Greatest warrior in ancient Greece?

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AsbestosFlaygon
Who do you think was the greatest 1-on-1 duelist in ancient Greece?

Mythological heroes are acceptable.

Was it Jason? Achilles? Hercules? Odysseus? Or was there someone stronger/more skilled than them?

Lord Lucien
Achilles. Thank you, Brad.

Bicnarok
Leonidas!!!!

KDRAhiBtOrQ

StarCraft2
mythological hero? zeus is the strongest isnt he? or is zeus just a sex crazed maniac

Deadline
THIS IS.....SPARTA!!!!!! mad

BigSid
Not a lot of duels being fought in Ancient Greece, it would also depend which period you were talking about as warfare changed from say the time when Troy was meant to have been sacked to the wars between the Greek City States and Persia.

Leonidas for instance would have fought as part of a Phalanx, shoulder to shoulder, shields locked, spears at the ready, it was important to keep the formation, breaking into one on one combat would have rendered the Phalanx useless.

If you're using Heroes of myth then you have to look at Hercules and Achilles, Hercules took on the Amazons alone and wiped them out, Achilles could turn the tide of a battle alone and was the greatest warrior of the Achaens, he was also invulnerable everywhere apart from his heel.

Odysseus was more of a thinker than a fighter although he did manage to wrestle Ajax to a draw so he was skilled, just not as skilled as say Diomedes or Achilles.

Jason was also pretty resourceful and Hercules (Heracles) was one of his argonauts I wouldn't rank him above quite a few of his crew fighting skill wise though.

If you're talking about Strength no one is equal to Hercules in Greek Myth, fighting skill wise I would look toward Achilles or Diomedes, Diomedes was said to be the most powerful fighter amongst the Achaean Warrior Kings, he managed to wound Ares in battle and he was favored by Athena he is referred to as the most skilled fighter in the illiad more than once and had Hector (most powerful of the Trojan heroes) beat on two occasions.

He is second to Achilles according to Homer though but I think that has a lot to do with Achilles rage and invulnerability, I've always seen Diomedes as more skilled than Achilles but Achilles being more physically powerful as well as very skilled which made him overall the better fighter.

There are many other Greek heroes of myth who would come into contention but if we're looking at the overall package of Skill and physical power you have to go with Achilles.

AsbestosFlaygon
So who would win in a fight between Hercules and Achilles?

BigSid
Both are of divine origins (Hercules father was Zeus and Achiiles mother was the sea nymph Thetis)

It's a tough one, Hercules would undoubtedly be stronger and with the Nemean Lion Skin he would be as invulnerable as Achilles to mortal weapons.

Both were trained by Chiron the Centaur although I would say Achilles was the more skillful of the two.

In saying that the Invulnerability thing could be discarded for Achilles as Homer mentions him getting grazed by a spear and bleeding in the illiad and it was Statius in the 1st century AD that first mentions the invulnerability.

I think it would be a long fight if they had of met in myth, I would see them fighting to a draw if say Homer were writing it.

Me personally I don't think Achilles could overcome Hercules physical strength.

Lord Lucien
Silly rabbits, it's Heracles. Be proper now.

Bicnarok
Originally posted by AsbestosFlaygon
So who would win in a fight between Hercules and Achilles?

Speed against strength, Achilles would sword him if weapons were allowed. In hand to hand Hercules would of course win.

But Leonadis would take them both at once, because he can shout "this is spart" at them real loud.

Lord Lucien
Originally posted by Bicnarok
Speed against strength, Achilles would sword him if weapons were allowed. In hand to hand Hercules would of course win.

But Leonadis would take them both at once, because he can shout "this is spart" at them real loud. Did Leonidas choke before he got the last syllable out?

siriuswriter
Was Alexander not Greek?

Lord Lucien
Originally posted by siriuswriter
Was Alexander not Greek? He better fits the Greatest Leader or Greatest Conqueror of ancient Greece, more than warrior.

Apparently, though, he was a really tough guy to kill.

Martial Artist
I would beat them all, I have trained in Pancrase.

siriuswriter
Originally posted by Lord Lucien
He better fits the Greatest Leader or Greatest Conqueror of ancient Greece, more than warrior.

Apparently, though, he was a really tough guy to kill.

Indeed, in fact no human ended up taking him down - it was malaria, which didn't even take him down the first time. It must have been the third or fourth comeback of malaria that actually killed him.

This makes me think also of Ptolemy. Ah, but no - he was Roman. Although, the Ancient Egyptian Royal family were Greek.

Lord Lucien
Originally posted by siriuswriter
Indeed, in fact no human ended up taking him down - it was malaria, which didn't even take him down the first time. It must have been the third or fourth comeback of malaria that actually killed him.

This makes me think also of Ptolemy. Ah, but no - he was Roman. Although, the Ancient Egyptian Royal family were Greek. I was about to say Ptolemy was Ancient Egyptian Royalty, but then I remembered that other guy.

And yeah, a book I have lists the eight wounds sustained by Alexander:

Cleaver slash to the head.
Sword blow to the thigh.
Catapult missile to the chest.
Arrow passed through the leg.
Stone struck the head and neck.
Dart pierced the shoulder.
Arrow in the ankle.
Arrow lodged in the lung.

siriuswriter
Well, I'm pretty sure that I'd nominate him for best real-life warrior, since the Greeks weren't really one-on-one kinds of guys.

At least, not when it came to fighting.

But yeah, judge Greeks by not only their own abilities, but also the way they handle leadership.

BigSid
Originally posted by Lord Lucien
Silly rabbits, it's Heracles. Be proper now.

It's Hēraklēs if you're Greek and I put "Hercules (Heracles)" in my first post but used the Roman as people are more familiar with it.

Alexander was Macedonian, while still technically Greek and they called themselves Greeks, some City States (Athens in particular) considered them uncouth and not sharing the classical Greek culture.

Alexander was no slouch as a fighter, he was hot headed and reckless in battle and as he fought at the head of the Companion Cavalry (the best cavalry in the ancient world at the time) he was much more likely to end up in single combat than say Leonidas.

He was short, stocky and tough by all accounts with an explosive temper.

His father Phillip should also be considered if you're talking about real life Greek fighters, part of the reason Alexander was so reckless in battle was because he was constantly trying to out do his father.

mango4u
Originally posted by AsbestosFlaygon
Who do you think was the greatest 1-on-1 duelist in ancient Greece?

Mythological heroes are acceptable.

Was it Jason? Achilles? Hercules? Odysseus? Or was there someone stronger/more skilled than them?

hehe..interesting one

mango4u
Originally posted by mango4u
hehe..interesting one

oops double post. love internet

lovielove
Originally posted by Lord Lucien
Achilles. Thank you, Brad.


very interesting, hehe

lovielove
Originally posted by lovielove
very interesting, hehe

oops. double post. love internet

alltoomany
Alex!!!

Lord Lucien
Chris!!!

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