"Iron blades in the Trojan War?" Topic
7 Posts
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JC Lira | 15 Oct 2014 9:52 p.m. PST |
Homer makes references to iron weapons in the Iliad, but he didn't really live during the period when the historical war took place. In the real Trojan war, would you have seen bronze blades and spearheads, iron ones, or some of both? |
ochoin | 15 Oct 2014 11:16 p.m. PST |
Bronze Age warriors used bronze (& stone etc) for weapons….however, there is evidence for the use of iron from meteors & possibly from early Hittite efforts at smelting at this time. Tutankhamen's iron dagger: link |
Dave Crowell | 16 Oct 2014 4:19 a.m. PST |
Iron would have been rare and valuable. Mostly daggers. |
RavenscraftCybernetics | 16 Oct 2014 7:13 a.m. PST |
It depends on who did the translating as well. |
Phillius | 16 Oct 2014 12:13 p.m. PST |
Isn't there a theory that the timing for the Trojan War is wrong, and that Homer was a contemporary, placing it in the late 8th and early 7th centurys BC? Based on the references to allies of Troy in the Illiad, who are actually referenced by others at around the 8/7th century time? In which case iron weapons might have been more likely??? |
Dave Crowell | 16 Oct 2014 12:53 p.m. PST |
I have encountered the proposition that at least some of teh Sea Peoples were armed with iron blades. So iron swords may have been more common, depending on when you date the Sea Peoples and the Trojan War, and who fought on which side, etc. The Illiad is our best source and it is not believed to be contemporary. If doing it as a Wargames project feel free to go with what makes sense to you. The general concensus seems to be that teh Trojan War took place at the cusp of theBronze Age and the Iron Age if it took place at all. |
ochoin | 17 Oct 2014 5:01 a.m. PST |
We know so little about the Sea People's period, however, it is nice to hypothesise that their success at bowling over established empires was, in part at least, to the superior technology of iron weapons. I'm sure we can't go much further than that & in gaming terms, painting a few weapons with iron edges & maybe tweaking a factor or two is plausible IMO. |
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