Gorgos hoplites. Immagini spaventose dell’oplita

Hoplite warfare has been characterised, in the traditional views, as a somewhat civilised form of warfare, characteristic of the Greek poleis, limited in its cruelty by common customs. Part of the literary images of those bronze-clad warriors shows, however, connections with a more obscure, frightening aspect of warfare. A connection between hoplites and monstrous figures is given by the presence in the myth of some “almost-human” people – such as the Gigantes or the Spartoi – as violent “men of bronze” born in armour. A subset of the men of bronze is that of the heroes. The warriors of Greek myth embody the grim face of war as bronze-clad men, whose mere sight causes fear. Such depiction is present both in the epos – the very core of Patroclus’ deeds is based on his wearing the frightening armour of Achilles – and in the tragedy: for instance, the depiction of the Seven Argive heroes moving against Thebes in Aeschylus’ play compares the armed warriors to superhuman beings. The frightful sight of the men of bronze can be found also in historical accounts of apparitions of armed ghosts in battle. These spectres are oftentimes the heroes of myth, returning to earth to defend their sacred place; but sometimes, as shown by Herodotus’ account of Epizelus’ ghost of Marathon, they reflect the grim face of hoplite warfare.