Mykale, a naval battle?

[PMBardunias]

I think what Paul is talking about is the guard sticking into the man's wrist if the sword was held properly.
You are right Paul,on the artistic lisense,but you also have to admit that many of the example we quote as typically wrong,are also the exceptions.

Yes, that was what I believed was wrong. I agree that they are often exceptions, but the problem is how can we be sure when we are looking at the exception or the rule? I for one am very skeptical of anytime someone presents data on some feature showing up on a given % of images as authority for that feature. For example, grips on dory shafts only appear on a true minority of spears, but when they do it is usually on very detailed images. Thus I do not think it unlikely that the hoplite often wrapped his spear with a sleeve to act as a grip. This of course is quite dangerous, for it puts in the position of arbiter of what is more detailed/likely to be correct, but going by sheer percentage is just as flawed.

But we see such guards on kopides commonly in Greek art, sometimes curlicue-shaped, like this example, or with both ends curving inward towards the pommel, and, most importantly, we see these in the hands of both Greeks and non-Greeks. In that particular example the curve juts out pretty far, and I doubt it would be much of an impediment at all to its wielder.

I am unaware of any Khopis that shows a quillion angled back into the arm. Most don't even have a top quillion, and most bottoms, if they slope, slope backwards to protect the knuckles. Perhaps you are thinking of bronze age swords? The severly back angled quillions are usually a feature of stabbing swords, where they may in fact serve a function in causing the blade to be stabbed parallel to a foe's ribcage and less likely to bind in them.