reading the shield of achilles: terror, anger, delight

8/21/2019 Reading the Shield of Achilles: Terror, Anger, Delight

1/19

READING THE

SHIELD

OF ACHILLES:

TERROR,

ANGER,

DELIGHT

STEPHEN SCULLY

W

HEN

he agrees

to make Achilles'

armor,Hephaistos

ells

Thetis

that

any

mortal

"will wonder when

he sees

it"

(18.466-467).

But,

s

it

happens,

obody

n

the

poemsingles

ut

any

one

sceneon

the

hield or

omment,

nd

only

arely

s the

hield ven

noted

by

a

character

n

the

Iliad. Rather han

nspiring

specific

response

rom

haractersn the

poem,

the

detailed

escription

f the

scenes

n the

hield,

ike n

extended

imile,

nvites he udience

fthe

poem

to consider

ephaistos'

reation

gainst

he

arger

tory

f which

it is a part.'Whilevocabularynd theme n thosevignettesesonate

with

key

scenes n

the

poem

proper,

s critics ave

observed,2

t

has

proven

more

difficulto define

he

particular

elevance,

f

any,

f the

god's

work f

art

for

he

heroes f

the

liad and most

particularly

or

the

herowho s to

bear

hat

hield.

In

one

scholar's

words,

he

ekphrasis

represents

he

good

life,"

ts

purpose

o

"makeus ...

see

[war]

n

relation o

peace,"

reminding

he

audience

f

all that

will

be lostwith

he

fall

f

Troy.3

he

description

f

1

Cf.Kenneth ohnAtchity,omer's liad: The Shield

of

MemoryCarbondale,lli-

nois

1978)

238-244

and

247-251. As

Atchity

otes,

he

four

xplicit

eferences

n the

shield

o

singers

heightens

he

mpression

hat

Homer s

making

statementere

bout

his own

creativity"p.

249).

For others

n

the

same

crucial

observation,

ee:

Walter

Marg,

Homer

iber

ie

Dichtung

nd

ed.

(Munster

971),

originally

rbis

Antiquus

o.

11 (Miinster

957)

29-33;

Karl

Reinhardt,

ie

Ilias und hrDichter

(GiSttingen

961)

409-411;

Wolfgang

chadewaldt,

on

HomersWelt ndWerk:

ufsditze

nd

Auslegungen

zur

Homerischen

rage

4th ed.

(Stuttgart

965)

357-371;

Keith

tanley,

he

Shield

of

Homer:

Narrative

tructuren

the

liad

(Princeton

993)

3-26;

Andrew

Becker,

The

Shield

f

Achilles nd

the oetics

fEkphrasis

Lanham,

Maryland,

995)

4

and 57.

2 n addition o thecontributionsf

Marg,

Schadewaldt,

nd

Stanley

n this

point

(note

1),

see

the seminal

work

by

0.

Andersen,

Some

Thoughts

n the

Shield

of

Achilles,"

O

51

(1976)

5-18.

3

Oliver

Taplin,

The

Shield

of Achilleswithin he

liad,"

G&R

27

(1980)

12 and

15,

respectively.

or

Taplin,

he shield

represents

an

easy

hedonistic xistence

pent

n

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2/19

30

Stephen

cully

Hephaistos'

work of

art,

falling

between

he

fight

ver

Patroklos'

corpse

ndAchilles'

re-entry

nto

attle,

ffers

tark

ontrasto the

ur-

roundingrutalityfwar.4 hedepictionsn the hield f a city ele-

brating arriage,

f

a

king

who s

"joyful

t

heart"

18.557)

as

the

men,

women,

nd

children f his

community

repare

harvest

estival,

r of

maidens nd

young

men

"thinking

arefree

houghts"

18.567),

or

of a

crowd f

people

"filledwith

elight"

18.604)

as

they

watch a

lovely

chorus"

18.603),

seem

incongruous

with

the

increasingly

avage

scenes

n

the

main

narrative,

ike

a calm before

n

impending

oom.

Even

the

fforts

f

men

n

the

&yop&

rying

o

control

hrough

easoned

debate assions roused ymurderxpress desire o contain iolence.

Not to

be

swept way

by

this

vision,

we

need

to rememberhat

vio-

lence

lso finds

ts

way

onto he hield:

murderousmbush alls

upon

herders f

cattle n a

city

t

war

and the

battlewhich nsues ncludes

the

figures

f

Hate,

Confusion,

nd

Death;

n

a later cene

Hephaistos

sculpts

wo

ions

tearing

ut the

guts

f

a

bull

as

men nd

dogs try

n

vain to

save the

beast.

