xiphos
Sign in to savethumb|right|Modern reconstruction of a Greek xiphos and scabbard. thumb|Actaeon holding a xiphos. Painted vase from [[Metaponto, c. 390–380 BC]] The xiphos ( ; plural xiphe, ) is a double-edged, one-handed Iron Age straight shortsword used by the ancient Greeks. It was a secondary battlefield weapon for the Greek armies after the dory or javelin. The classic blade was generally about long, although the Spartans supposedly preferred to use blades as short as around the era of the Greco-Persian Wars.
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thumb|right|Modern reconstruction of a Greek xiphos and scabbard. thumb|Actaeon holding a xiphos. Painted vase from [[Metaponto, c. 390–380 BC]] The xiphos ( ; plural xiphe, ) is a double-edged, one-handed Iron Age straight shortsword used by the ancient Greeks. It was a secondary battlefield weapon for the Greek armies after the dory or javelin. The classic blade was generally about long, although the Spartans supposedly preferred to use blades as short as around the era of the Greco-Persian Wars.
== Etymology == left|thumb|Iron xiphos, Thessaloniki museum Stone's Glossary has xiphos being a name used by Homer for a sword. The entry in the book says that the sword had a double-edged blade widest at about two-thirds of its length from the point, and ending in a very long point.