Hesiod · c. 700 BC
Shield of Heracles
Ἀσπὶς ἩρακλέουςThe Shield of Heracles, 480 lines of hexameter, was attributed to Hesiod in antiquity, although modern scholars generally doubt that he wrote it. Its first fifty-six lines come from the Catalogue of Women, and the poem tells how Zeus fathered Heracles on Alcmena and how Heracles, with his charioteer Iolaus, killed Cycnus, a son of Ares. At its centre is a long description of the shield that Hephaestus made for Heracles, which is the earliest surviving example of a literary description of a work of art.
Contents · 6 passages
- 1–74Alcmena and the birth of Heracles; Cycnus (1-74)718 words
- 75–149Heracles and Iolaus arm for battle (75-149)722 words
- 150–239The shield of Heracles: war, Lapiths and Centaurs, the harbour, Perseus (150-239)915 words
- 240–324The shield of Heracles: the besieged city and the city at peace (240-324)804 words
- 325–399Athena's counsel; Heracles meets Cycnus (325-399)744 words
- 400–480Heracles kills Cycnus and wounds Ares (400-480)760 words
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English translation by Hugh G. Evelyn-White (1914). Original text: Hugh G. Evelyn-White (ed.), Hesiod, The Homeric Hymns and Homerica, Loeb Classical Library, London: Heinemann; New York: Macmillan, 1914 (Greek text as digitised by Perseus).
Greek text and translation from the Perseus Digital Library, Tufts University, CC BY-SA 4.0 (Perseus Digital Library); translation public domain. Introductions, summaries and notes © GreekMythology.com.
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