Ancient Greek Hoplites and Their Origins

Title: Ancient Greek Hoplites and Their Origins
Author: Jordan Wilde
Date: 6/6/2008
Abstract: The ancient Greek hoplites were heavily armed infantry soldiers, known for
wearing extensive armor, carrying a large rounded shield, spears, and a sword. By
looking at armor, weapons, tactics, and vases recovered from archaeological digs, along
with literature of the time, such as Homers Iliad (ca. 700 B.C.)1 and Hesiods Shield of
Heracles (ca. end of the late 8th century B.C)2, who and what a hoplite was can be
defined. The scholarly consensus has been that eighth century B.C. is crucial in exploring
the origins of hoplites. The eighth century sees a dramatic increase in population leading
to the rise of city-states and hoplites. In this paper I am going to consider the evidence for
the existence of hoplites during the eighth century B.C. and whether or not there is any
evidence for their existence before this.
Type: Text
Keywords: Greece; Greek; Hoplite; Military; Soldiers
Language: eng
Rights: Western Oregon University Library has determined, as of 06/09/2022, this item is in copyright, which is held by the author. Users may use the item in accordance with copyright limitations and exceptions, including fair use. For other uses, please ask permission from the author.; http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/
Department: History
Identifier: his/191