Greek helmets galore

[PMBardunias]

I readily admit to being no expert at all when it comes to this subject, however, I was wondering if anybody had any information upon the development (if any) of the Pilos helmet?

The Pilos was a felt cap worn commonly in the Peloponnese (something very similar seems to have been worn by Phoenicians, so it may originate with them). In the 5th c, we see two developmental lines of civilian hats becoming metal helmets, the pilos and the Boeotian. In the case of the Pilos, it was probably worn underneath corinthian helmets, so the progression goes from wearing a pilos+metal Corinthian to wearing just a felt pilos to wearing a pilos made of metal. The middle step is the tricky part and they may never have worn just a felt pilos commonly in battle (perhaps poor hoplites or rear rankers?)

As to the form of the pilos, it does one thing very well: defend from descending blows. Its somewhat conical profile is ideal for this and in some cases the peak can be very high. The face and neck are largely unguarded, which has led some to belive that they made up for this by holding the shield rim up before the face. Personally I think the answer to some extent might be that in crowded conditions of phalanx warfare, especially during othismos, the most effective strikes come from above because there are other men's heads in the way of lateral strikes and proximity limits your other options. Looking down, a sea of pilos helms provides few targets.

In the later pilos helms, late 4th c early 3rd, we do see the attachment of neck-guards and cheek pieces of the same general type seen on other helmets of the time. To me this only points out the short-comings of the pilos for opened warfare.

I should mention that conical helmets are very common, so there is no reason to beg a special explanation. The form is different from other conical helms, like the Negau, or Gallic and Assyrian/Uratian types, but perhaps functionally similar. That said we always need to look at transition like the hoplite's helmet in the context of what was available locally.