Shield of Achilles

The Shield of Achilles is the great shield made by the god Hephaestus for Achilles, which Homer describes in the eighteenth book of the Iliad (18.478–608). It carries a picture of the whole world, from earth, sky and sea to cities at peace and at war, the work of the fields and the dance. It is the most famous description of a work of art in Greek literature, and the earliest that survives.

Why a New Shield Was Needed

Achilles had lent his armour to his friend Patroclus, who was killed at Troy; Hector stripped the armour from the body (Iliad 17.125). Achilles’ mother, the sea goddess Thetis, went to Hephaestus in his forge and asked him to make new arms for her son. In Iliad 18.468–477 the god sets his bellows to work on the fire and puts bronze, tin, gold and silver in it, with an anvil, a hammer and tongs ready.

The Making

Hephaestus makes a shield “great and sturdy,” of five layers, with a bright triple rim and a silver strap (Iliad 18.478–482). On it he works many things with his skill. Homer describes them in order, scene by scene.

Earth, Sky and Sea

First come the earth, the heavens and the sea, with the sun and the full moon, and the constellations that crown the sky: the Pleiades, the Hyades, mighty Orion and the Bear, which men also call the Wain (18.483–489).

The City at Peace

The first of two cities shows a wedding. Brides are led through the streets by torchlight to the sound of the wedding song, and young men whirl in dances while pipes and lyres play. In the marketplace two men are quarrelling over the blood-price for a man who has been killed. Elders sit in a sacred circle to judge, and two talents of gold lie in the middle for the one who gives the straightest verdict (18.490–508).

The City at War

The second city is surrounded by two armies, whose leaders cannot agree whether to destroy the city or to accept half of its wealth. The people of the city refuse and arm themselves for an ambush, while the women, children and old men stand on the wall. The warriors are led by Ares and Athena, both made of gold and taller than the rest. At a river where the herds come to drink, they lie in wait, and when the enemy herdsmen arrive they kill them and take the cattle. The besiegers hear the uproar, ride out, and a battle is fought along the river banks, with Strife, Tumult and deadly Fate in the midst of the men (18.509–540).

The Fields and the Vineyard

• A soft fallow field, ploughed for the third time. As each ploughman reaches the headland, a man gives him a cup of wine, and the earth turns black behind the plough, though it is made of gold (18.541–549).
• A king’s estate at harvest time. Reapers cut the grain, binders tie it, and boys gather the sheaves, while the king stands silently by. Heralds prepare a feast under an oak (18.550–560).
• A golden vineyard heavy with black grapes, set on silver poles, with a ditch of dark metal and a tin fence. One path leads through it, and young men and women carry the fruit in baskets, while a boy plays the lyre and sings the Linos song (18.561–572).

Herds, Flocks and Dance

• A herd of cattle made of gold and tin, driven out to pasture by the river with four golden herdsmen and nine dogs. Two lions seize a bull at the head of the herd and tear it apart, while the herdsmen and dogs cannot stop them (18.573–586).
• A wide pasture of white sheep with folds, huts and pens (18.587–589).
• A dancing floor like the one Daedalus made in Knossos for Ariadne. Young men and girls dance with their hands on each other’s wrists, in fine linen and gold daggers on silver straps, while a crowd watches and two acrobats spin among them (18.590–606).

The Rim

Around the outer edge Hephaestus puts the great strength of the river Oceanus (18.607–608). The shield therefore shows the world as the Greeks of Homer’s day imagined it, a circle of earth and sky with the river Oceanus around it, and within it the life of men: weddings and law courts, war, farming and festival.

The Rest of the Armour

After the shield, Hephaestus makes a breastplate brighter than fire, a heavy helmet with a golden crest, and greaves of tin, and lays them all before Thetis (Iliad 18.609–613). She carries them to Achilles at dawn (19.1–13), and he wears them when he goes back into the war and kills Hector. After Achilles’ death Thetis set the arms as a prize for the bravest of the Greeks. Odysseus and Ajax competed for them, and the judges – Trojan captives and Athena in Homer, the Trojans or the allies in Apollodorus – awarded them to Odysseus. Ajax, maddened by his defeat, slaughtered the army’s cattle and then killed himself (Odyssey 11.543–551; Apollodorus, Epitome 5.6–7). That story belongs to the page on Ajax.

See Also: Achilles, Patroclus, Thetis, Hephaestus, Hector, Ajax, Oceanus, Trojan War