Two-Headed Spear (Homer)

[Hjorimir]

You're a gentleman and a scholar.

 

[MeepoTheMighty]

http://www.ninjaturtles.com/toys/2005/combatwarriorgear/don.html

I am Combat Warrior Donatello, master of the two-headed spear! I have worked, studied and trained hard to learn and master the secrets of ninjitsu! I put on my bandana, budoka belt and elbow pads, arm myself with my shuriken throwing stars and trusty two-headed spear with its psych-out purple war ribbons and I am ready for action! I am Combat Warrior Donatello... and I am ninja!

You gotta love the disc-like shuriken designed so that nobody puts an eye out... man, kids nowadays don't get any of the fun of playing ninja turtles.

 

[Pbartender]

You gotta love the disc-like shuriken designed so that nobody puts an eye out... man, kids nowadays don't get any of the fun of playing ninja turtles.

The ring also helps them fly better... With the lighter plastic they're made of, you get better distance out of designing them like a tiny Aerobie.

 

[Kwitchit]

I think a Homeric spear would basically be the doru (the pointed butt-spikes were common in the ancient world, the Persians also used them). However, there would be 2 differences:
The points would be bronze rather than iron.
The spear would be a LOT longer. Hector's is described as "eleven cubits long" (5 meters), and that's not exceptionally big, as Achilles wields a "monstrous Pelian ash spear, so large that no-one else can use it" (although the exact size is never stated).

Warriors would carry 2 spears into battle, throw the first at a distance, then use the second in a charge.

 

[Pbartender]

I think a Homeric spear would basically be the doru (the pointed butt-spikes were common in the ancient world, the Persians also used them). However, there would be 2 differences:
The points would be bronze rather than iron.
The spear would be a LOT longer. Hector's is described as "eleven cubits long" (5 meters), and that's not exceptionally big, as Achilles wields a "monstrous Pelian ash spear, so large that no-one else can use it" (although the exact size is never stated).

Though it's not technically the specific style of spear you are talking about, a really long (3.5-4.25 meters) doru is a xyston...

...and was normally used by calvary as a lance.

 

[HeavenShallBurn]

The spear would be a LOT longer. Hector's is described as "eleven cubits long" (5 meters), and that's not exceptionally big, as Achilles wields a "monstrous Pelian ash spear, so large that no-one else can use it" (although the exact size is never stated).

There's the problem most people run into, Bolded. There was no single universal cubit measure, the term "cubit" was applied to many different measures used by different peoples over the entirety of the ancient world and it was assumed that the reader would know which one to apply. While spears for fighting in formation got very long they weren't useful in the sort of combat that Homeric warlords often engaged in. Probably the longest of their spears were somewhere in the 9 to 10 feet range. Beyond this even for a tall person the spear becomes too long and unwieldy and whippy, and if you increase the thickness of the shaft to dampen the whippyness they quickly get heavy enough that they slow down.

 

[William drake]

In the Odyssey, Homer (and others) sometimes mentioned a weapon he described as a two-headed spear. Would anybody know (or have a reference book) that would better describe the weapon (including a proper name if one exists) and what the assumed advantages of such a weapon?


I belive Minerva (who I think was later transformed into Athena), the goddess, had one as well.

I know it seems like an obscure question, but the knowledge pool of ENWorld never disappoints.

Its smiply talking about a spear with two heads. One on either side.