The Homeric Chariot Author(s): Walter Leaf Source: The Journal of Hellenic Studies, Vol. 5 (1884), pp.

185-194 Published by: The Society for the Promotion of Hellenic Studies Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/623703 Accessed: 21/01/2009 07:31
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CHARIOT. THE HOMERIC

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THE HOMERIC CHARIOT. THE object of the present paper is not to give a full account of the Homeric chariot, but merely to call attention to a somewhat minute point, in which, as it seems to me, light may be thrown upon the words of Homer from the representations given us in the painted vases. By way of preface it may be mentioned that the war-chariot was hardly known in Greece proper, at all events after the heroic age. The only occasion in Greek history when it played an important part was on the half-oriental soil of Cyprus. In the battle so picturesquely described by Herodotos (v. 113), the fortune of the day was finally decided by the treachery of the war-chariots of Salamis, whose desertion threw the island into the hands of the Persians (498 B.c.). On the rugged and broken mountains of the mainland, such an arm could hardly ever have been of practical service, and we may assume that the type familiar to the vase-painters of the fifth century B.C. must have been derived from Asia Minor. It is therefore not surprising to find that the red-figured vases of the fine period very rarely give us any picture of a chariot, at least if we leave out of the question the racing chariot, which, as will be seen, was probably of a slightly different pattern from that used in the army. On the black-figured vases it is a very favourite object, but the representations are conventional, and fall into two classes, which are given over and over again with little variety. Of these two, one, the full-front view, with its stiff and hard schematism, and its too ambitious attempt at foreshortening, is decidedly among the least successful efforts of the archaic draughtsmen, who evidently found the details with which we are concerned quite beyond their powers of

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THE HOMERIC CHARIOT.

perspective.J We shall concern ourselves only with the second class, those giving us a side-view of the chariot at rest. The teams at full speed seen in three-quarter view belong entirely to the later and technically more accomplished period. But however imperfect their execution, these artists seem to have had tolerably fixed ideas as to the nature of a

part of the harness. If we look immediately over the horses' shoulders, we shall find a mass of gear which at first sight looks rather confused, but on examination shows such consistency
1 A curious attempt to reproduce this in relief appears in one of the Selinus

metopes.

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187

that we can hardly suppose it to be anything else than a representation of a reality which was at one time familiar to the Greek warrior. The appended cuts (1) and (2) give a fair idea of the harness as shown on the vases. The gear in question lies immediately over the point where the yoke crosses the pole. We can, in almost all but the most carelessly painted examples, make out, firstly, a ring; secondly a short peg, which we will for the present call the pin; thirdly a long projection, which for convenience we will name the horn. The relation of these parts is, as we should expect, not always very clearly given, but the usual arrangement is, that the pin seems to pass through the ring, while the horn stands up beyond. In (2) the opposite arrangement is shown, the horn passing through the ring; but this is less usual. In (1) it is only through bad drawing that the ring seems to cross the horse's shoulder. The loop and strap shown hanging from the yoke are the collar and trace for the areipa~opoS which is about to be harnessed. But however this may be represented, there is one further detail which is almost invariably prominent, and it is to this I wish to call particular attention: it is a rope or strap which is fastened to the horn and passes thence to a tall projection on the front of the car itself, which for our immediate purpose may be christened the post. We generally find marks which indicate that the rope has been wound round the horn, and sometimes the knot by which it is attached is very clearly indicated. Now we have in Iliad, xxiv. 265-274, a very full account of the process by which the yoke was attached to the pole. It is true that the words apply not to a war-chariot but to a mule-car; but there is no reason to suppose that this would imply any difference in the yoking, and I hope to show that the words of Homer agree both with the details of the vases and with the necessities of practical use
"Qfl '+S',a0 ol y' apa 7raTrpbs v7roBelaavres o,oecK\V] EKc/J?V aba~av aepav ev'rpoxov ,}ptoveltv, qrelpFvffaS^ 8t7jav e7r avtrRs /ca\rjv qrp6oTOTwyqea, 8 , y7peov gca 8'ro 7rao'o-aX6f) d ~vqfv vo "o '

w^ivovvookaXoev, e~ ol,rlceoao'tv aprqpo,'

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CHARIOT. THE HOMERIC

edc y' ~4:epov 'v/yoSear/zov a,u*a gv~y eveoY rlXu. tcal To p,ev e5 Kare'Orlgav fvierze '7rl pvtL,
7T6^?7rl

