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Stone's Glossary has xiphos being a name used by Homer for a sword. The entry in the book says that the sword had a double-edged blade widest at about two-thirds of its length from the point, and ending in a very long point. [2] The word is attested in Mycenaean Greek Linear B form as 𐀥𐀯𐀟𐀁, qi-si-pe-e.
The difference in meaning between kopis and makhaira (μάχαιρα, another Greek word, meaning "chopper" or "short sword", "dagger") is not entirely clear in ancient texts, [5] but modern specialists tend to discriminate between single-edged cutting swords, those with a forward curve being classed as kopides, those without as makhairai. [6]
Lityerses was a talented swordsman, and was bloodthirsty and aggressive. He challenged people to harvesting contests and beheaded those he beat, putting the rest of their bodies in the sheaves. Heracles won the contest and killed him, then threw his body into the river Maeander. [1] [2] [3] He was also known as the "Reaper of Men."
A Greek hoplite with muscle cuirass, spear, shield, Corinthian helmet and sheathed sword. Ancient Greek weapons and armor were primarily geared towards combat between individuals. Their primary technique was called the phalanx , a formation consisting of massed shield wall, which required heavy frontal armor and medium-ranged weapons such as ...
This sword is used by Llenlleawg Wyddel to kill Diwrnach Wyddel and his men. Ceard-nan Gallan, the Smith of the Branches, sword of Oisín. Claíomh Solais (Sword of Light), the sword of Nuada Airgeadlámh. The sword glowed with the light of the sun and was irresistible in battle, having the power to cut his enemies in half.
Bronze Age European swords. Harpe: mentioned almost exclusively in Greek mythology; Iron Age European swords. Falcata: one-handed single-edged sword – blade 48–60 cm (19–24 in) – with forward-curving blade for slashing; Falx: Dacian and Thracian one-handed or two-handed single-edged curved shortsword for slashing
Makhaira entered classical Latin as machaera, "a sword". The dimachaerus was a type of Roman gladiator that fought with two swords. In modern Greek, μαχαίρι means "knife". Modern scholars distinguish the makhaira from the kopis (an ancient term of similar meaning) based on whether the blade is forward curved (kopis), or not (makhaira). [3]
The acinaces, also transliterated as akinakes (Greek ἀκῑνάκης) or akinaka (unattested Old Persian *akīnaka h, Sogdian kynʼk) is a type of dagger or xiphos (short sword) used mainly in the first millennium BCE in the eastern Mediterranean Basin, especially by the Medes, [1] Scythians, Persians and Caspians, [2] then by the Greeks.