The Running of the Horses

  The Running of the Horses

In ancient Greece, horses were symbols of wealth, power and status and were fully integrated into elite society, warfare, mythology and athletics. Only the very wealthy could afford the expense of owning, feeding and training horses. They were used in warfare for pulling chariots in battle. A two-wheeled chariot normally carried a charioteer and one warrior and became common in the Mycenaean age from about 1600-1100 BCE. Mounted cavalry appeared around 900 BCE, but did not form a large part of the fighting force until the time of Phillip of Macedon and his son, Alexander the Great and his legendary steed Bucephalus. Horses were prevalent in Greek mythology and were most often associated with the gods. Equestrian competitions were popular in ancient Greek festivals and games and horses were often given as prizes to the winners. A chariot race was a featured event at the funeral games of Patroclus. In religious rituals and funeral practices, horses were sometimes sacrificed because of their value and their connection to the divine. Achilles placed four horses on the funeral pyre of Patroclus. Horses were also used for breeding donkeys as beasts of burden and there is one story about a search being mounted for 12 missing mares that were all bearing donkeys. For the social elite of the time, a horse was considered a vital necessity and marked one’s position in society.

Because of the nature of the story and the fact that it takes place mainly upon the sea, there are relatively few references to horses in the Odyssey, as you might expect. Most comments regarding horses are found in descriptive epithets, applied either to people or to places. For example, King Nestor of Pylos is most often referred to as the Gerenian horseman or as the horse-tamer Nestor. Diomedes is referred to as the son of Tydeus, the tamer of horses. Likewise Castor, the brother of Helen, is called a tamer of horses. Ilios is noted as being famous for its horses, and Argos is always referred to as horse-grazing or horse-nurturing Argos. Warriors are depicted as wearing helmets featuring plumes of horse hair.

The most famous horse mentioned in the Odyssey is not a living beast but rather the legendary Trojan wooden horse. It was devised by the crafty Odysseus and became the tool which led to the ultimate downfall and defeat of the besieged city. Still another reference to horses in the second epic includes the scene where Telemachus is given horses and a chariot by King Nestor of Pylos so that the boy can safely and quickly make his way to Sparta to ascertain news of his missing father. Interestingly enough, Telemachus says that he will leave the horses behind and not take them to his home in Ithaca because his land is not suitable for raising horses. He says that the island contains no wide fields or meadowlands and is more suitable for raising goats than horses.

Near the end of the Odyssey we find the tender scene where Odysseus and Penelope, at long last, nestled in their olive-wood marriage bed and shed tears of joy on account of their reunion. The image of Rosy-Fingered Dawn has always been one of my favourites and in this instance we are treated to the mention of the two steeds that draw the chariot of the goddess across the sky. Homer paints a perfect picture for us with his magical words.

And rosy-fingered Dawn would have risen on their weeping, had not the flashing-eyed Athena made other plans. The long night she held back from its normal course and likewise she held back the golden-throned Dawn from the streams of Oceanus and she would not put the yoke on her swift-footed horses who bring light to mankind, namely Lampus and Phaethon, the foals who bring the Dawn.

As one would expect, because of the nature of its narrative, the Iliad is an entirely different matter when it comes to references to horses. There are few such passages in the Odyssey, but there are literally hundreds in the Iliad because of its land-based and war-based story. We find all the usual formulaic epithets describing horses, people and places. Horses are always loud-sounding, sure-footed, swift-footed, solid-hoofed, strong-hoofed or single-hooved. There are untold references to horse-taming Trojans, horse-goading Cadmeans, horse-rearing and horse-feeding Argos and horse-nurturing Trica. We once again find Nestor the Gerenian horseman, as well as the horse-tamers Hector, Peleus, Antenor, Castor, Diomedes, Menesthaus and Orestes the horse-wrangler. In one horrible scene, Homer described how Nestor’s horse was wounded and how the old man put the beast out of its misery.

Gerenian Nestor, the guardian of the Achaeans, stood alone but not of his own doing, for his horse had been wounded because the divine Alexander, husband of the fair-haired Helen, had struck it on the top of the forehead with an arrow, just where the mane begins to grow out of a horse’s head, the worst place for it to be hit. Suffering great pain, it reared up with the arrow having penetrated its brain and it spooked the other horses as it writhed around with the bronze missile in its head. The old man quickly cut the reins from the horse with a swipe of his sword.

