Slinging.org Forum - New description of the Greek sling

David Morningstar

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New description of the Greek sling
Mar 19^th, 2011 at 2:33pm

"Dionysius describes the sphendone as having its cup not hemispherical but hemispheroidical decreasing to two thongs at the ends Out if it were cast stones or plummets of lead called molubdides or molubdinai sphairai having an ornament on one side and the word AESAI on the other"

http://books.google.com/books?id=eAErAAAAYAAJ&dq=sling%20weapon&pg=PA75#v=onepag...

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Thearos

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Re: New description of the Greek sling
Reply #1 - Mar 19^th, 2011 at 4:47pm

H. Syer Cuming, Journal of the British Archaeological Association, 20 (1864)

-- I have no idea what this quote from Dionysius is. It's not in the "TLG", the online resource which has all of the known ancient Greek texts. I suspect it's a misremembered quote or badly taken note from reading. It could be e.g. a moder Greek (say C18th) antiquarian text.

--Cuming gives several inscriptions here which are not known from the standard corpus (Vischer). It must be said that they look like forgeries, especially "Polemion" supposed to be from Marathon (a sure giveaway of a forgery or untrustworthy attribution), and Agonis (again sounds like one of the made up "warlike" inscriptions)

--the man founded a Museum, and they still have some of his sling bullets. It's in London.

Just my two pence.

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paracordslinger

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Re: New description of the Greek sling
Reply #2 - Mar 19^th, 2011 at 8:45pm

David Morningstar wrote on Mar 19^th, 2011 at 2:33pm:

"Dionysius describes the sphendone as having its cup not hemispherical but hemispheroidical decreasing to two thongs at the ends Out if it were cast stones or plummets of lead called molubdides or molubdinai sphairai having an ornament on one side and the word AESAI on the other"

WHAT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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Masiakasaurus

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Re: New description of the Greek sling
Reply #3 - Mar 19^th, 2011 at 10:44pm

paracordslinger wrote on Mar 19^th, 2011 at 8:45pm:

David Morningstar wrote on Mar 19^th, 2011 at 2:33pm:

"Dionysius describes the sphendone as having its cup not hemispherical but hemispheroidical decreasing to two thongs at the ends Out if it were cast stones or plummets of lead called molubdides or molubdinai sphairai having an ornament on one side and the word AESAI on the other"

WHAT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

It's Greek to me. Wink

I'm a little foggy on the difference between hemispherical and hemisperoidical, but I think the gist of it is that greek sling pockets didn't have a perfectly circular cupping and tapered toward the point that it attaches to the sling cords on both ends. The rest of it tells you that the Greeks shot lead balls called molubdinai (metal) shairi (spheres) that had a design on one side and a word carved in the other.

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Pikåru wrote on Nov 19^th, 2013 at 6:59pm:

Massi - WTF? It's called a sling. You use it to throw rocks farther and faster than you could otherwise. That's all.
~Engineers like to solve problems. If there are no problems handily avialable, they will create their own problems.~

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