Quote from Ancient Greek text on the term Hoplon

pyros · Post by **pyros** » Thu Oct 13, 2005 9:32 am

Iain,

Since this is exposed for the first time in a forum, I am interested to hear thoughts on this issue, so I started a new thread.

Definition of the ancient Greek term: HOPLON (το όπλον)

το όπλο - to Hoplo (n) : first meaning was: TOOL, INSTRUMENT; later meaning was the tool of war = weapon

τα όπλα - ta Hopla (pl.) : tools of war = mainly referred to the protective armaments but could also include all the weapons.

το όπλον - to Hoplon : (later generic use) tool of war, including all weapons

το όπλον - to Hoplon : (early principal meaning) the type of shield that the heavy Greek infantry used to carry in the Hoplite phalanx (Οπλιτική Φάλαγξ) , the Hoplite (Οπλίτης) took his name from his shield (Οπλον).

Quote from original ancient text (in latin characters)

Diodorus Siculus, Library
The Seventeenth Book of Diodorus: in Two Parts
17.21.1

XXI. peri d' amphoter??n t??n pesont??n hoi sungeneis athrooi sustraphentes to men pr??ton ??kontizon epi ton Alexandron, epeita de kai sustad??n makhomenoi panta kindunon hupemenon huper tou phoneusai ton basilea. [2] ho de kaiper pollois kai megalois kindunois sunekhomenos hom??s ouk enikato tois pl??thesi t??n polemi??n, alla duo men ekh??n eis ton th??raka pl??gas, mian de eis to kranos, treis d' eis to kathairethen hoplon ek tou ne?? t??s Ath??nas hom??s ouk enedidou, alla t??i parast??mati t??s psukh??s epairomenos pantos deinou katexanistato. [3] meta de tauta kai t??n all??n epiphan??n h??gemon??n par' auton en tois Persais epeson pleious, h??n ??san epiphanestatoi Atizu??s kai Pharnak??s ho t??s Dareiou gunaikos adelphos, eti de Mithrobouzan??s ho Kappadok??n h??goumenos.

Translation:

XXI. The Relatives now pressed in a solid body about the two fallen men1 ; at first they rained their javelins on Alexander, and then closing went all out to slay the king. [2] But exposed as he was to many and fierce attacks he nevertheless was not overborne by the numbers of the foe. Though he took two blows on the breastplate, one on the helmet, and three on the shield which he had brought from the temple of Athena, he still did not give in, but borne up by an exaltation of spirit surmounted every danger. [3] After this, several of the other noble Persians fighting against him fell, of whom the most illustrious were Atizyes and Pharnaces, brother of Dareius's queen, and also Mithrobuzanes who commanded the Cappadocians.3

This text is based on the following book(s):
Diodorus Siculus. Diodorus of Sicily in Twelve Volumes with an English Translation by C. H. Oldfather. Vol. 4-8. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press; London: William Heinemann, Ltd. 1989.
OCLC: 24758311
ISBN: 0674994132, 0674994221, 0674994396, 0674994280, 0674994647

So just to make it visible :

treis d' eis to kathairethen hoplon ek tou ne?? t??s Ath??nas

is translated to

and three on the shield which he had brought from the temple of Athena

cheers,
Pyros

Post by **IainMcNeil** » Thu Oct 13, 2005 9:38 am

Ok, lets keep this friendly & polite and there will be no problems! It's an interesting discussion (one that is way over my head

)

pyros · Post by **pyros** » Thu Oct 13, 2005 1:48 pm

edited

pyros · Post by **pyros** » Thu Oct 13, 2005 8:03 pm

I just received a remark asking me why the Hoplite took his name from "Hoplon" (shield) and not from the generic term "Hopla" (tools of war, defensive armaments).

here is my answer:

I will try to explain you why the Hoplites took their name from their shield (Hoplon)

1. The Greek units used to take their names from their shields

Thracian Peltastai from "Pelte" shield
Macedonian hypaspistai meant shieldbearers
Macedonian Argyraspides meant silvershields
Psiloi (light infantry - Attika dialect) meant the warrior without protection and was the opposite of hoplite
Hoplite was defined by the "Hoplon" shield

2. The combat mechanism of the hoplite phalanx was based on the technique of (Oothismos aspidoon) shield shoving or shield pushing. From the previous it is clear that the most important TOOL (HOPLO - keep this in mind) for this kind of combat was the special shield HOPLON.

3. A hoplite could join the phalanx without anything else than his HOPLON; neither the panoplia, thorakas (breastplate), kranos (helmet), periknimides or dori was needed to join the phalanx. The only thing that was essential was its (shield) "HOPLON".

4. For a hoplite to abandon or lose his "Hoplon" (shield) in battle was unthinkable; almost worst than a crime (Sparta)

5. The insignia, designs painted in the Hoplon played a very important role before and during the battle.

From all the above, I think that I made clear that the "Hoplon" (shield) was the cornerstone of the Hoplite phalanx and if we combine this with the fact that the Greek infantry unit names used to be related with their type of shields, I am positive that Hoplite took his name from "Hoplon" (shield).

best,
Pyros

ste · Post by **ste** » Fri Oct 14, 2005 1:18 am

...you know too much

pyros · Post by **pyros** » Fri Oct 14, 2005 7:26 am

, that happens to me:

"...the more I learn, the more I realize the magnitude of my ignorance..."

cheers,
Pyros

ste · Post by **ste** » Fri Oct 14, 2005 10:52 am

Yeah I know the feeling... also when you talk to pip about graphics programming you realise the extent to which you know nothing, lol