), to furnish a king’s residence with sumptuous couches and artworks; these are acts that relect speciic social motivations and cultural behaviors, religious beliefs, political environments, and aesthetic values. We limit our focus to the ixed elements of interior decoration in ancient Greek domestic space (wall paintings and mosaics), movable artifacts (such as freestanding sculpture and furniture), and panel painting. We shall briely touch on the interior deco- ration of Greek public spaces. While the function of architectural sculpture was decora- tive from its origin, statues and large‐scale painting in Greek public buildings assumed religious or civic roles and cannot be considered decorative in the current sense of the word (Ridgway 1971, 337). Likewise, the accumulation, with no primary planning, of countless dedications within public buildings, particularly in temples (although on view for worshipers and visitors), did not relect a predeined concept for interior decoration. The rich archaeological documentation from private funerary monuments, such as Macedonian chamber tombs, providing indirect but valuable evidence of elements of Greek interior decoration, will also be discussed briely.