Odysseus will soon be on the big screen as part of Christopher Nolan’s Odyssey. Recent images released of Matt Damon as the eponymous hero brought much commentary, not all of it warm. For many the look was drab and at best resembled a mash up of what Hollywood considered ancient Greek. This isn’t a new debate, Hollywood has reimagined what was worn by fictional, and real, characters from history for many years. Take leather bracers. Perhaps they were worn in antiquity in some instances, however, they are a staple on the big screen and one reason for this was to hide the marks left from actors who wore watches or just the watches themselves.
What Matt Damon was wearing on his head drew particular attention with it being described as a sort of Roman style helmet which an audience would immediately recognise as ‘ancient’. What is of interest to me was a suggestion I noted in a number of places. How about giving Odysseus a piece of headwear which he wore in a particular episode in the Iliad? The famous boar’s tusk helmet.
Odysseus and a night mission
The aforementioned headwear featured in Book X of Homer’s Iliad. It’s a very interesting section of the poem and finds the Greek camped on the beaches at Troy and in a dismal state. Late in the night Agamemnon cannot sleep due to the situation both he and his forces are in. His actions have sidelined Achilles and they are now horribly exposed to a Trojan force camped across the plain. He is joined by his brother, Menelaus, who has also not been able to rest due to his concerns. Through this, and the worries of other Greek leaders and nobles, Homer fosters a sense of despair. Yet there is always a space for comedy, when Diomedes is visited he breaks the pattern of nobles either being already awake or being roused in a formal manner. Instead Nestor finds him in deep slumber and gives him a kick to wake him.
With the group assembled a plan is sketched out. This will involve what is often referred to as a foray into the enemy camp in the early hours of the morning. The intention is to spread panic, cause damage and learn anything which might be useful. Diomedes is the first to volunteer and suggests that it would be better if he is joined by another. This causes a flurry of proverbial hands to be raised as other Greeks sense the glory which could be won. The choice is left to Diomedes who is given a free pass and this includes the caveat that no-one should take offence if he is chosen. One candidate stands out, you guessed, it’s Odysseus.
Getting kitted out
The pair make ready to leave and Diomedes chooses to carry a sword and shield. In terms of headwear he sports a simple bull-hide cap and Homer notes how this did not have a plume or boss. The intention here is that the choices reflected a practicality. Anything metallic might catch a glint of light, perhaps from a camp fire. The darkness of the night was noted earlier by Homer though it can’t have been absolute in terms of visibility for reasons I will get to shortly.
Odysseus takes a bow and sword, but most importantly a leather helmet with white boar teeth set at intervals. The famed boar’s tooth helmet. This feels like an odd choice. Was there a danger it might shine or reflect light and thus alert anyone on the lookout? Presumably not. It also seems to have been a narrative device used by Homer to tell a story and also thematically link in with the activity the pair are about to undertake.
It wasn’t just the Greeks who had an idea of a night raid. Hector in the Trojan camp comes up with a similar idea and Homer neatly contrasts the two armies as when he asks for volunteers only one man steps forward. Dolus makes the journey but is spotted by the Greek pair as he makes his way across the plain (this being the reason it couldn’t have been pitch black). He’s caught and then reveals all to Odysseus in terms of the layout of the Trojan camp. Odysseus agrees to spare him and keeps his word, unfortunately Diomedes wasn’t part of that bargain and he duly severs the neck of Dolus and leaves him in the dust.
A stolen relic
The items which Odysseus wears and holds don’t seem to be his. They are given to him by Meriones, a character noted in the Iliad for his ability on the battlefield. Therefore this isn’t anything Odysseus owned but it was once in his family. Homer gives a mini story about it, that the helmet was originally owned by Amyntor and stolen by a character called Autolycus. In some accounts this indvidual was a son of Hermes and Autolycus rose to become a notorious thief and all round trickster. He had several offspring, one being Anticlea who was the mother of Odysseus. The proverbial apple does not fall far from the tree.
After stealing the helmet Autolycus gave it to Amphidamas who in turn gifted it to Molus, the father of Meriones and so we come full circle.
In a sense the helmet has a sense of sneakiness about it, an item stolen by a legendary thief. But there is also something else to note here. This type of helmet is not worn by any other character and doesn’t feature in the Iliad as a standard piece of headwear. As such the suggestion of it featuring as a realistic or historically accurate piece of kit for Matt Damon to wear can be challenged. You can argue that even within the timescales of the poem this item was a bit of a relic, a type of headwear once popular (and from the archaeological records this does seem the case) but long before the Greeks landed on the shores of Troy.
History and Homer
Here we meet a common issue for anyone reading or studying the Iliad. The poem itself is set many centuries before Homer and instances of what we might term anachronisms do emerge as a result. This isn’t a criticism, more an observation but it’s easier to experience the poem as a sort of ‘modern’ retelling or certainly a retelling of a myth with, what to Homer, were conventions of his time. With that said it’s important to note that we can find elements in the story which are formed from older traditions or such. The ritual Odysseus performs to speak with the dead has similarities to Hittite pit rituals, the blink-and-you-will-miss-it human sacrifice at the funeral of Patroclus may also reference a practice which had been phased out by the time of Homer.
I have done some other blog pieces about the Iliad, for example a vase which hides a gruesome secret and a sporting controversy. If you are interested in more about the Hittite pit ritual I mentioned check out the Greek Underworld episode on the Ancient History Hound podcast.
