Corinthian Helmet
The Corinthian helmet is the classic helmet of the Greek hoplite: a bronze helmet beaten from a single sheet, covering the whole head and face except for eye openings and a narrow gap over the mouth, with a nasal guard between the eyes. It developed in the seventh century BC, was worn by the hoplites who fought at Marathon and Thermopylae, and became the symbol of the Greek warrior — the helmet of Athena and of heroes in Greek art. By the fifth century it was giving way to lighter, more open designs.
Also known as Corinthian helm, Greek hoplite helmet, kranos
Origins
The Corinthian helmet appeared in the early seventh century BC, together with the round hoplite shield and the phalanx way of fighting, and Herodotus already calls it by that name, associating it with Corinth. Earlier Greek helmets had been built up of several pieces; the Corinthian was hammered from a single sheet of bronze, an impressive feat of metalworking that produced a smooth, strong shell with no weak joints. It became the standard helmet of the Greek hoplite through the Archaic period and into the fifth century BC, and it is the helmet worn by the men who fought the Persians at Battle of Marathon and Battle of Thermopylae.
Design & Construction
A Corinthian helmet enclosed the whole head. Its cheek pieces came forward almost to meet in front of the mouth, leaving a narrow vertical slot; two almond-shaped eye openings sat on either side of a fixed nose guard; and the back swept down to protect the neck. Early examples are fairly rounded; later ones are more closely shaped to the head, with an elegant profile and a sharp flare at the neck. The helmet was lined with leather or felt, and many had a horsehair crest set on a holder along the top. A good bronze Corinthian weighed between two and three pounds and offered excellent protection to the head and face from spear points and sword cuts, which was what mattered in the crush of the phalanx.
Combat Use
The Corinthian helmet was designed for the hoplite's kind of fighting, shoulder to shoulder behind his Greek Aspis, thrusting with the Hoplite Dory at an enemy in front. In that battle, the face was the most exposed target, and the Corinthian covered it almost completely. The price was that the wearer could hardly hear and had a limited field of vision, which mattered little in a close formation but was a real handicap in more open fighting. Hoplites often pushed the helmet back on top of the head when not in action, which is how it is shown in countless sculptures. The Spartans continued to use Corinthian-style helmets well into the fifth century BC.
Legacy
By the later fifth century BC, as warfare became more mobile and light troops more important, Greek soldiers turned to lighter and more open helmets such as the pilos and the Chalcidian, and the Corinthian went out of use. But it never left art: Athena and Greek heroes are shown in the Corinthian helmet pushed back on the head, and it became, and remains, the universal symbol of the ancient Greek warrior. Its shape influenced Italian helmet types, and it appears today on coins, military insignia and in film as shorthand for Sparta and the Greek world.
Sources
Snodgrass, A. M. Early Greek Armour and Weapons. Edinburgh University Press, 1964.
Everson, Tim. Warfare in Ancient Greece: Arms and Armour from the Heroes of Homer to Alexander the Great. Sutton, 2004.
Hanson, Victor Davis. The Western Way of War: Infantry Battle in Classical Greece. Knopf, 1989.
Herodotus. Histories, Book IV, 180.
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