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The term kopis (Ancient Greek: Κόπις) in Ancient Greece could describe a heavy knife with a forward-curving blade, primarily used as a tool for cutting meat, for ritual slaughter and animal sacrifice, [citation needed] or refer to a single edged cutting or "cut and thrust" sword with a similarly shaped blade.
Unlike the xiphos, which is a thrusting weapon, the kopis was a hacking weapon in the form of a thick, curved single edged iron sword. In Athenian art, Spartan hoplites were often depicted using a kopis instead of the xiphos, as the kopis was seen as a quintessential "villain" weapon in Greek eyes. [47]
Hoplites mounted on horseback likely used a heavier, curved sword known as the kopis, meaning "chopper" in the Greek language. [2] [9] Light infantry known as peltasts would carry a number of javelins used to pepper enemy formations, avoiding close combat whenever possible. The job of the peltast was not to engage in formation combat, therefore ...
Early 20th-century view of Kopys. The first references to Kopys are dated at 1059. From the 14th century, it was part of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and subsequently the Polish–Lithuanian Union after the Union of Krewo (1385).
Unlike the xiphos, which was a thrusting weapon, the kopis was a hacking weapon in the form of a thick, curved iron sword. The Spartans retained the traditional hoplite phalanx until the reforms of Cleomenes III when they were re-equipped with the Macedonian sarissa and trained in the phalanx style.
"I recommend a kopis rather than a xiphos, because from the height of a horse's back the cut of a machaira will serve you better than the thrust of a xiphos." (Xenophon, 12:11). [6] Archeological evidence suggests that the makhaira was more predominant in areas that were not so focused on using the phalanx, and instead focused more on cavalry. [7]
The kopis is a totally different weapon, which developed from the late bronze age urnfield knives, many centuries after the khopesh had disappeared. The only similarity between the khopesh and kopis is the name, but the two are not connected etymologically.
A typical khopesh is 50–60 cm (20–24 in) in length, though smaller examples also exist. The inside curve of the weapon could be used to trap an opponent's arm, or to pull an opponent's shield out of the way.