Homer describes weapons and armor with the precision of someone who knows them intimately. The equipment is not decorative — it is social, economic, and spiritual. Armor represents a warrior's identity; stripping it from a dead enemy is both a military act and a statement of supremacy. The armor of Achilles, forged by a god, is the most consequential object in the poem.

Item	What It Is & Its Role in the Poem
Corselet (Thorax)	The breastplate — the central piece of body armor, protecting the chest and torso. Made of bronze plates or layered linen (linothorax). Homer describes heroes being wounded when a spear pierces the corselet; its quality determines survival. Achilles' divine corselet, forged by Hephaestus, is described in Book 18.
Greaves (Knemides)	Bronze shin guards, strapped to the lower leg. One of Homer's standard epithets for the Greeks is "well-greaved Achaeans" — the greaves were a marker of military identity. Putting on greaves is one of the steps in the arming sequences Homer repeats when a hero prepares for battle.
Helmet	The most visually distinctive piece of armor. Hector's helmet has a horsehair plume that frightens his infant son Astyanax in Book 6 — one of the poem's most humanizing moments. Ajax wears a simple leather cap; Agamemnon's helmet is described in elaborate detail in Book 11. The helmet identifies its wearer from a distance.
Shield (Aspis)	Ranges from small round shields to the enormous body shield of Ajax — described as a tower, covering him from neck to ankle. The Shield of Achilles, forged by Hephaestus in Book 18, is the poem's most extended descriptive passage: an entire world engraved in concentric rings of metal — cities at war and peace, harvests, weddings, the ocean. It is simultaneously armor and cosmology.
Achilles' Divine Armor	Forged overnight by Hephaestus at Thetis's request after Patroclus dies wearing Achilles' original set. The arming of Achilles in Book 19 is the most elaborate in the poem — each piece described in sequence, building to a moment of almost unbearable anticipation. The armor makes Achilles semi-divine on the battlefield; it also marks him as a man walking toward his own death.

Item	What It Is & Its Role in the Poem
Spear (Doru / Enchos)	The primary weapon of Homeric warfare — thrown first, then used as a thrusting weapon in close combat. Heroes typically carry two. The spear of Achilles, cut from an ash tree on Mount Pelion and given to his father by Chiron, is so heavy only Achilles can wield it. Patroclus takes everything of Achilles' into battle except this spear.
Sword (Xiphos)	A short bronze slashing sword, used as a secondary weapon when the spear is lost or broken. Not thrown. Heroes reach for their swords when close combat becomes desperate — Ajax draws his after his spear shatters, Hector draws his in his final moments against Achilles. The sword is a last resort, not a primary weapon.
Bow (Toxon)	Used by Paris, Teucer, and Pandarus — and regarded with ambivalence in the poem. The bow is effective but not fully honorable; it kills from a distance without the face-to-face courage of spear combat. Diomedes mocks Paris for his archery in Book 11. Apollo and Artemis use bows as divine weapons — the plague arrows of Book 1 establish the bow's lethal but indirect character.
Arrows	Carried in a quiver, fletched with feathers. Pandarus's arrow that wounds Menelaus in Book 4 — breaking the truce — is described in careful detail: the bow made from ibex horn, the arrow tipped with bronze. The fatal arrow that kills Achilles after the poem ends is guided by Apollo to his one vulnerable point.
The Chariot	Not strictly a weapon but an essential piece of military equipment. Used for transport to the battle line and retreat when wounded — not for massed charges. Each hero has a charioteer; the pair fight as a unit. When Patroclus enters battle he takes Achilles' chariot and horses, including the divine horse Xanthos who weeps for his coming death.

When a hero kills an opponent, he attempts to strip the body of its armor immediately. This serves two purposes: the armor has real material value (bronze was expensive), and possession of a dead enemy's equipment is a public demonstration of victory — a physical, transferable proof of timē. Much of the fighting in Books 17–18 is over the body of Patroclus precisely because Hector has already stripped Achilles' armor from it. The stripped body, left naked on the battlefield, is the ultimate dishonor — which is why Achilles' treatment of Hector's corpse is so transgressive.