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But the artist has probably fought in a phalanx himself, and many of his customers will have done so as well. Would they not look at an incorrectly rendered hoplite and think "what a load of ^&*%%!" before going somewhere else to buy their vase? I think that they would, because the image would feel wrong to them.
What about hoplites on dolphins? Shouldn't they feel wrong to them, too? Also, don't you know people who know that X or Y is inaccurate but still enjoy it, anyway? As long as something is impressive and show a given individual/a group in a positive light, people may be willing to ignore the fact that it's not accurate. It's cool if cops and soldiers are strong, tall, handsome and charismatic heroes, right? Some may not like it and most people know that it's not really true (because they have a neighbour who is a cop and he is fat, ugly and stupid), but art is full of idealism and ancient art in particular is regarded as idealistic.