![]() The shield was probably a personal gift, dedicated either by a retiring hoplite or as a thank offering after a military victory. The limited number of weapons recovered from the sanctuary fits the established model for female poliad deities in smaller poleis. It is unlikely that rites of passage for hoplites were a central feature of the cult, since we lack the extensive corpus of weaponry (miniature and/or functional) typical in such cases. The deity worshipped in the Oisyme sanctuary was an ergane and/or a kourotrophic goddess, such as Artemis and Athena at nearby Thasos or the ‘Parthenos’ at neighbouring Neapolis. Metalworkers from the polis of Thasos and its peraea are likely to have imitated the products of southern workshops in much the same way that Thasian potters based their own early production on Cycladic, Chian and other wares. They show stylistic influence from the contemporary Peloponnese, yet they have no known exact parallels. The dies employed may have been imported from Peloponnesian (Argive or Corinthian) workshops or produced locally. ![]() The shield and shield-band can be dated to c.575–550 bce on the basis of their repoussé decoration. Considered alongside earlier literary evidence, such as Archilochus 5W, it helps to trace the introduction and development of the hoplite panoply in Thasos and its peraea. It is also the earliest known example of its type in the north-eastern Aegean. However, the Oisyme shield is as yet the only one to come from a sanctuary – a fact due, at least in part, to the limited exploration of early sanctuaries on the coast of Aegean Thrace. Such shields are found in the cemeteries of the northern Aegean, including those at Sindos and Archontiko. This page was created in 2018 last modified on 14 April 2020.In 1987 an Archaic Argive-type shield and shield-band were discovered in the sanctuary on the acropolis of Oisyme. Lysi, Tombstone of a Thracian hoplite named Dionysius of Cardia Xanthus, Tomb of the Nereids, Relief of hoplites doing battleĪthens, Agora, Spartan shield, captured at Sphacteria If its allowed to compare war with sport: a hoplite battle was something like a "scrum" in a rugby match: both sides, armed with spears, tried to push over the enemy, and once a phalanx was victorious, the losses at the other side were extremely heavy, because the victors would use their swords to kill the defeated men. A phalanx was, therefore, very densely packed and could not easily turn to the left or right. note Įvery hoplite carried a large round shield which covered his own left side and the right side of the man to his left. Kiss'd close at every nod, so wedged they stood. ![]() The hairy crests of their resplendent casques Shield, helmet, man press'd helmet, man, and shield This equipment was called panoply their battle line is called a phalanx.ĭuring a battle, these heavily-armed soldiers, were standing in long, parallel lines, close to each other. They carried a great, heavy shield (the aspis), a helmet, armor, greaves, a sword, and a spear. The hoplites were the main soldiers of the Archaic and Classical Greek armies. Hoplites (Greek: Ὁπλιτης): ancient Greek soldiers, armed with spears and shields.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |