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The red carpet originated from ancient Greece, where purple carpets were used for royalty. In modern times, the red carpet is used to give importance to events and protect clothing. However, some argue that it is overused and has lost its significance.
A red carpet refers to a carpet of red colour, usually quite long, which would be rolled out so that various dignitaries would receive what was considered a proper reception. Initially, as in plays such as Aeschylus’ Agamemnon from the 5th century BC, the carpet may have been purple rather than red, although there are mixed opinions on the translation. In Aeschylus’ play, Agamemnon’s wife, Clytemnestra, spreads a carpet, red or purple, to deceive her husband into thinking he is receiving a proper reception before she kills him. Agamemnon speaks of her suspicion of her and the temptation to anger the gods by such treatment. Similar to the red carpet is the idea of scattering rose petals on the ground so that the feet of various dignitaries, royal or otherwise, don’t have to hit the ground with their feet.
While there is dispute over the color of the carpets in the Agamemnon, it is very likely that the purple carpets would have been more standard than the reds of ancient Greece and Rome. Purple was the ancient Greek color associated with royalty, with Tyrian purple in ancient Greece being one of the most expensive dyes to buy. So the first red carpets were more than likely purple carpets.
In modern times, the red carpet is almost never purple, and even royalty can walk on a red carpet instead of purple. Throwing out a long red carpet is a way of assuring important people that they really do matter, even though, as Agamemnon noted, no mortal is too good to put their feet on the ground. Some of the big red carpet events, like the Academy Awards, may have a more purposeful reason for choosing to carpet a path to a theater entrance. When women wear long dresses or with trains, dragging the dress along several hundred feet of dirty sidewalk can be undesirable. If an Academy Award winner were to accept an award in a dirty suit, Joan Rivers and other fashion commentators would be shocked.
Some argue that the red carpet is now overused. Instead of being reserved only for special occasions, virtually every movie premiere and nearly every award show, big or small, features a red-colored carpet, which guests walk upon, at theaters or auditoriums. Treading the carpet is a way for actors and other types of performers to get media attention, answer questions, and provide information about their clothing and jewelry designers who usually lend expensive items to stars in exchange for promotional statements from the star. Where the media once covered only the big red carpet events, nearly every night on celebrity-focused programs like E! News, the stars are being photographed at some sort of red carpet event.
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