This appears to be a good time to describe how the Greek army fought, but in order to do this we need to understand one other thing about these Greeks. The leaders were part of a rigid warrior society which would soon have run out of warriors if the standard of heroism described in this epic was maintained. As it was, battles tended to be extremely bloody affairs for the men who fought in them. The Gods, who feature so strongly in this narrative were a necessity. If a man fled from a fight he knew would result in death, be could excuse himself and say a God had attacked him or ordered him to flee. The most unacceptable conduct could be justified by blaming it on the Gods.

Agamemnon explains away the irrational and childish actions that removed the Greeks'best soldier from the battle by saying: "But I was not to blame. It was Zeus and Fate and Fury who walks in dark that blinded my judgement, that day at the meeting, when on my own authority I confiscated Achilles' prize." [Iliad Book XIX -80]

This allowed many acts of obvious discredit to go unregarded. Even breaches of chastity were catered for, as is attested by the number of women of Greece who had been ravished by Gods (sic) and the number of 'Demi-Gods' sired thereby. In truth some sort of mechanism like this would be necessary in situations where a king might lose twelve out of thirteen sons in one fight. If this point is kept in mind the construction of The Iliad becomes much clearer.

Based on the information contained in Homer's The Iliad, Greek armies of this period formed up with the close order spear armed troops in blocks. These were wider than they were deep, as with the traditional Greek phalanx. Infantry armed with bow and woollen slings would ply their weapons as skirmishers. These troops were probably of low quality and incapable of close combat. Art of the period shows them lightly clad and not carrying combat weapons. This same art depicts skirmishingjavelin throwers, but they are not mentioned in The Iliad and therefore can only be used with reservations.

Spaces would be left between formations (highways of war) to allow chariots to pass back and forth, although the chariots would start in the front of the battle array and attempt to stop enemy chariots disrupting their own infantry. While some single combats would take place at the start of the battle, as the slow moving infantry approached their opposite numbers the chariots would be drawn up in companies or squadrons and would either attack with the infantry or withdraw to enter the fray at some other place such as the flanks. Note that the chariots wereheld close by the infantry. It is arguable that units of heavy chariots could be employed with a similar number of more lightly armored chariots (linen corselets etc). Certainly these lighter chariots would not be wearing suits of Dendra style armor. If some of the heroes bad to fight in linen corselets then it is unlikely that second line charioteers were better armed.

More Homer's Greeks in Battle

Foreword, Sources, and Narrative
The Infantry
The Chariots
The Equipment
Reconstructing the Battle Tactics
Wargaming with Homer's Greeks