THE EARLY AGE OF GREECE VOL.I by W.Ridgeway 1901

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THE HOMERIC AGE. 311
and through the breastplate of cunning work it sped, and
through the mitre which he w^ore to shield his flesh, a barrier
against darts, and this best shielded him\"
There can be no doubt that Helbig- (followed by Reichel) is
right in identifying the Homeric mitre with the well-known
broad belts of bronze, which are
found at Bologna (Benacci cemetery),
at Corneto (Fig. 58), at Este, Hallstatt,
and in Hungary ^ They are
adorned with wheels flanked by
serpentine ornament or ducks' heads.
They are as much as a foot in
breadth at the widest part and taper
Fig. 58. Bronze Belt [fj-irpri) ;
Corneto.
to the ends w^hich were fastened by
catches at the wearer's back, the broad metal plate in front
thus forming an admirable protection for the belly.
From the close connection of the mitre and the ^w/xa, it is
not unlikely that the latter was a broad belt of leather worn
to protect the belly. Just as the leathern shirt was later
strengthened by metal attachments, so further security was
obtained for the abdomen by wearing a broad bronze belt
{liirpr}) over the earlier ^w/j-a^.
But for our purpose
it is most important to observe that,
whilst no object corresponding to the Homeric nut)'e has been
found in Mycenean tombs, the early Iron Age of central
Europe and upper Italy supplies us with a j)iece of armour
which fits in every respect the Homeric passages.
That the Homeric poet (lesei"il)ed a piece of armour once
used (jn ( Jreek soil is
proved by the (K'currence of such a belt
in Euboea but n(jt in
',
company with Mycenean remains, 'i'his
circumstance, ciimbined with theii' absence from the acr(>])t)lis
IV. 137.
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Das luiiiirr. Kpos, pp.
-I'M) I.
IkTtraiul an. I .S. Rfiiiacli, /,[>. I'iO .-/,/.
*
Sonif liavL' idcntiticcl llic iiiitrr anil -.mitd coniplfteiy, making tlu'ni a kind
kilt ;
i)tliii-s made the (///7/v the lower ]iai
t iif the tlian.r seen below the
of
:]/jLt,8e