There are a few different “main designs” of Greek Helmets that the Greek wore (or their close related factions) that are worth mentioning or that most people are looking to add to their collection. These include the Trojan helmet, Corinthian helmet, Spartan helmet, and Hoplite helmet. Most of these can be found in online stores, but you may want to do some research as to which are historically accurate before buying.What do you think of when someone says “Ancient Greek Helmet”?
The first thing that pops into your head is a picture of a Spartan soldier, complete with a red cape, round, bronze shield, long spear, and a bronze or brass helmet with the ever-so popular plume. Luckly, many online retail stores and speciallty armor stores have this helmet for sale, as it is widely known to be a popular collector’s item. Commonly names as the Italic Corinthian helmet or just plainly a Spartan helmet, this replica will be a great addition to your collection. First of all, there are many types of variations of the helmet, so you’re likely to get a unique one from the other collectors. The plumes come in red, white, black, and blue. This added to a combination of different metals makes your helmet a must have.
Most Greek helmets will look like the Italic Corinthian design, which is characterized by a tall plume that may be made into a pony tail at the end. It also has the long cheek guards with a slot in the middle for maximum air flow. It also will be a tan plume, red, or black. Depending on the color of the rest of your outfit (black, brass, or bronze armor), any of these plume colors will do. The most popular out their for the Italic Corinthian is going to be the tan and red plumes.Another popular Ancient Greek Helmet is the Hoplite helmet. The Hoplite was a common soldier for the Greek armor and they carried the recognizable white round shield and a long spear. They were excellent for repelling cavalry and charges by soldiers. However, being not very maneuverable, they were vulnerable to attacks in the rear.
This type of helmet usually had a plume of fine horse hair that had strength and durability. Often times it was made into a braided pony tail at the end of the plume.The main thing to remember when looking at Greek helmets is that many of them look very similar. This is most likely a good thing when you are doing your historical research or are looking for a helmet to purchase. As many of Greek helmets sold in stores may look very similar or the same, you can bet that purchasing on of these will be a safe purchase for your collection or reenactment group. All in all, finding the classic Greek helmet is a matter of research and visiting many web stores and history sites. Many of the helms you’ll find are about the same design, so you’ll get the general idea as to what the different types of Greek helmets are. Of course, some of the best ways to research Greek history is reading articles and news snippets on major websites and in encyclopedias. After that you may try visiting web stores to find the most historically accurate Greek Helmet.