There are many comments in the Iliad about horses being used in war. Homer tells us that the plains thundered under the feet of warriors and horses. Horses were used for pulling chariots and we find detailed comments about how they were double-yoked for the task. Sometimes two horses were used and sometimes four. The chariot carried two men, one being the charioteer and the other being the armed warrior. Most times the warrior did not fight from the chariot but instead dismounted to fight on the ground. The chariot’s sole purpose was for transporting the heavily armed warrior who would have no doubt been tired out if he was required to walk to the battlefield. Homer tells us that the horses responded best to the voice of a charioteer with whom they were already familiar. There is no indication that warriors were actually mounted on horseback like cavalry, but King Priam did mention to Helen that he encountered horsemen in Phrygia.

In days of yore I entered vine-clad Phrygia and saw the largest army of Phrygian horsemen, the people of Otreus and godlike Mygdon, all encamped on the banks of the Sangarius.

It appears that horses and chariots were richly decorated and that horse hair was used as a helmet decoration. There are numerous references to warriors wearing helmets featuring plumes or crests of horse hair. We are told that the Hera had golden-bridled horses and that the god Ares also had a similar team, the ultimate in decoration and certainly fitting for the horses of a god or goddess. Zeus himself had a team of swift-flying bronze-hoofed horses with golden manes.  In a comment about the battle wounds that Menelaus bore, we get an indication about how the horses of mortals were dressed up in their finery.

Like as when some woman from Moenia or Caria stains ivory with purple dye to adorn the cheeks of horses and it lies in her bed-chamber and many charioteers wish to have it for their own, a treasure fit for a king and worthy of being an ornament for the horse and a glory to the charioteer, so also Menelaus are your thighs stained blood-red as well as your shapely legs and your handsome ankles beneath them.

Troy had a long history of horse raising and we are given some insight into how it all came about.

Dardanus begat a son and this was King Erichthonius who became the richest of all mortal men. He had three thousand horses grazing in the marsh meadow, all of them mares rejoicing in their gamboling foals. The North Wind lusted after them as they grazed and he appeared to them as a dark-maned stallion. Some became pregnant and he begat twelve foals. When they leaped and bounded over the fields of grain, they would skim the top and not break a stalk and when they frisked and jumped over the wide sea, they would just merely touch the surface of the foamy waves.

It would appear that the best horses in the Trojan camp belonged to Aeneas and they were described as follows:

For they are of that type which wide-eyed Zeus gave to Tros for the sake of his son Ganymede and indeed they are the best of horses under the east and indeed under the sun. From this breed of horses, Anchises the lord of men stole their lineage without the knowledge of Laomedon, and put them to stud with some mares he had supplied and from these there descended six horses for his royal court. Four of these offspring he kept and reared in his stables and two of them he gave to Aeneas and both of them knew how to engender terror.

There were other famous horses in the Trojan camp and Hector himself tells us about his four horses and how they were raised and the love and attention that they received.

Having spoken thus, he urged on his horses and called aloud. Xanthus and Podargus and Aethon and you noble Lampus, now is the time for you to repay me for the care that Andromache, the daughter of generous Eetion, has lavished upon you. First she gave you sweet barley and drink mixed to your liking, even before she served me, who boasts about being a loyal and dedicated husband to her.

The captured spy Dolon tells us about the horses belonging to an ally of the Trojans, King Rhesus of Thrace. He has the most beautiful and biggest horses I have ever seen, white as snow and as fast as the wind.

Homer asked the Muse to tell him who had the best horses among the Danaans and this was her response:

When it comes to horses, those of the son of Pheres were by far the best. They were driven by Eumelos and were as swift as birds. They were of the same age and color and perfectly matched in height. Apollo with the silver bow had raised them in Perea. They were both mares and bore the terror of Ares. Of the men, Ajax the son of Telamon was by far best as long as Achilles remained angry. For Achilles, the blameless son of Peleus exceeded him greatly and he had also better horses.