But

most

readers, evertheless,

ould

agree

with he view

that

he

shield creates

n

ambiencewhich s a whole

commentsnthebrutalwarportrayednthe liad."s5 s themost ecent

book

on

the

hield

ays,

he

kphrasis

s

"there or

s,

not

for

he har-

acters n the

pic."6

In such a

reading

f

Hephaistos'

work

of

art,

he relation f the

feasting

ith he

pastimes

f

conversation,

ong

and

dance,

making

ove-in

fact life

such s the

gods

ead. This s the

ife

hat umans

spire

o,

ven

f

hey

an

only

chieve

it

n brief

natches,"

. While

shall

rgue gainst

aplin's

eading

f the

hield,

agree

fully

with

is broader

oint

hat

limpses

f

a former

eace provide

n essential

ynamic

withinhe liad.

4

Cf.

Marg

note

1)

32 and

36-37;

Reinhardt

note

1)

401-411;

Schadewaldt

note 1)

368;

Cedric

Whitman,

omer

nd

theHeroicTradition

New

York

1958)

205-207;

Seth

Schein,

The MortalHero:

An Introduction

o

Homer's

liad

(Berkeley

984)

142;

E.

T.

Owen,

The

Story f

he

liad

(Toronto

946;

repr.

nn

Arbor

966)

186-189.

5

R. S.

Shannon,

The

Arms

of

Achilles

nd

Homeric

Compositional

echnique

Mnemosyne,

uppl.

36

(Leiden

1975)

29.

Cf.

Robert

abel,

Plot

and Point

f

View

n

the

Iliad

Ann

Arbor

997)

178.

6

Becker

note

1)

150;

cf.Reinhardt

note

1)

405.

For

mportant,

ecent

tudies

f

the

shield narratives

the

first

within he

ekphrastic

radition,

ee John

Hollander,

he

Gazer'sSpirit

Chicago

1995) 7-9, andJamesHeffernan,useum fWordsChicago

1993)

10-22.

For a

general tudy

f

ekphrasis

s a rhetorical

evice nd

for considera-

tion

f tsrelations o

themain

narrative,

ee

Murray

rieger,

kphrasis:

he

llusion

f

the

Natural

ign

Baltimore 992);

for

kphrasis

ithin

ergilian oetics,

ee Michael

Putnam,

irgil's pic

Designs:

Ekphrasis

n theAeneid

New

Haven

1998).




3/19

Reading

the

Shield

ofAchilles

31

shield o tsbearer s

ironical: he

god's

viewof

theworld

s

discordant

with

death-embracing

chilles.

It is for his

eason,

many

eel,

hat

thepoetdescribes he cenesonthe hieldnotwhenAchilles eceives

the rms

but s

Hephaistos

makes

hem,

s

Walter

Margargued

nhis

importantssay

of 1957.7

n

this

vein,

t has

recently

een

proposed

that

the

udience

an

appreciate

Hephaistos'

rtifact],

ut

Akhilleus

couldnot

properly

o so until

fter

is reconciliation

ith

riam,

when

he s more

eady

o

appreciate

ife n

ordinary

uman

erms."8

Hephaistos

imself,

t

s

worth

oting,

ees

an

irony

n therelation

between he

hield nd

Achilles,

ut t s not

he

ype

f

rony

hat

Marg

mosthad in mind. peakingwith egretoThetis, hegodnotesthat

although

is work s of divine

raftmanship

t

will not

helter

ts

mortal

bearer rom warrior's

eath

cf. 18.464-467).9

his

rony

uggestively

parallels

he

paradox

of

Troy,

tself

oomed

though

ts

walls are

of

divine

onstruction,

oseidon

having

uilt

hem,

e

says,

in order

hat

the

ity

e invulnerable"

21.447).

In this

egard,

he

mortal

chilles n

Hephaistos'

rmors not

unlike

he

city

he is

bent

n

destroying;

oth

Achilles

nd

Troy

re "clothed"n thedivine nd

doomed.10

The contrastetween hemany ife-renewingceneson the shield

and

the

ntensifyingayhem

f its context

n

the

poem

may

evoke

reverberating

issonance or

eaders.

But

the

liad

suggests

n

a num-

ber of

ways

that he

ekphrasis

s not meant

or he

poem's

audience

alone;

unlike

imiles,

he hield s

observed,

ven

f

rarely,

y

figures

n

the

tory

nd

by

thenarratorn Books

19-22.

If we

take

heir

eadings

as our

guide,

we ourselves hallbe

compelled

o

interpret

ephaistos'

7

Cf.

Marg

note1)

24-25 and

36-37,

a

point requently

ited

n

subsequent

ssays.

8Mark dwards, he liad: A Commentaryol.5 (Cambridge991)

208.

