Greeks Thought Archers Were Cowardly

Diomedes, a character in the ancient Greek novel The Iliad, is struck by an arrow and declares that archery is only appropriate for cowards. According to Peter Gainsford, this contributed to the idea that this point of view was held by the majority of Greeks rather than just one injured individual. The way that the phalanx, a close-quarters formation, came to be so revered for its alleged invincibility served as more evidence for this notion. As a result, you may now witness representations of the Greeks, such as in the graphic novel 300 and the movie 300, where Spartan King Leonidas expressly states this.

In truth, archers were frequently used as a tactic of suppression during maneuvers, even by the Spartans, the supposedly best phalanx combatants. To be fair, researchers have discovered tributes to archers in ancient Sparta proper, though there are no records of Spartan archers decimating foes the way Welsh bowmen or Mongol horse archers are known to have done. They didn't require proof of this as heroic archers are frequently honored in Greek mythology and epics like Homer's Odyssey.