&, \t eTr ~r~, ~T tgXo, 'TpTpCOT, 67TI oE

KpifCOV

eSo-TpI

/a\^or,O

Tpl ~eli

8 Ke~arepOev eSrjcrav e7r' oua\6v, avr'p va 8' e'catuay. Vwv7ro fi/X tca~eSr7o'av,

e.tr...a

Of the parts named by Homer we of course recognize the The e"aTcp is and fixed into doubtless the pin passing through the ring, the pole. The o,uqa\6, may then be safely identified with the horn. This, as we see from the epithet o3/aXoey, formed a part of the yoke. Now the following points seem to be clear. 1. The wheels were placed so far back that almost the whole weight of the two riders must have been thrown upon the pole. Some means must have been provided by which this downward thrust was transferred from the lower side of the pole to the yoke. 2. There must have been a provision for the lateral play of the yoke, or the unequal pace of the two horses would inevitably overstrain it and break either yoke or pole. The first of these objects would naturally be provided for by placing the yoke beneath the pole, the second by having the ring of considerably larger diameter than the pole. This supposition exactly agrees with what we find in the paintings where a very large ring is represented, while the pole is hidden behind the shoulders of the horses. 3. The third very important force remains to be provided for, the forward pull of the yoke. This was of course taken by the e%rop or pin, which was passed through the ring and then through a hole near the end of the pole. This is described by Homer in the words, edrl Be Ccplfcov eSaropi,/3/kBor, and leads to the conjectural restoration which I have given in the cut, No. 3. We have now provided for the attachment of the yoke with due resistance to every interaction, but we have not reached the end of the process described by Homer. What is meant by the words wrplsecd?epOev Srljav d,r' o,fJ<aX6vand e~eir]^ gcare$arala? The object of the two verbs is clearly the while the TOp,ev,two lines above, being the 'vvyo6, ~vSoSear,Jiov, and Be mark the change. It might have been expected ,ubev that the object of ~;/aav would be more clearly indicated, and
tcp[tco, in the ring of the vase paintings.

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189

the neglect of the f of ?efcdTepOfev may possibly indicate a some corruption concealing forgotten word, which was either a for or was the name for some part of it. synonym 'vTyoSeo-pov, This however is not essential to the argument, and can hardly be considered even probable.

vya os-.--

...........-rco5

Now the 'v.'yJo'epuov which was thus tied to something was nine cubits-say thirteen feet-in length; it cannot therefore have been meant for merely tying round the pole and omphalos, for in that case, a length of three or four feet would have been, to say the least, amply sufficient: and besides, such an arrangement, without adding any real strength to the attachment of the yoke, where the end of the pole pierced for the e%rTcp was the weakest part, would simply destroy the free play of the parts, without which the pole could not survive any but the slightest inequality in the pace of the horses. The explanation I believe to have been this: that the l'vTo.ecrplov was taken in the middle, and fastened by three turns of .each end to the omphalos or horn, which it will be remembered I take to be a part not of the pole but of the yoke: then the two ends, each having now a free length of some five or six feet, were led back to the body of the car and tied to the post. We now have to explain the phrase eteF'V? caTer8;ap. This is commonly translated ' tied the Zygodesmon in an orderly knot,' laying the consecutive turns side by side in succession. This can perhaps be got out of the words, though it is rather forced;

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THE HOMERIC CHARIOT.

but I feel little doubt that e[eiw is here not the adverb at all, but the genitive of a substantive e[erV or something like it, which was the Greek name for what I have called the post. Such a word has an obvious derivation from the verb 6'%etv, because the primary use of the post was to afford something by which the parabates could hold on and aid himself in what must have been the far from easy task of keeping his balance. The vases themselves often enough represent this use of the post. Whether we have the exact original form in the word e,%l/f we can hardly say. I do not recollect any case of a substantive formed with the suffix -ae~V,unless indeed the adverb e~lqT be itself a genitive: but the loss of the original word would itself be likely enough, when the war-chariot with all .its technical details had passed out of Greek memory; the resemblance of the more familiar adverb would be amply sufficient to cause a corruption when some sort of sense could still be made. If this explanation be not accepted, I do not see on what hypothesis we can account for the inordinate length of the Zygodesmon, which be it remarked, will even allow sufficient for any one who still wishes to take a turn or two round the pole and yoke before leading back the ends, though I regard such a precaution as likely to do more harm than good. It is, moreover, certain that the Zygodesmon, as I have explained it, was from the first an integral part of the Greek chariot, and not a mere freak of fancy on the part of an unconscientious vase-painter; for we find it, though rarely, even on coins of early workmanship.1 In the best period it is omitted for the obvious reason that such a minute and purely realistic detail was inconsistent with breadth of artistic design; but we have also corroborative evidence, for there is no doubt that the Greek chariot, like the Egyptian, came from Assyria. The pattern is in essentials identical in all three nations, and in the case of Egypt at least there seems to be evidence enough, that the chariots, at all events those of the best class, were an article of import from Asia. Thus Weiss (Kostuimkunde, p. 95), says, 'Unter den von Asien eingelieferten Waffen bildeten ferner auch die Kriegsw/agen von prunkvollster Ausstattung einen ganz
1 It is very clearly represented in the fine Syracusan drachma, given in Prof. Gardner's Types of Greek Coins, P1. JJ. 9.

