Bronze ceremonial helmet with griffin 26cm

In his "Histories", Herodotus was the first to use the term "Corinthian helmet". This helmet was developed in the Peloponnese during the 7th century. BC, it became very popular and spread rapidly throughout the world of classical antiquity. The Corinthian helmets of ancient Greece are distinguished by their characteristic almond-shaped eyeholes, protruding nose guard and long cheek pieces. His image as a whole exudes something of a theatrical menace.

The Proto-Corinthian helmet was created from two pieces welded together, with the seam running along its circumference. They also had holes for attaching inner lining. The second type of Corinthian helmet added a small neck guard at the back. Perimeter holes were also shrunk or eliminated and the cheek pieces flared out slightly. At the beginning of the 6th century BC, the Corinthian helmet took its classical form. It was now molded so that it was more bulbous around the top while the bottom edge was slightly flared. The facial lines were more carefully thought out and defined. Most notably, the openings for the eyes were elongated at the ends, giving them that almond-shaped appearance.

Corinthian helmets were very popular and were produced over the centuries in many different workshops, so there were many different styles. They have been excavated from in many greek colonies from the Western Mediterranean, the Balkans and the Black Sea and were closely associated with Greece, Greek culture and the hoplites. Therefore, the iconic Corinthian helmet was often depicted in art. Corinthian helmets remained in use for almost three hundred years, falling out of fashion in the late 5th century.