The Role of the Warrior in Ancient Greece

To be a warrior in Ancient Greece meant many things; you fought and perhaps died for your country, you stood for justice in the community and in battle, you were courageous and willing to take on all who stood in your way, you were looked up to and revered, a step above the normal citizen. There was also a huge downside to being a warrior: you were basically a servant to the king or kings, forced to fight whenever he called for whatever reason it may be. A small price to pay for some, considering if you became a famed warrior, your name would live on for ages, and you would be considered a god amongst men.

Outside of battle, the warrior fit into society mainly like the rest of the people. They led normal lives and had families just like the rest of people. They tended to their crops, if they had land, and lived their lives normally. However, they weren't as normal as the rest of the society. They were always on call to fight great battles for their polis, at the bidding of a sometimes great ruler. For the most part, they all fought for honor and glory, for the pride of themselves, their comrades, and their country or polis.

A good warrior would always obey their leader, even if they did not fully understand or believe in the cause of war. Sometimes they were lied to about the cause of war. Take the Trojan War, for example. Some accounts state that king of all the Greeks, Agamemnon, had wanted to take over Troy for some time, having expanded his empire to the majority of the polis' in Greece. However, once his brother, Minnelaus, had lost his wife to the Trojan prince, Paris, it served as an excellent disguise to launch 1,000 ships for Troy. The majority of the Greeks would not agree with Agamemnon and his greed, they mostly wanted peace amongst the communities of Greece. However, once the Greeks had been wronged, and the Trojans had "offended" the Greeks, launching the greatest attack Greece had ever seen on the country of Troy seemed only right.

No matter what the cause though, a king or leader always loved the soldiers and warriors that would go to battle with them no matter what. There were always certain people that could be counted upon to fight for the cause. That is what leaders loved about certain soldiers, they would give their all in any situation for their pride, and their belief in the cause, or simply because it was the right thing to do. The true warrior was one to fight for their life, giving everything they had, until the very end, even if all was lost.

As for the war itself, there was a mixed bag of emotions swirling around certain wars. Most citizens and even warriors were not briefed well enough about certain wars and would end up fighting for the wrong reasons, but to them, fighting was their life. However, they would leave their homes and their families for sometimes years on end, thinking in the back of their head that perhaps they would never again even see home. These men left everything they had behind to go fight because it was part of their duty to do so. They would much rather strive for peace amongst nations and go home to their old lives and be happy with their families. However, since the kings themselves were not physically fighting in battles, they only saw victory and success in attempting to take over new land.

A good warrior must possess all of the qualities already mentioned, such as a sense of servitude and loyalty to the kings and the cause of war. But they also must be brave and courageous in the face of almost certain death. They must be fearless in battle, because a frightened warrior will not fight with any passion or desire, and will therefore be killed. The philosophy in these battles was usually "kill or be killed", so obviously a good warrior must be able to kill without hesitation, or else he will be the one to be struck down by the sword. A good warrior must be quick and agile, enough to be able to make their opponents miss and also to strike their opponents when they least expect. A good warrior must keep their head focused on his sword and the opponents he must face, because once the mind wanders, or loses sight or focus of the goal, the soldier can be taken off guard and struck down.

Not every soldier in battle possessed all or even some of the qualities of a good, strong warrior. The thinking when composing an army was usually that every able bodied man who could wield a weapon would be thrown into combat.