RESUMEN

In this paper, we show how chiral materials are realized by embedding chiral objects (helices) in an isotropic medium. More precisely, we derive the Drude--Born--Fedorov constitutive relations, governing the propagation of electromagnetic waves in chiral media, from the standard constitutive relations for a homogeneous, isotropic medium by embedding in the medium a large number of regularly spaced, ramdomly oriented helical conductors, each modeled as a dipole.