Bede; If Homer was not talking about the seige of Troy in the Illiad, of what battle was he speaking?
You probably know that Homer was not the author of the oral epic but was merely the one to record it.
angular bows
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jack farrell
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Bede
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Jack,
I did not imply that the theme of the poems was not the siege of Troy. Homer or whomever compiled the Iliad and the Odyssey was using oral traditions that may have gone back to the Mycenean Greeks, but, like most authors, had to flesh the details out with things that he knew from his everyday world.
I did not imply that the theme of the poems was not the siege of Troy. Homer or whomever compiled the Iliad and the Odyssey was using oral traditions that may have gone back to the Mycenean Greeks, but, like most authors, had to flesh the details out with things that he knew from his everyday world.
Bede
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jack farrell
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Bede, Almost everyone now agrees that Homer was relating accurately the events at the seige of Troy; yes, elaborated and associated with mythology. But, nevertheless, thanks to Schliemann, Troy has been discovered and its fall dated to 1180 BC.
It is inevitable that Homer, a blind poet and reciter of the epics, added to the stories which he recited. But it is now known that at the heart of the epic, the Illiad, is an historical event, the Seige Of Troy, 1180 BC.
This historic event occured at the very least, 300 years before the first evidence of Scythian culture. Homer may or may not have known what type of bow was used in the seige. He may have thought that the Greeks shot Scythian bows in the seige. He may not have know how ancient the story was. But the epic does tell about the making and shooting of hornbows. And from what we now know, these were Angular composite bows.
There are Egyptian funery murals showing Ageans bringing Ibex horns as tribute to Pharoe hundreds of years before the battle of Troy. These were being turned into angular composites in the Egyptian royal workshops. There are also illustrations of same.
I agree that Greeks later became accustomed to using Scythian bows.
But for hundreds of years before the Scythian bow, Greeks shot angular composites. References upon request. -j-
It is inevitable that Homer, a blind poet and reciter of the epics, added to the stories which he recited. But it is now known that at the heart of the epic, the Illiad, is an historical event, the Seige Of Troy, 1180 BC.
This historic event occured at the very least, 300 years before the first evidence of Scythian culture. Homer may or may not have known what type of bow was used in the seige. He may have thought that the Greeks shot Scythian bows in the seige. He may not have know how ancient the story was. But the epic does tell about the making and shooting of hornbows. And from what we now know, these were Angular composite bows.
There are Egyptian funery murals showing Ageans bringing Ibex horns as tribute to Pharoe hundreds of years before the battle of Troy. These were being turned into angular composites in the Egyptian royal workshops. There are also illustrations of same.
I agree that Greeks later became accustomed to using Scythian bows.
But for hundreds of years before the Scythian bow, Greeks shot angular composites. References upon request. -j-
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redhawk
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angular bows
First of all we should assume that the Greek archery has begun with wooden bows.
Something like a Greek state or nation has developed out of different tribes and "cultures".
During the preparation for our research on Greek bows we decided to focuse on Mycenean angular composites, on the "Greek style scythian composites"and that strange-looking bow with the reversed recurves.
If you check out all the available sources dealing with "Greek archery", these 3 kinds of bows seem to be more common than others among the people we could call "greek" now.
Michael
Something like a Greek state or nation has developed out of different tribes and "cultures".
During the preparation for our research on Greek bows we decided to focuse on Mycenean angular composites, on the "Greek style scythian composites"and that strange-looking bow with the reversed recurves.
If you check out all the available sources dealing with "Greek archery", these 3 kinds of bows seem to be more common than others among the people we could call "greek" now.
Michael