Is Christopher Nolan’s Odyssey Using Historically Accurate Greek Warrior Attire?

Mat Damon arsenic Odysseus successful Christopher Nolan’s Odyssey. Credit: Universal

There has been a batch of treatment precocious astir the benignant of helmet that Odysseus volition usage successful Christopher Nolan’s upcoming movie astir the Odyssey. Many commentators person complained that Odysseus should beryllium utilizing a boar’s tusk helmet. This is due to the fact that Odysseus uses this benignant of helmet successful Homer’s Iliad. What bash we cognize astir Odysseus’ boar’s tusk helmet, and are the communal complaints valid?

What benignant of helmet did Odysseus usage and does it align with Christopher Nolan’s Odyssey?

Contrary to what galore commentators person been saying, the Iliad, written by Homer successful the seventh period BCE, does not usually contiguous Odysseus arsenic utilizing a boar’s tusk helmet. This benignant of helmet is precise uncommon successful Homer’s relationship of the Trojan War.

Mycenaean boar’s tusk helmet, similar the 1 Homer describes Odysseus arsenic using. Credit: Wikimedia Commons, Doreio, CC-BY-3.0

The modular benignant of helmet that Homer describes the Greek soldiers arsenic utilizing is fundamentally the hoplite helmet communal successful the eighth oregon seventh period BCE. This includes the Corinthian helmet and the Illyrian-type helmet. As Homer describes, these helmets were made of bronze and covered the sides of the face, including the cheeks.

In his writings, Homer besides mentioned the usage of crests with plumes of horsehair atop them, which was modular hoplite cogwheel astir 700 BCE. In different words, what Homer describes is similar, though not identical, to the helmet Matt Damon wears successful the promotional image for Nolan’s upcoming movie.

Ancient Greek helmets. Credit: Ghost of Kuji / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 2.0

Odysseus and the boar’s tusk helmet successful Homer’s Iliad

Where does each the contention astir the boar’s tusk helmet travel from? Well, Homer does so notation a helmet made of boar’s tusks. However, arsenic we person seen, this is not the modular benignant of helmet that Homer describes.

In 1 portion of the Iliad, Odysseus plans to spell connected a nighttime raid against the city of Troy. For this mission, helium decides to usage a boar’s tusk helmet fixed to him by Meriones. Rather than being a bronze helmet, it is made of leather and has rows of slivers of ivory fixed each astir it. Homer’s statement reads:

“On the inside, determination was a beardown lining connected interwoven straps, onto which a felt headdress had been sewn in. The extracurricular was cleverly adorned each astir with rows of achromatic tusks from a shiny-toothed boar, the tusks moving successful alternate directions successful each row.”

The precise information that Homer gives it specified a elaborate statement shows that it was not communal successful the satellite of the Iliad.

Is the boar’s tusk helmet a relic of the Bronze Age?

This elaborate statement perfectly matches the Mycenaean boar’s tusk helmets that archaeologists person found. Based connected this fact, galore scholars successful past decades person argued that this represents a faint representation from the Mycenaean Era passed down to Homer. However, is this genuinely the case?

Most scholars contiguous bash not clasp that opinion. Homeric scholars mostly reason that we tin recognize this successful the discourse of the Archaic Era, the epoch of Greece successful which Homer himself lived.

One contented with the thought that it was a taste relic from the Bronze Age is that Homer’s statement is precise detailed. It is improbable that thing communal astatine the clip would person been described successful specified detail.

Therefore, it is implausible to judge that specified a elaborate statement would person survived and been passed down. On this basis, galore scholars present judge that the boar’s tusk helmet, portion rare, was inactive known successful Archaic Greece.

How was the boar’s tusk helmet inactive known successful Archaic Greece?

One mentation is that the Archaic Greeks discovered 1 successful a Mycenaean tomb. This is not arsenic implausible arsenic it archetypal sounds. After all, we cognize that the Greeks of that epoch did research immoderate Mycenaean tombs.

It is imaginable that Homer whitethorn person heard of this singular entity and decided to see it successful his poem owed to its fascinating nature. Various different examples successful the Iliad show that helium was not acrophobic with humanities accuracy.

The existent mentation appears to beryllium overmuch simpler. While the boar’s tusk helmet had so fallen retired of usage by Homer’s time, it continued to beryllium utilized for overmuch longer than antecedently believed. Archaeologists present cognize that the Greeks continued to usage the boar’s tusk helmet until arsenic precocious arsenic circa 800 BCE.

Homer explicitly describes Odysseus’ boar’s tusk helmet arsenic an heirloom of Meriones’ family, explaining that it had been passed down done galore generations.

Considering that these helmets were inactive being produced arsenic precocious arsenic astir 800 BCE, the statement of a boar’s tusk helmet arsenic an aged household heirloom aligns good with the satellite of astir 700 BCE, arsenic depicted by Homer successful the Iliad.