Greek Polis

Greek Polis

Greek Polis

It is impossible to ever directly label an army as a Greek polis.   However, throughout books 1 and 2 of The Iliad, Homer describes the Greek forces encamped at Troy as a polis.   His knowledge of Greek history impairs his perception of these forces, causing him to relate his past knowledge of the polis with the chronicles of the Trojan War.   Although social and physical resemblances between the polis and the Achaian or Danaan (as Homer calls them) troops may have never existed, parts of the political and religious aspects most certainly stood out, making them part of everyday life in the Greek encampment.
A polis acted as a system of settlement or government that existed as a sovereign and independent city-state.   The political arrangement had a council of elders, magistrates, and an assembly of citizens.   These citizens had a great deal of power.   The religious arrangement included each polis with its own guardian deity, although everyone in the polis prayed to the group of gods using sacrifices, tithes, and dedications as ways for the gods to help them.
Homer describes the political aspect of the Greek forces encamped at Troy through Agamemnon and the higher ranked officers in the army.   As a polis has a council of elders, the Greek army consisted of a council of officers that met, discussed tactics and strategies, and then spoke to the soldiers.   Homer shows us this when Agamemnon addresses the council: “First, he held a council session of the high-hearted princes/beside the ship of Nestor, the king of the race of Pylos (Homer 2.53-54).”   This address to the council shows a direct parallel to the council of elders.   Nestor’s speech also provides us with a relation to this council.   Homer depicts another parallel to the polis with the soldiers in the army portrayed as the assembly of citizens.   As in the polis, these soldiers had great power due their numbers.   If they did not choose to fight, there would be no chance of the Greeks winning the...