Hermahai Profile picture
Feb 23, 2023 6 tweets 3 min read Read on X
1/ In the Iliad, Homer often refers to the uniqueness of the capabilities of the armies of Achilles and Ajax, where they are described as dense formations of elite soldiers, who use brilliant tactical battles under the guidance of highly trained warlords.
#Homer #Iliad #Troy
2/ " ...howbeit thereto could he no more avail, for with shields were they fenced in on every side, as they stood around Patroclus, and before them they held their spears. For Ajax ranged to and fro among them and straitly charged every man; ➡️
➡️ Thus mighty Ajax charged them, not one, he bade them, should give ground backward from the corpse, nor yet fight in front of the rest of the Achaeans as one pre-eminent above them all; but stand firm close beside the corpse and do battle hand to hand. ➡️
➡️ and the earth grew wet with dark blood, and the dead fell thick and fast alike of the Trojans and their mighty allies, and of the Danaans; for these too fought not without shedding of blood, ➡️
➡️ howbeit fewer of them by far were falling; for they ever bethought them to ward utter destruction from one another in the throng."
3/ Does Homer's narration of a historical Mycenaean invasion of Troy contain memories of the existence of elite special forces in the ranks of the Mycenaean army,who were undertaking difficult operations,while with their fighting being a decisive factor for the battle's outcome?

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More from @hermahai

Nov 25
1/ Athens has been associated since antiquity with the city's patron goddess, Athena. However, although most people believe that the city was named after the goddess, perhaps the opposite was actually the case. The two words have a common root that is likely of pre-Greek origin. Image
2/ But let's start from the beginning. Long before the city of Athens became the dominant center of the region, its name was Actaea and it belonged to a wider community, Att(h)is < Attica. The inhabitants of Attica at that time were not Greek-speaking (pre-Greek substrate). Image
3/ Several scholars argue that both the word Actaea and Attica, and the word Athéne (Ἀθήνη), derive from the word Atthis through corruption. Athéne is the common root from which the word Ἀθῆναι and the word Ἀθηνᾶ came. So both the city and the goddess have pre-Greek origins. Image
Read 8 tweets
Nov 23
1/ During the same period (1250/40 BC) that the major fortification works were taking place in Mycenae and Tiryns, and the hill of Midea was being rebuilt with new palatial buildings and Cyclopean fortifications, a new fortified palatial settlement was founded on the Acropolis. Image
2/ But who were the ones who built the new Mycenaean citadel Athens? The answer lies in the question of what purpose its building served. In my opinion, the Athenian elites had neither the financial means nor the know-how to construct such a project. Image
3/ So the project was designed and financed by a powerful Mycenaean actor outside Attica and he - according to the available evidence - was in Mycenae. The stakes were the limitation of Thebes' influence in Attica and in particular the exploitation of the mines of Lavrion. Image
Read 11 tweets
Oct 20
1/ The Citadel of Dymaean Wall at the NW end of the Peloponnese has a special place in Aegean prehistoric studies, as it was previously believed to be proof (along with the Isthmus Wall) of the existence of a northern threat (Dorians) to the core of the Mycenaean palatial world. Image
2/ Recent field study has placed its presence on a more realistic basis. First of all, the human presence on the Hill of Kalogria where the Citadel is built bears evidence of human presence, residential remains and pottery, dating back to the end of the 4th millennium BC. Image
3/ The choice of location is due to its great strategic importance, at the intersection of the land and the sea, constituting a significant defensive stronghold and an ideal point of surveillance of the sea routes of the Ionian Sea, already since the end of the 3rd millennium BC. Image
Read 16 tweets
Oct 9
1/ The Trojan War, as presented to us by the Homeric Iliad, is nothing more than a literary text with an epic-mythological character that captures in a single narrative various memories of events of the Mycenaean past, altered by time.
#Ahhiyawa #Homer #Troy Image
2/The main body of the myth of Trojan War - the gathering of the Achaean warlords under the leadership of the strongest of them, the king of Mycenae, and the naval campaign in the Troad - constitutes the only connection between the historical background and the Homeric narrative. Image
3/ During the palatial period, the Mycenaean world was structured into powerful local houses that recognized the supremacy of the Great King of the Achaeans, who had his throne in Mycenae and was equal to the powerful rulers of the Eastern Mediterranean (Hatti, Egypt etc). Image
Read 10 tweets
Aug 25
1/ One of the biggest questions of Minoan archaeology is the existence of two scripts, which accur simultaneously in the same palatial centers (Old Palaces) or even in the same rooms: Cretan Hieroglyphics (2100-1700 BC) and Linear A' (1800-1450 BC).
#Minoan_Scripts Image
2/ This fact is not an unusual occurrence for the Eastern Mediterranean, as in Egypt and Anatolia two or more languages were used to serve different purposes. However, in Minoan Crete the coexistence of the two scripts for a period of about a century served the same purpose: 👉 Image
👉 the recording of administrative texts, mainly of a financial - accounting nature. What is the reason for this simultaneous presence of two different scripts in Crete? Does this fact conceal some linguistic differentiation between groups of the local population? Image
Read 11 tweets
Jun 7
1/ Referring to the Mycenaean era, we emphasize the archaeological imprint left to this day by the local palatial elites: wanaktes, aristocracy and priests, who were living and acting in imposing palaces and were buried in rich burial complexes.
#Mycenaeans #commoners Image
Image
2/ However, what was the daily life of commoners? What was their status within the Mycenaean palatial society? As in the other kingdoms of the Eastern Mediterranean during the LBA, there was a clear social stratification with political, economic and ideological characteristics. Image
3/ At the top was the palatial ruling class, followed by members of the aristocracy who had a crucial military role and then by the bureaucracy, an important factor in the functioning of the palatial system. All of them resided within the fortified palatial sites 👉 Image
Read 23 tweets

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