THE HOMERIC CHARIOT.

191

besonders gesuchten Tributartikel.' As regards Greece, it is so obvious that the chariot cannot have been indigenous here that the only question that can arise is that of the exact means by which it was introduced from its birthplace in the Mesopotamian plains. Now very little observation of the Assyrian monuments is enough to show that in the Assyrian chariots such a Zygodesmon as we are concerned with is extremely common. We find the post in the front of the chariot in two forms; sometimes it is a short and wide elevation of the front part of the car, which is itself of more solid construction than the Greek. In other cases it is very long and slender, bearing at the top a disc which contains a device, no doubt the standard of the captain who rides below. The Greeks, whose chieftains in Homeric times do not seem to have carried such devices, retained the slender pole, but shortened it, and so adapted it to the purely practical purpose of a support to hold on by. They also retained the rope or Zygodesmon which we find connecting the post in both its forms to the yoke. The Assyrian chariot often had another ornament, which I mention only to say that it seems to be independent of this Zygodesmon, as each is frequently found apart from the other. This is the curious long oval, of uncertain material, often adorned with religious symbols, which extends in a vertical plane from the yoke to the car. What the use or significance of this was I do not presume to guess. The fact of the existence of the Zygodesmon in this sense being established, there remains the question of the purpose it was meant to serve. This is not very obvious, but two suggestions may be made. In the first place, by thus attaching the yoke directly to the body of the chariot, part of any violent shock might be taken off the [cplos and ecrT'op, while there would be no interference with the free play between them. Secondly, we see from Homer, that the pole was very apt to break vr~, ~rl jrpor.f: that is, no doubt, at the point where a weakness was introduced by the hole in which the rtaorp was fixed. In such an event, the Zygodesmon would possibly prevent the escape of the horses, though so far as I recollect whenever a pole is broken in a Homeric battle the horses run away; but this may be only from poetical propriety. As to the Omphalos, this may have been meant to keep the Zygodesmon

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CHARIOT. THE HOMERIC

clear of the Kpl'co~ and erwp, which by their constant friction would soon wear it out. But such speculations are of little importance, inasmuch as the Omphalos and Zygodesmon were there, whatever their use. Possibly they may have only been a useless survival of some older means of harnessing by traces; in such matters man is apt to be irrationally conservative. In favour of this last supposition it may be mentioned, that we elsewhere seem to find the same appendage reduced to a meaningless ornament. In the war-chariots of the Egyptians, according to Wilkinson ({c. Eg,yp. i. 238), ' a large ball placed upon a shaft projected above the saddle; there is reason to believe it was added solely for an ornamental purpose, and fixed to the yoke immediately above the centre of the saddle, or to the head of a pin which connected the yoke to the pole. The same kind of ornament, though of a different form is met with in Persian cars, and that it was not a necessary part of the harness is shown by the many instances of its omission in Egyptian curricles, and even in some of the chariots of war.' In the later Greek racing chariot the post was of no use, as there was no parabates to hold on by it, and the charioteer always drove with both hands. It was however retained in a modified and adapted form, by being made double with a crossrail at the top, at about the height of the driver's breast. This form we find on some of the later agonistic vases as well as on coins.1 It evidently served the double purpose of saving the charioteer from the possible danger of being dragged over the front of the chariot, while at the same time it gave him greater guiding power by enabling him to lean far forward, in the attitude which is familiar on works of art, and thus to grasp the reins nearer to the horses' heads. There is yet another passage in Homer which may be illustrated by what we know of the Egyptian chariot. It occurs in the second locusclassicus for Homeric chariot-gear, Il. v. 722-732. We are told that the Si(pao %pvxrsoiai,eca dapyvpeoia'tv ipa'aiv, evdrerarat. (727-8) This is usually explained of the breast-work of the car, or ~rt~;tpteS, which is supposed to be formed of interwoven
1 E.g. Gardner, Types,P1. VI. 25, 26; XI. 30.

