Greek Nose
The nose is probably one of the most distinctive characteristics of Greeks, although they do not seem to appreciate it very much: the most popular cosmetic alteration among Greeks is rhinoplasty, the nose job, a word that is also Greek – rhina meaning nose, and plasty meaning shaping. Although there are multiple ways to categorize nose shapes and most of them disagree in many things, they all agree in that the
Greek nose that is straight from top to bottom, when seen in profile. It is uncertain how this category got this name; some claim that most or even all Greeks have such a nose; a better explanation, though, may be that such a nose shape was used conventionally in Ancient
Greek art and sculptures. On the other hand, most Ancient
Greek sculptures have missing noses, rendering the confirmation of such a hypothesis impossible! According to Harriet Hubbard Ayer, though, and her book A Complete and Authentic Treatise on the Laws of Health and Beauty, published in 1902, the
Greek nose is considered the perfect, showing gentle and peaceable nature; moreover, women who have Greek noses are rarely quarrelsome and will usually prove to be perfect.