Trojan War: Unveiling the Truth About Warfare in Homer’s Iliad

Achilles warring Memnon during the Trojan War, depicted connected a vase from Vulci, 510 BCE. Credit: Wikimedia Commons, nationalist domain

The Iliad, composed by Homer successful c. 650 BCE, is simply a cornerstone of ancient Greek lit and contains galore descriptions of warfare. For galore years, scholars argued that its portrayal of warfare successful the Trojan War comes from accurately preserved traditions originating successful Bronze Age Mycenaean Greece.

However, though immoderate existent researchers inactive reason for this, it has mostly fallen retired of favour wrong superior Homeric scholarship. What bash scholars present recognize astir the mode that warfare is depicted successful Homer’s Iliad?

Supposed Mycenaean warfare

Firstly, see wherefore scholars came to the aged decision astir Mycenaean warfare successful Homer’s Iliad successful the archetypal place. The astir evident crushed for this is the information that Homer describes galore of the Greek weapons arsenic being made of bronze.

It was predominantly the Bronze Age Greeks, of course, who utilized bronze for weapons. The Greeks of the Iron Age mostly utilized robust for their weapons. This would see the Greeks of Homer’s ain time, adjacent going backmost arsenic acold arsenic earlier the crook of the archetypal millennium BCE.

Another portion of grounds for this knowing was the evident statement of a operation shield successful the Iliad. The Greeks of the Archaic Era, Homer’s time, did not usage operation shields. However, the Mycenaean Greeks did regularly usage this benignant of shield.

An further crushed for concluding that Homer’s Iliad depicts Mycenaean warfare comes from the spears. Homer describes them arsenic being incredibly agelong – overmuch longer than the spears utilized by the Greeks of his ain era.

One further crushed for this decision is related to Homer’s depiction of chariot warfare successful the Iliad. We cognize that the Mycenaean Greeks made extended usage of chariots successful their battles. They utilized daze tactics, whereby ample groups of charioteers would complaint consecutive astatine the enemy. They besides utilized chariots arsenic mobile platforms from which to sprout arrows oregon onslaught with spears and javelins.

Contemporary armor successful the Iliad

With this grounds successful mind, 1 striking information is that Homer’s descriptions of the armor of the Greeks is virtually a cleanable statement of the communal armor from his ain time.

The armor of each Greek soldier, including the greaves connected his legs, the zoster connected his waist, the cuirass connected his torso, and the helmet with a plume of horsehair, is modular Greek hoplite armor of the eighth and seventh centuries BCE.

For this reason, scholars wide admit that Homer was utilizing descriptions of Greek warfare from his ain epoch erstwhile composing the Iliad. This being the case, what tin we reason regarding those fewer aforementioned examples successful which his descriptions of warfare look much akin to that of the Mycenaean Era?

Professor Hans van Wees, the respected Homeric scholar, addressed this contented successful profound item successful his two-part article The Homeric Way of War. In this illustration of much caller Homeric scholarship, we find a much logical and accordant mentation of the warfare successful Homer’s Iliad.

Exaggerations for the involvement of heroic glory

One cardinal contented that researchers person often ignored is the genre of the Iliad. Homer did not constitute it to beryllium a strictly realistic relationship of real-world warfare. No, rather, it presents a heavy mythologized mentation of events.

The gods get progressive successful the warring and adjacent the quality characters execute wholly superhuman feats. For example, 1 of his characters hurls a ample boulder with 1 hand. Obviously, Homer did not constitute the Iliad with real-world practicality successful mind.

As Hans van Wees points out, correctly knowing the Iliad successful this mode singlehandedly addresses astir each the examples of expected Mycenaean warfare successful the poem.

The bronze weapons

Mycenaean bronze sword with a golden hilt and featuring a lion motif, from Grave Circle B, Mycenae. Credit: Gary Todd / CC0 / Wikimedia Commons

For example, bronze was a much ‘glorious’ metallic than iron. That is wherefore the past Greeks mostly utilized bronze much than robust arsenic a decorative metallic (we spot this successful Homer’s statement of King Alcinous’ palace successful the Odyssey, for instance).

Therefore, it makes consciousness that helium would privation to picture the Greeks’ weapons arsenic being bronze. His heroes needed to combat with weapons made of glorious metals, not communal ones. Real-world warfare was not a consideration.

That is wherefore we besides spot Homer picture immoderate weapons arsenic being made of gold, silver, and tin. These descriptions bash not acceptable immoderate humanities epoch astatine all. Evidently, the metals of the weapons successful the Iliad are simply not historical. Notably though, Homer does picture tools arsenic being made of iron. Since these are conscionable communal items, not the weapons of mighty heroes, it makes consciousness that Homer felt nary request to exaggerate erstwhile describing them.

The ample weapons and armor

The aforesaid rule applies to the contented of the precise agelong spears and the operation shield. The spears are depicted arsenic being incredibly agelong simply due to the fact that that fits the genre of the Iliad. Homer was exaggerating for melodramatic effect. There is nary crushed to instrumentality these descriptions of agelong spears successful Homer’s Iliad arsenic being memories of the agelong spears of the Mycenaean Era.

Regarding the expected operation shield, Homer ne'er really describes it arsenic such. In fact, helium lone ever describes the shields arsenic being circular. This fits the shields that the Greeks of his ain clip commonly used.

The expected grounds for this operation shield is that, erstwhile describing Ajax’s equipment, Homer mentions that the shield went down to his feet. Again, fto america recognize this successful context, successful presumption of the genre of Homer’s poem. With each the shields lone ever being presented arsenic circular, it is evident that Ajax’s shield was besides circular.

What is singular astir it is not the shape, which Homer does not specifically remark on, but the size, which is the constituent of the description. While it would evidently beryllium impractical to combat with a circular shield that ample successful existent life, we person already seen that Homer was not acrophobic with real-world practicality. Otherwise, helium would not person described weapons made of gold, metallic and tin.

Chariot warfare successful Homer’s Iliad

What astir the statement that Homer’s descriptions of chariot warfare successful the Iliad matches the Mycenaean Era? In reality, scholars wide admit that the mode successful which the Greeks usage chariots successful the Iliad is wholly antithetic to the mode that the Mycenaean Greeks historically utilized them.

The daze tactics and the relation arsenic mobile platforms for archers is virtually unseen successful the Iliad. As a substance of fact, the characters fundamentally usage them conscionable for transport. The charioteer would complaint into the conflict lines, the warrior would leap off, and the charioteer would retreat until the warrior needed to retreat for a time.

While this bears nary narration to Mycenaean warfare, it is identical to however warfare connected horseback is depicted successful scenes modern with Homer’s life. A warrior would dismount portion his squire would enactment backmost with the horse.

While grounds for however chariots were utilized successful Homer’s time is lacking, the important information is that they were used. It is simply a misconception that they fell retired of usage astatine the extremity of the Mycenaean Era. In reality, everything indicates that Homer’s depiction of chariot warfare successful the Iliad is fundamentally close to his ain era.