No, you haven't guessed. We are not talking about clay pots, into which the army, besieging a castle or an enemy fortress, sent their natural needs, and then this "grace of the womb" was thrown on the heads of the defenders. Yes, in the summer, and especially in the heat, it was a terrible weapon. But we will talk about something else, albeit about dishes.
Achilles fights Memnon. The author of the painting is Andocides, 530 BC. Louvre. That is, this is exactly what the warriors of that time looked like, since the Greek artist of that time painted only what he saw directly around him.
It will tell about the ancient Greek ceramic vases, amphoras and plates, which the ancient Greeks were in vogue to paint. And we were very lucky that it was customary for them to paint any kind of pottery, which was used for storing oil, wine and grain, for eating, and even for ritual purposes.
Dipylon Crater, circa 750 - 735 BC. Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.
Dipylon vase. There are people nearby for the scale.
Ceramic products, made with particular care, were sacrificed to temples or given to the dead. Well, and these items themselves, having undergone a strong firing, became very resistant to the effects of the environment, so that there are so many intact ceramic vessels and their fragments themselves that there are literally tens of thousands! Even now they are no longer stored, but simply thrown away, keeping only the best samples.
These shards are no longer needed by anyone. Dump of excavations in the area of ancient Hermonassa, the village of Taman.
Ceramic tableware in Greece dates back to the Cretan-Mycenaean era, and it was then that impressive examples of it were created, both in size and in finish. But … people were not depicted on the dishes!
Dipylon crater with geometric ornament depicting a ship and warriors with Dipylon shields. Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.
Warriors with Dipylon shields. Large.
A ship with fighting warriors. Large.
And then the strong-walled Troy fell, the invasion of the Dorian tribes took place, a period of dark ages lasting about 250 years passed in Greece. And about about 750, the revival of Greek culture began. And it manifested itself in a very peculiar way. The Greeks began to make vessels that were then sacrificed to the dead - they were found in the so-called Dipylon cemetery near the Dipylon gate in Athens, and therefore called “Dipylon pottery”, decorated with geometric patterns carefully drawn in black lacquer. And although many of these vessels were truly enormous, they would have remained just samples of a new "geometric style" in the design of Greek ceramics, if not for one "but".
A detachment of warriors from the "geometric vase". Each has a Dipylon eight-shaped shield and two spears. That is, spears were used for throwing. Around 800 - 775 BC. Metropolitan Museum.
The masters who painted them began to introduce images of people, chariots and ships into the decorative elements. So today it is the Dipylon ceramics (along with the finds of other artifacts) that allows us to at least somehow imagine what the Greek ships, soldiers and their chariots looked like then. That is, it is a very important iconographic source.
Artist Antimen. Ajax carries away the dead Achilles. We see again the Dipylon shield, which once again speaks of their very wide distribution in the corresponding era. Not during the Trojan War itself. It's clear. And later, following the period of the "dark ages". Walters Museum of Art.
Well, then the primitive drawings from the Dipylon jugs gradually turned into beautiful drawings on amphoras, kilikas and other Greek dishes, depicting the heroes of the Greek epic, scenes from life - a kind of everyday sketches, humor, scenes from theatrical performances - in one word - wonderful photos »Real life of the ancient Greeks.
Hercules was a very popular hero among the Greeks, so he was portrayed very often. Here and on this Ettruscan vase 525 BC. we see Hercules killing the Lernaean hydra. He's wearing that distinctive muscular cuirass and leggings! Paul Getty Museum, California.
And, by the way, it is the paintings on Greek ceramics that tell us a lot of interesting things about the military affairs of the Greeks. For example, archaeologists find a bronze helmet. But it is without a ridge, the ridge has not survived. And thanks to the drawing, say, on the amphora, we see how this comb could look, and even the features of its attachment. A perfectly preserved Corinthian helmet of the end of the 6th century, found in Sicily and exhibited today in the Glyptotek in Munich, has survived to us. But … only thanks to the Greek ceramics and, in particular, the drawing on the above crater and the like, we can clearly imagine how the Greeks decorated such helmets. And it also clearly shows how the warrior on the left puts on the leggings. By the way, it is called "Euphron's Crater" and is exhibited at the Metropolitan Museum in New York.
