The ὅμιλος is any assembled crowd, whether gathering for a feast, a spectacle, or battle. Homer uses it frequently for throngs of warriors or common people as opposed to chiefs. It can mean the mass of irregulars (light-armed troops) versus hoplites, or the mob versus the educated. Heraclitus disparages the crowd as a poor teacher. The word can also apply to inanimate clusters. It emphasizes the collective, often with a sense of the undifferentiated many versus the distinguished few.