Chariots drawn by swift horses drew the combatants quickly into each other’s presence. Hereupon, either from the chariot or from the ground, they hurled at each other, their far-shadowing spears (δολιχόσκια ἔγχεα) Il. iii, 346. If neither of the adversaries succumbed, both came closer together, and with the same or other spears thrust at each other again.
Failing to injure each other with spears, the adversaries resorted to their swords or to any other available implement of offense. Their object was to disable the opponent, rather than to conform to conventions of war. Any mode of attack was fair in the Homeric combat. In a battle between Hector and Telamonian Aias, the two heroes, after using their spears, seize huge stones and hurl them at each other (Il. vii, 264-270).
The weapons, employed by the Homeric heroes were as heavy as could be handled skilfully, and of course varied in weight according to the strength of the respective warriors. As the heavier weapons, in the hands of a man who could use them, were more effective, it was but natural that warriors should vie with one another in developing the strength requisite for adopting them.
Their defensive armor consisted of the helmet, corselet, girdle, greaves and shield. The Greek helmet was a close-fitting skull-cap, covering the head in front above the eyes, and extending down in the back, to the nape of the neck from ear to ear. Some forms show that the lower part was prolonged and carried round so as to cover all above the shoulders. The corselet consisted of two pieces, a breast-plate and a back-plate, which were laced together by cords passed through eyelet holes made in the sides, below the bottom of which the body was protected by metal girdle. The greaves, which were made of flexible metal plates, fastened behind with buckles, covered the front part of the legs from the ankles to just above the knees. The shield consisted of a frame of bronze and several layers of tough oxhide, and reached from the neck to the knee. The shield is described by Homer and is pictured on Mycenæan gems.
For the risks, exigencies, and regular feats of this kind of warfare, the Homeric youth trained himself, and Homer makes it plain that the attainment of brute strength alone was not sufficient. Nestor is deemed happy because his sons were “wise-minded and mighty with the spear.” The poet frequently makes sly fun of Telamonian Aias, who, although gigantic in size and of immense strength, was, nevertheless, somewhat dull of intellect. To train the senses, and above all the eye, to make the body alert and immediately responsive to the perceptions, was considered quite as requisite as to train the muscles. For, in the exigencies of battle, a certain quickness of intellect was often more effective than brute strength. Agility was, therefore, prized and cultivated above all other qualities. When the ponderous spear of Menelaos smote and pierced the shield of Paris the latter “swerved and escaped black death.” (Il. iii, 392.) To fight successfully from the chariot, to dismount and grapple with the adversary, necessitated not only muscular strength, but also unabating alertness of mind, an ability to seize instantly the advantageous opportunity, to dodge or fend instantly the deadly thrust.
While agonistic sports were practiced in an especially notable way on certain unique occasions, such as the death of a hero, yet it should not be supposed that such contests were at all uncommon. On the contrary, Homer is continually dropping epithets and sentences that presuppose the utmost frequency and universality of competitive games. Achilles is called fleet-footed (ποδάρκης, πόδας ὠκὺς) Il. ix, 307; Polydeukes, brother of Helen, is called the skilful boxer (πὺξ ἀγαθός) Il. iii, 237. Indeed, such skill as Homer depicts as being shown at the more notable gatherings, could not have been exhibited, had there not been incessant practice and continual emulation. Again, Homer often speaks of certain heroes as if their ability in certain lines of athletics was well known, and had been often sustained against challengers. When Achilles summons contestants for the boxing-match, he asks for the two who are best (ὥπερ ἀρίστω), Il. xxiii, 659, to come forward, as if it were well known who the skilful boxers were. When Antilochos is mentioned as a competitor in the foot-race, he is called the champion of foot-racers among the youth (ὁ γὰρ αὖτε νέους ποσὶ πάντας ἐνίκα). Il. xxiii, 756. Yet in this particular race, owing to the fact that his competitors were older than he, he took last prize. Athletic skill can be maintained only by dint of continuous practice. We may conclude, therefore, that agonistic contests, by the time of which Homer wrote, were of very frequent occurrence,—so frequent that they were taken as a matter of course,—and that on special occasions, such as the death of a hero, the arrival of a distinguished guest, or the anniversary of some god’s benefaction, the games were conducted in a more public and ceremonious manner; and that on such occasions prizes were offered and intense excitement prevailed.
Funeral games were customary in Homeric times. Nestor, when an old man, tells of competing in his youth in the various games held in honor of Amarynkes at Buprasion; on which occasion, Nestor was in his prime and was victor in the boxing-match, the foot-race, and the spear-throwing contest; being surpassed only in the chariot-races. Certain recorded myths sustain the scholar in referring the origin of funeral games to a time much preceding the age of the Homeric heroes. Pausanias speaks of the funeral games in honor of Azan, son of Arkas, and the nymph Erato, as the most ancient. Minos, according to Plutarch, celebrated a funeral contest in honor of Androgeos.
In the Twenty-Third Iliad, Homer describes with considerable minuteness the games held in honor of Patroklos, Achilles’ friend, whom Hector slew in battle.
The chariot-race was ordained as the first event. This mode of racing was not improvised before the walls of Troy. Hellenic legend assigns the origin of the races far back of Homeric times, in the dark heroic age of mythology. While the site of stately Thebes was still covered with forests, Onchestos is said to have seen in Poseidon’s grove, horses yoked to the chariot, and panting from the race. When Apollo thought of building a temple for himself at the sacred spring of the nymph, Telphoussa, she dissuaded him, declaring that the god would be disturbed by the incessant noise of chariots and the hoof-beats of horses, and that every one would prefer to see the beautifully-built chariots and the swift-footed horses, and so fail to appreciate the temple with its treasures. Oinomaos is said to have offered to her suitors his daughter, Hippodameia, as a prize for the victory in a chariot-race.
To the competitors in the race, Achilles offered five prizes, and called for five contestants. Eumelos, Diomedes, Menelaos, Antilochos, and Meriones sprang forward and yoked each a span of swift horses to his war-chariot. The competitors were directed to round a goal in the distance and return. Says Nestor, in advising his son, Antilochos: “A fathom’s height above the ground standeth a withered stump, whether of oak or pine; it decayeth not in the rain, and two white stones, on either side thereof, are fixed at the joining of the track, and all around it is smooth driving ground. Whether it be a monument of some man dead long ago, or hath been made their goal in the race by ancient men, this now is the mark fixed by fleet-footed goodly Achilles.” It is easy to see that victory depended largely on the skill and cunning of the charioteer in obtaining for himself the shortest course round this goal. Indeed, Nestor, in advising his son, makes cunning (μῆτις) the principal factor of victory: “By cunning hath charioteer the better of charioteer. For whoso, trusting in his horses and car alone, wheeleth heedlessly and wide at either end, his horses swerve on the course, and he keepeth them not in hand. But whoso is of crafty mind, though he drive worse horses, he ever keeping his eye upon the post turneth closely by it, neither is unaware how far at first to force his horses by the oxhide reins, but holdeth them safe in hand and watcheth the leader in the race.”