Dory (spear)

The dory or doru (/ˈdɒruː/; Greek: δόρυ) was the chief spear of hoplites (heavy infantry) in Ancient Greece. The word doru is first attested in the Homeric epics with the meanings of "wood" and "spear". Homeric heroes hold two dorata (Greek: δόρατα, plural of δόρυ) (Il. 11,43, Od. 1, 256). In classical antiquity, the dory was a symbol of military power, possibly more important than the sword, as can be inferred from expressions like "Troy conquered by dory" (Il. 16,708) and words like "doryktetos" (Greek: δορίκτητος) (spear-won) and "doryalotos" (Greek: δορυάλωτος) (spear-taken).^[1]

The spear used by the Persian army under Darius I and Xerxes in their respective campaigns during the Greco-Persian Wars was shorter than that of their Greek opponents. The dory's length enabled multiple ranks of a formation to engage simultaneously during combat.

The dory was not intended for throwing, such as a dart or javelin. However, its aerodynamic shape allowed the dory to be thrown. Because it had evolved for combat between phalanges (the plural form of phalanx), it was constructed so as to be adequate against the defences of Greek infantry, which incorporated bronze in shield and helmet construction. Hoplites were generally more heavily armored than infantry of their non-Greek contemporaries.

Should not be confused with Dorydrepanon (δορυδρέπανον, from δόρυ (Dory) + δρέπανον (Sickle)) which was a kind of Halberd^[2] and was used for cutting off halyards in sea-fights and for pulling down battlements in sieges.