I want to use this blog to discuss how archery was used in ancient warfare and also archery in mythology.

Nowadays we think of war using modern weapons and it’s difficult to imagine fighting with bows and arrows. But actually the ancient civilisations (and my main interests are Egypt, Greece and Rome) were very advanced. They gave their archers an advantage by using poisoned arrows and fire arrows.

In ancient Greece the bow was an attribute of Apollo, Artemis, Atalanta and Herakles. Yet in spite of this, hunting scenes in Greek art illustrate the fact that the Greeks tended not to use bows and arrows all that much.

The name Artemis Toxia means ‘Artemis of the Bow’. Artemis was the Greek version of the Roman goddess Diana the huntress. She and her twin brother Apollo are both commonly represented as archers. This tradition can be traced back as far as the epic poetry of Homer where hymns celebrate the hunting bow of Artemis and musical bow (lyre) of Apollo.