Linothorax vs Spolas

[Dan D'Silva]

Homeric period Greek is Proto-Indo European, and would have been the same root language as the Dacian, Scythians and Trojans. Likely to have been somewhat intelligible to each of these peoples in this time period.

This all may be ultimately inconsequential as regards the argument, but I feel it ought to be said. "Homeric Greek" denotes a form of the Ionic dialect. But even Mycenaean Greek was far removed from PIE and wouldn't have been intelligible to speakers of other IE branches like the Dacians and Skythians. (We don't know what language the Trojans spoke, but a reasonable guess would be some sort of Anatolian.)

I don't wish to take a side in this argument, but I find the statement that thorax means "corselet" and corselet means a wide belt or apron to be really striking, and I'd like to know what the basis is for it. Regarding the specific occurrences of linothorax, Lattimore translates it as "armoured in linen," and I don't find anything in the surrounding words indicating that the item was a belt or apron. Elsewhere there are references to thorakes going on the chest, and Agamemnon's reaches up to his throat (XI l. 26).

I'm having a bit of trouble tracking down online the original sections of the text from which Pollux's and Xenophon's quotes were drawn, but as given here, "The spolas is a thorax of leather, which hangs from the shoulders, so that Xenophon says 'and the spolas instead of the thorax.'" Now, to me these statements would imply that the words spolas and thorax at least could mean items similar in form and function.

Further, I also don't understand what the assumptions that Homer was a) a single person and b) lived near the time of the Trojan War have to do with the discussion. I would think that someone arguing for a linen T&Y in or near the Classical period would prefer a later date for the composition of the Iliad, assuming that a linothorax is a linen T&Y.