Hoplites of the Archaic Age

[PMBardunias]

Hmmmm this brings up a good question. I think the raised arm maybe used to aim the javelin. Kind of like modern grenade throwing. So do they ground the shield and toss javelins then pick it up for a bit of hand to hand or do they just raise the shield slightly as a counter balance and wing it?

The raised arm also acts as a counterweight to the throwing arm. You "pull" against the inertia of the weight of your arm to aid in the throw. I imagine it helps with balance too.

Someplace on this thread I posted a drawing of a famous statue of Zeus throwing and added a shield to his arm. My intention was to show that artists might have been using this posture to convey the act of throwing, but it shows how you would simply raise the shield as a counterweight.

That said, I should note that it is debatable whether a hoplite with convex, a double-grip shield ever threw a javelin, so the model would be the familiar throwing motion of a Roman with Pila and a single grip shield. The double-grip is no hindrance as can be seen in the Pelta, but the convexity seems to rule out convenient holding of a second spear.