The origins of the red carpet are more sinister than you’d think

The red carpet has become synonymous with the rich and famous – but it once didn’t have such a glamorous fate (Picture: Getty Images) The red carpet: a place for the glamorous to pout their lips, dip their hips, and revel in each other’s fabulousness, while normals squish their torsos against barriers like rabid dogs waiting to be chucked a scrap of a glance or a meaty interaction. It’s a very strange place. There aren’t many other scenarios in 2025 where social disparity is so blatantly celebrated than on the red carpet in awards season, in full flow right now. But while the red carpet has become synonymous with the untouchables of Hollywood, this rouge runner once had murderous connotations in ancient Greece. Beware celebrities: you may just think twice before your Louboutins touch crimson again after hearing this tale… Think back to the time when chubby men wore white gowns and balanced grapes on their genitals. That’s, er, Ancient Greece. Specifically 457BC, when playwright Aeschylus wrote the first recorded mention of the red carpet in his play Agamemnon. The play described a ‘floor of crimson broideries to spread / for the king’s path.’ It’s awards season, which means a whole load of red carpets (Picture: Neilson Barnard/Getty Images for The Recording Academy) Translation: the titular King Agamemnon returns home to his wife Clytemnestra after fighting for many days and nights in the Trojan Wars. Unfortunately, in his absence, Clytemnestra got herself a lover. But so did Agamemnon, who fell head over sandals. Unable to wretch himself away from his concubine, the King returned home with her on his arm – much to Clytemnestra’s irritation. He was also not in Clytemnestra’s good books after he sacrificed their 15-year-old daughter to the Gods, in the hope it would give them good sailing weather in the war. So Clytemnestra did what any jilted lover in a Greek tragedy would do: she rolled out the red carpet for her husband, to lure him to his death. The idea of a red carpet actually dates back to Ancient Greece (Picture: Frazer Harrison/Getty Images) The history books can’t agree on how King Agamemnon was murdered, but he was either slain by his lover, or executed by his wife in the bath. (Everyone agrees Clytemnestra killed his concubine.) Although the red carpet here appears to be a symbol of death, the meaning behind the colour at the time seems significant. In Ancient Greece the colour red was associated with the god of war, Ares, who wore a crimson cape. ‘Only the gods deserve the pomp of honor,’ the character of King Agamemnon is reported to have said in hesitation, before eventually stepping on the red carpet and towards his demise. But beware, it’s thought the red carpet could be associated with gods – and humans should be careful when getting their mucky trotters on it (Picture: Marco BERTORELLO / AFP) (Photo by MARCO BERTORELLO/AFP via Getty Images) It’s been debated over the years whether the red carpet in this instance was reserved for the Gods only, and any man who thinks he is powerful and God-like enough to tread on it will perish – as they are actually mortal… But that’s all quite dramatic. Outside the world of Greek tragedies, the red carpet was first reported to have been used by the fifth US President James Monroe, who made history in 1821 by arriving at Georgetown, South Carolina, by sauntering down a red carpet.  But it wasn’t until 1902 that the red carpet was truly popularised as a status symbol when in New York it was used to direct passengers onto trains. While it was not in itself a symbol of the upper echelons of society at that time, it became one after the red carpets were primarily used to guide first class passengers. That’s where ‘the red carpet treatment’ phrase comes from. The idea ingratiated itself into Hollywood in 1922, for the region’s first ever premiere in Sid Grauman’s Robin Hood. After that it became routine at important film and music events, making its way into the Academy Awards in 1961. Got a story? If you’ve got a celebrity story, video or pictures get in touch with the Metro.co.uk entertainment team by emailing us [email protected], calling 020 3615 2145 or by visiting our Submit Stuff page – we’d love to hear from you.