Corinthian helmet from the Glyptotek in Munich.
And here is the shield found by archaeologists. Well, what is left of him? Something remains, of course, and this “something” is quite enough to reconstruct it. But … we do not know what was painted on these boards! And they would never have known if it were not for the Greek ceramics! And so, thanks to the images, we know for sure that the Greeks were eager for inventions regarding the painting of their shields. They depicted on them both lion heads and the head of Medusa the Gorgon, a swimming dolphin and a soaring raven, three running legs in the form of a swastika, a spiked club and much, much more. None of these "pendants" on the hoplites' shields have reached us. Fabric (or leather) materials are fragile in any case. But thanks to the images on the vases, we know that they were, attached to the lower part of the shield and protected the legs. The arrows got stuck in them and were "extinguished" due to the free fastening of this "curtain".
Swords belonging to hoplites are found by archaeologists. But what do they not find? Do not find the wooden scabbard from the swords themselves! Only fittings, rings, small parts. Meanwhile, it is in the drawings on Greek ceramics that the scabbard itself (their design) and the way in which the warrior wore them are clearly visible.
Thanks to the drawings on the ceramics, we know for sure that there were no Greek archers, at least in Athens. The archers were mercenaries from Scythia. So on this painting we see a Scythian archer on the left and a hoplite on the right. Around 520 - 510 BC NS. "The Athenian Artist". Museum of Fine Arts de Rennes.
"Scythian archer". Attic kilik. 530 - 520 BC. Louvre.
The Greeks had two types of carapace: anatomical metal and linen, quilted. The latter had a very peculiar design of strips of fabric quilted (or glued) in several layers, and at the same time was flexible and rigid. Only anatomical metal shells have survived to our time, and it is with them that everything is basically clear. But what about these so-called "linen shells"? How were they, for example, put on? It is impossible to find out from the finds of archaeologists. But … you can look at the drawing on the vase and see this shell itself, and how the warrior puts on it. You can see their design, understand why and how the strings were attached to it, that is, get a complete picture of such armor.
The finds of archaeologists unequivocally indicate that the traditional weaponry of the Greek warrior - hoplite ("shield-bearer" from the word hoplon - shield) was a helmet, armor for the torso, a shield and leggings to protect the legs below the knee and the knees themselves. They find the leggings, but for a long time it was not clear how exactly they were fixed on the leg. But thanks to the drawings on the ceramics, it became clear - no way! That is, there were no straps or ties. The leggings simply covered the legs and were held on it by the force of friction and due to their anatomical shape.
Artist Euthymides. Hoplite puts on his armor, two Scythians help him. Around 510 - 500 BC NS. Drawing from a vase.
Greek drawings on ceramics tell us a lot of interesting things. As you know, there were two main types: black-figured ceramics and red-figured ceramics. In the first case, the figures were painted with black varnish against a background of red baked clay. In the second, the background was black, but the figures free from varnish were red. There were also bilingual vessels: half with black figures and a red background, and the other half with red figures. Red-figure vases first appeared around 530 BC. NS. It is believed that the technique of red-figure painting was first used by the painter Andokides. Moreover, with thin bristles on unpainted figures, the artists traced the smallest details in the images. There was painting on a white background.
Greek hoplites of the "dark ages". Drawing by Peter Connolly.
As already noted, there are thousands of products that have come down to us. In the Athens area alone, there are over 40,000 and over 20,000 in Southern Italy. The Greek masters who painted them usually signed their works, so the names of their creators have also come down to us. But there are vessels, the names of the authors of the drawings on which we do not know, but they can be identified by the manner of writing. They were given, for example, such names as "Berlin painter", "Athenian painter". There is "Cactus Painter", "Camel Painter", "Colmar", "Winchester" - so named after the museums where collections of their works are collected. The names are known: Amasis, Andokides, Duris, Euthymides, Euphronius, Triptolemus, Hares, Exekios. And, of course, that these are the most famous and famous, and so they simply … do not count. After all, they worked for not one century, but centuries!
Modern Greek hoplites.
So the ancient Greek "vases" are the most important material to help historians study the military science of Ancient Greece.
