Super weapons for super men in the Iliad

At several moments in the Iliad we are told of the Homeric heroes hefting weapons (usually rocks) which “not two men could bear, such as mortals now are” (Diomedes 5.302-304 as just one example). These are clearly super men from ages past. Some exaggeration is at play here, but it does aid Homer’s picture that these were not ‘normal’ warriors. When Patroclus donned Achilles’ armour in Book sixteen of the Iliad, he took Achilles’ “massive and sturdy” shield (sakos mega te stibaron te), his armour and helmet. He also took Achilles’ sword and two stout spears (alkima dory). This was not Achilles’s warrior-slaying spear (egchos), however. That was the one thing Patroclus did not take – “the spear heavy and huge and strong (brithy mega stibaron); this none other of…

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Ancient Warfare (Digital) - 1 Issue, AW XVIII.1

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