Ancient Archers Reassessed

[barca]

We also need to consider different styles of archery.  A comparison was made of horse arhers in the 6th century. The Sassanid Persians were know to let loose of flurry of arrows in rapid succession, whereas the Huns used a more powerful asymetric bow which took much more force to draw. Their shots were therefore less frequent but more deadly. The Byzantine horse archers tried to emulate the Huns, although they didn't use the asymetric bow which took a long time to master.

 

The details can be seen in Ian Hughe's book on Belisarius

[sonic]

Obviously (!), I agree with Barca and Bryaxis.  It isn't simply a matter of getting a bow and firing it:  training, methodology, type of bow, type of arrow, whether the target was armoured or unarmoured, shielded or unshielded, trained or untrained, etc. etc.

 

The 'volume' method which appears to have been used by the Sasanids required little training and relied on sheer numbers of arrows fired to cause casualties.  In contrast, the Huns relied more on superior skill to select and hit individual targets - hence their reputation:  a few specialist archers could cause large numbers of casualties amongst unarmoured and untrained troops.

[Bryaxis Hecatee]

 

That point about Paris is good. You might say the same about Odysseus. But what about Philoctetes and Hercules who's bow Philoctetes inherited? Then there is also Teucer who is nothing but admired in the Iliad, and although archery comes almost last in Book XXIII, the funeral games, the javelin throw is the next and final competition and I wouldn't say that it is despised.

 

 

You are right of course, I only gave Paris as one example, but if you look closely at the Illiad you have the same kind of ambivalence surrounding all those archers characters : Odysseus is dodgy, although he can hold his place on the battlefield. Philoctetes is diseased, left alone on his island until it's no longer possible to leave him there, the will of the gods being too strong. Teucer is indeed admired, but he fights from behind the shield of Ajax : in all cases the archers are not "straight arrows" if you'll pardon me the pun.