The Corinthian Kranos (Helmet)

Along with the aspis and the dory, the bronze helmet completes the triumvirate of essential Greek panoply. Greaves, armor, sword, sandals — perhaps even clothing itself — was optional, but without these three fundamental elements, a hoplite simply wasn’t a hoplite. The practical reason for this is obvious; behind his massive aspis, a hoplite was relatively well-protected from enemy spears — except for their primary target: his face.

The iconic Corinthian helmet is by far the most common helmet type, both in terms of artistic representation and surviving artifacts. It is likely that its ancient popularity derived from its profoundly enclosed shape, but then as now, its appeal surely ran deeper than mere protection; it was also a mask, stoically transforming the wearer’s fear into his opponent’s terror.

The Corinthian is only one of many styles which waxed and waned in popularity over centuries of hoplite warfare, and it may have already been falling out of common use by The Persian Wars (490-479 BCE) at the dawn of the Classical era which most reenactors portray. The same enclosed shape that made it protective also rendered it expensively difficult to make, not to mention uncomfortable — restricting sight, hearing, speaking, and even breathing — which accounts for the frequency with which it is portrayed in artwork pushed back on the head. This was clearly an acceptable tradeoff for Archaic hoplites eager to display their personal wealth through elaborate panoplies, and willing to fight in loosely organized, amateur phalanxes which did not require commands to be given nor heeded. As hoplite armies gradually expanded, “nationalized,” and professionalized in the Classical era through the 4th century BCE, demand grew for cheaper, more easily produced helmets — most notably the conical pilos, based on the felt cap of the same shape and name — with more open faces which allowed better command and control.

Our helmets are replicas of the famous “Hermione” type Corinthian most common in the late 6th/early 5th century BCE. It represents a refinement of the simpler Archaic Corinthian style so heavily represented in archaeological finds at Olympia, with small eyeholes and long cheekpieces enclosing a narrow frontal opening.

The helmets were made by Daniyal Steel Craft (DSC) in India from phosphor bronze with a two-piece construction (brazed down the centerline). DSC helmets are often maligned for their overly large fit, but DSC is very clear about the dimensions of their two stock sizes, and they offer smaller sizes for a small surcharge.

All replica helmets come as a metal shell. Greek helmets were made to fit closely, but all required some sort of lining for comfort and minimal shock absorption. Archaic Corinthians fit especially tight to the skull, leaving room for perhaps no more than a leather or felt lining or arming cap. The shape of later Corinthians like ours is clear evidence that such thin padding had been found insufficient; their expanded crowns were almost certainly intended to accommodate a more substantially padded lining. 

The nature of such a lining is largely speculative. Roman helmets have been found with thick felt linings, and sea sponge helmet liners have also been referenced. Leather suspension liners work well, but we have no evidence that they were known to the ancients. The best evidence we have for Greek helmet liners in the Classical era are two examples, one made of woven grass and one of woven willow, both discovered in situ in what appear to be simple helmets, recently found in Greek shipwrecks dated to c. 500BCE. 

Inspired by these finds (and following the excellent example of Giannis Kadoglou), I made our helmet liners from raffia using the ancient method of coiled grass basket weaving. This technique produces thick and sturdy linings which fit very well in the expanded cranium of our late Archaic Corinthians (a wool-stuffed leather pillow is necessary to fill the void in the crown of the helmet). They can be lined with soft leather for comfort, but I preferred to showcase my handiwork. I fully lined the helmet below the cranial ridge with soft leather, padding the cheek pieces with some loose wool batting for shock absorption.