In ancient times, how did humans overcome their self-preservation instincts to engage in hand-to-hand combat during wars?

Question

In ancient times, how did humans overcome their self-preservation instincts to engage in hand-to-hand combat during wars?

In: 43

Answer 1

Battles weren’t quite like they are depicted in the media. Most deaths didn’t occur during the battle itself, the battles were mostly standing around, marching around a bunch to maneuver, and trying to evade enemy attacks, if they ever came. Deaths in battle rarely exceeded 20%, and the vast majority of those occurred in the rout when the victims weren’t fighting back.

In short, most people *didn’t* have to overcome fear of death to engage in combat. Most attacks occurred against people who were running away, and thus little to no risk to the attacker.