Why did ancient Greek hoplites ululate in battle and when did that stop in the West and become associated with Eastern and African cultures?

by Elphinstone1842

By ululate I'm referring to the battle cry of ἐλελελεῦ or eleleleû. I'm under the impression that sounded like ululating, right?

EDIT: Maybe I got the word wrong but I thought the Greeks had a war cry similar to "Alalalala" or ululation, maybe it was this.

Deirdre_Rose

Usually ἐλελεῦ is an onomatopoetic expression of pain or sorrow. The only place I can find it used as a war cry is in Aristophanes' Birds. Generally the verb for the war cry is ἀλαλάζω. While reconstructing the sound of ancient speech is always a challenge, Hesiod says that the Athenians adopted the cry to imitate their patron goddess' sacred bird, the owl.