THE HOMERIC CHARIOT.

193

straps of leather; it was rather the floor of the car on which the charioteerand parabates stood.x For the Egyptians actually used this device of a floor of interwoven straps strained tight, to supply the want of springs, which must have been a serious matter in fighting over rough ground (Wilkinson, Anc. Egyptians, i. 227). We may then compare Od.xxiii. 201, when Odysseus employs precisely the same device in order to make himself a ,uavTa l '306S. springy bed, ev S' e'avvna If further argument be needed in favour of an interpretation which seems to be sufficiently recommended by its own probability, it may be pointed out that s;gpov means in the narrowest sense, the platform on which the riders stand, because the breastwork is called ?7rS^qp~aS (II. x. 475), and that it is only thus that we obtain the full meaning of the word ~vrTeTa'ai,'is stretched tight,' for this could hardly be used of a semi-circular breastwork of woven straps, where some at least must have been comparatively loose. It is of less weight perhaps, but still it may be mentioned, that vase-paintings do not seem to give any representation of chariots with such interwoven breastworks. Since the preceding paper was written Dr. Helbig's highly interesting book Das Ilomerische ,Epos aus den lDenkmalern erl&eterthas appeared. It does not contain any fresh explanation of the point under discussion. He brings forward some evidence, however, to support the usual theory that the words and ev7r\e.vs refer to the breastwork,not to the floor e?6rk?KTOS of the car; this question therefore must remain open. He also gives the following description of the manner in which the peasants in South Italy, especially in the Basilicata, attach the yoke to the pole (p. 107). ' Der Jochbalken hat in der Mitte der unteren Seite einen beweglichen eisernen Ring, die Deichsel unweit der Spitze ein vertikales Loch, in dem ein eiserner von unten nach oben bewegbarer Nagel steckt. Nachdem man das Joch zwischen der Deichselspitze und dem Loche auf die Deichsel aufgesetzt hat, wird der Nagel emporgezogen und der Jochring zuriickgelegt. Hierauf lasst man den Nagel in die Oeffnung des Ringes hineinfallen, dergestalt, das der letztere nunmehr mit seiner unteren Wolbung an den
1 So also I1. xxiii. 335, 436, EV7bTrKfy ev\ , t~p~, ~tfpovs EbXEiceaV. O V. H.S.-VOL.

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CHARIOT. THE HOMERIC

Nagel anliegt. Auf diese Weise befestigt, kann sich das Joch, soweit es der Durchmesser des Ringes gestattet, nach vorwarts schieben, aber nimmermehr von der Deichsel abgleiten. Schliesslich werden Deichsel und Joch, damit das letztere beim Ziehen nicht hin und herschwanke, noch durch ein mehrfach I am afraid that I do not geschlungenes Seil verbunden.' the understand arrangement exactly; at all events it does not seem to give any explanation whatever of the nature and function of the 6gaBX09. Dr. Helbig claims that it gives a more natural explanation of the words CT7rKp[~ov Sarope f3k\kov than that adopted by Grashof, and in another way by myself, where the ring is put over tlhe pole before being secured by the earop. In any case the phrase must mean ' put the e'reop through the ring,' if the Yteop is, as we all assume, a peg made movable in order that it may be lifted up, in order to be passed through the yoke-ring. The inversion of thought which expresses this as 'putting the ring over the peg' is surely very slight. Dr. Helbig rightly notices the necessity of supposing that the end of the w/o~Set^ror must have been fastened to a point at some distance from the yoke, as ' nach dreimaligem Umbinden gewiss ansehnliche Enden uibrigblieben.' Mr. C. D. Durnford has recently published in the Athenaeum of Aug. 2nd, 1884, a very plausible and ingenious theory, according to which the long fish-shaped or oval connexion between the car and the yoke of Assyrian chariots served as a spring. This however lies too far from the present question to pertnit of discussion. WALTER LEAF.