Portrayals and Perceptions: Greek Curved Blades in Black- and Red-Figure Iconography

Abstract

This article examines the portrayal of the curved blade in black- and red-figure painted pottery. The curved sword in ancient Greece has most often been assigned two names: ‘kopis’ and ‘machaira’. These are transliterations of the ancient Greek terms κοπ?? and μ?χαιρα. It will be pointed out here that this nomenclature is unhelpful as there are, in fact, more than two morphological types of curved sword from ancient Greece and the ancient Greeks did not definitively differentiate between what they termed κοπ?? (kopis) and μ?χαιρα (machaira). The curved knife was also included under these two terms. Here, I will discuss my own typology of the five different morphologies present in black- and red-figure art. The foundation of this article is the survey of black- and red-figure representations of the curved blades. This survey permits the examination of the morphologies of the curved sword, as well as the techniques used, and the professions and nationalities of the bearers in ancient black- and red-figure iconography.