We know that Achilles raised horses in Pythia and that he brought his own steeds to Troy. Very early in the epic he told Agamemnon that the Trojans had never done any harm to his cattle, horses or crops back in his home region of Pythia. His horses are famous and Odysseus makes reference to the fact that only Achilles can control them - the horses of the battle-wise son of Aeacus, for they are almost impossible for mortal men to master or drive except for Achilles whose mother was an immortal.

We learn more about the horses of Achilles when Patroclus has them harnessed for his foray into the battlefield wearing the armour of Achilles.

He ordered Automedon to quickly harness the horses, he whom he honoured most after Achilles, breaker of the ranks of men and trusted most to obey his commands in battle. At his urging, Automedon harnessed the horses, Xanthus and Balius, they that flew as swiftly as the wind and were born by the Harpy Podarge to the West Wind as she grazed in the meadow beside the stream of Oceanus. In the side traces he harnessed the goodly Pedasus that Achilles had brought away when he sacked the city of Eetion, but being a mortal horse, it followed after the immortal steeds.

            While Patroclus was doing battle with Sarpedon, Achilles’ horse Pedasus was struck and killed.

But Sarpedon missed him with his shining spear when he caught up to him but hit with his spear the horse Pedasus on the right shoulder. The horse shrieked aloud as he gave up his life and he fell down onto the dust with a moan as his soul departed. The other horses in the team reared up and the yoke creaked and the reins got all tangled where the horse lay in the dust. But the famous spearman Automedon found a solution and drawing his long thick sword from the scabbard on his thigh, he sprang forth and quickly cut the tangled reins where the horse was laying and the two fighters came together again in heart-vexing battle.

            The remaining horses of Achilles show great emotion at the death of Patroclus and stood there weeping over his body. Homer imbues them with human emotions as they mourn.

The horses of the son of Aeacus were far off and were wailing for they had learned that their charioteer was lying in the dust, having fallen under the hands of Hector the man-slayer. In truth, Automedon the brave son of Diores was whipping at them with his swift lash and was talking at them with honeyed words and sometimes with threats. But the two of them were not willing to go back to the ships at the wide Hellespont, nor into the battle with the Achaeans. They remained firmly set like a block of stone that stands on the grave of a dead man or woman and stood there immovable with their heads down beside the beautiful chariot. Hot tears flowed from their eyes and trickled onto the ground as they stood there weeping for their lost charioteer. Their beautiful manes were stained and begrimed under the yoke pad, streaming down from the yoke.

            Xanthus, the favoured horse of Achilles, was even given the power of speech by Hera and thereafter predicted the death of Achilles.

Then Automedon shouted out to his father’s horses with a great cry. “Xanthus and Balius, renowned children of Podarge, remember in some way to bring your charioteer back safely to the host of the Danaans when we have had our fill of war and do not leave him out there dying as you did with Patroclus.” Then from under the yoke, the swift-footed horse Xanthus spoke to him and straightway bowed down his head and all of its mane drooped down freely from the yoke and touched the ground and the white-armed goddess Hera gave him a human voice with which to speak. “We will assuredly save you this time mighty Achilles even though your day of doom is nigh at hand, but we will not be the cause of that for that will happen because of a mighty god and overpowering Fate. It was not because of our laziness or sluggishness that the Trojans were able to strip the armour from the shoulders of Patroclus but rather the supreme one of the gods, even he whom fair-haired Leto gave birth to kill him among the foremost fighters and gave the glory to Hector. The two of us can run as fast as a blast of the west wind, which is well-known to be the swiftest of all winds, but you are appointed by fate to be killed in battle by a mortal and a god.”

            The fact that Homer tells the story of horses that can display human emotions and can weep at the death of a fallen hero and even talk is an indication of the high regard that he had for these noble animals. That high regard is a mirror of the feelings that the ancient Greeks had about horses. In the same way that human heroes fought to achieve Kleos, such horses as these achieved their own Kleos or immortality through their actions. Proof of this rests in the fact that we are still talking about them today and that their fame has truly been immortalized. Horses have become the stuff of myths and legends and they played a vital role in Homer’s epics.