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[348] There is no mention of Hector having again mounted his chariot since 320. This is one of the points in which the poems often shew a certain want of clearness. The idea is that it was the practice of each warrior to be accompanied by his chariot close at hand, and to mount or descend from time to time, according to the convenience of the moment. Warriors burdened with the ponderous ‘Mykenaean’ shield needed chariots chiefly to enable them to move from one point of the field to another, but preferred to fight on foot. Compare Caesar's description of the British tactics in B. G. iv. 33.

The Iliad, edited, with apparatus criticus, prolegomena, notes, and appendices. Walter Leaf. London. Macmillan. 1900.

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