9

In

thebattle

cenes,

however,

henarratoreems ess aware

of that

rony

when n a

rare ntrusionnto he

tory

e chides

Achilles or

earing

hat is shield

might

otwith-

stand

he

thrustf

an

enemy's pear:

Foolish

man,

not

perceiving

hat

man

may

not

easily

vercome he

gifts

f

the

gods"

20.265-266).

10

or the ironical

ounterpoint

f

Achilles'

vulnerability

hen

clothed

n

divine

armor,

ee most

recently

dwards

note

8)

139-140

and ad

20.264-267.

See also

Michael

Lynn-George,

pos,

Word,

arrative

nd the liad

Atlantic

ighlands,

ew Jer-

sey

1988)

193.

For he

ssociation

f

Achilles'

entry

nto attle

with

hedestruction

f a

city,

ee

18.206-214,

18.219-220,

18.265, 21.520-536,

22.25-31;

cf.

Stephen

cully,

Homer nd the acredCityIthaca1990)32, 116-122 nd 174n. 16. LauraSlatkinom-

ments n

the

helpless

tatus

f

Thetis

n

the liad where

ontrary

o

her

part

n

the radi-

tion f

divine

rotrectress

he s

unable

o

protect

er on

from eath

ven

s she

plays

that

ole

when

giving

Achilles' the

gift

f

Hephaistos'

mmortal

rmor;

he Power

of

Thetis: llusion nd

nterpretation

n the

liad

Berkeley

991)

45-52.




4/19

32

Stephen

cully

gift

n

a

different

ight.

ather

han

inding

omfort

n

mages

f

peace,

the

Myrmidons

nd

Trojans

eel error.

II

Narrative

escription

f the shield

also

suggests

error. ar from

characterizing

chilles'

shield as

joyful,

he narrator escribes t

as

"terriblend

awful

o behold"

(6Otv6o....tep6awXoq,

20.259-260).

THe(x,(xaiv &-tv&

o(lact

jXocv

1

ptiov

Eyxo;,,

GCop&paXo"

gEya

68'

gpi

o

`

o

u6Kc;R

0'6op0;

&ico)"r.

So

speaking,

Aeneas)

drove the

strong

pear

onto the terrible

shield,

wful

o

behold;

nd

the

great

hield

groaned

eneath he

spear-point.I1

Aetv6o nd

oagp6aXo;

are

far

rom

ormulaic

erms or hields

n

the

poem. Onlyone other bject n the liad is similarly errifyingnd

awfulto

behold: the severedhead

of the

Gorgon

s

it

appears

on

Athene's

egis

(5.742).

The

figures

f

Terror, trife,

trength,

nd

Onslaught

Phobos,

Eris, Alke,

oke)

surround

he

Gorgon's

head on

the

goddesses'

protective oatskin

5.738-742).

Elsewhere

n

the

poem,

he

aegis

itself s

simply

gFep6La.rl

21.400-401).12

Hephais-

tos' shield s

of

similar

nature,

grim

object striking

ear

n

the

beholder.13

requently

n

archaic ase

painting

he ole

figure epicted

11All translationsre myown. Text cited s D. B. Munro and T.W. Allen (ed.),

Homeri

Opera

vols. and

I,

3rd d.

Oxford

920).

12For

reading

iy(8a,

not

daria8a,

with

oagp&x8a

lv

at

21.400-401,

see N. J.

Richardson,

he

liad:

A

Commentary

ol. 6

(Cambridge

993)

ad

21.440-441,

a

mis-

print

or

what

hould e

21.400-401.

In addition o

ts

application

o Achilles' hield

t

20.260,

cgEp6aXio;

twice

describes

Hektor's bronze

(armor) (12.463-464

and

13.191-192),

t

a

crucial

oint

n

thebattle

when s a

terrifyingigure

ektor

irst reaks

through

he

Greek

wall.

Ajax's

shield

s

6etv6g

7.245).

13

Compare

he

grim

spect

of

Achilles'

shield o

Agamemnon's

hieldwhich

does

indeed

isplay

n

mage

f

the

Gorgon

p3ocropinrtg;

nd

8&tvbv epicog&v1,

grim-look-

ing .. glancing erribly"),lankedyFearand TerrorDeimosandPhobos) 11.36-37.

For

Agamemnon's

hield,

ee Becker

note 1)

67-77,

esp.

73-75;

on

its

symbolism,

ee

Hermann

raenkel,

arly

Greek

oetry

nd

Philosophy

tr.

M.

Hadas and

J.

Willis)

New

York

1975)

38-39. For a

comparison

etween

t

and

Achilles'

hield,

ee

Stanley

note

1)

3,

5,

24;

for is

analysis

f ts

nachronistic

lements

n

Agamemnon's

hield,

ee

129




5/19

Reading

he

hield

f

Achilles

33

on

Achilles'

hield

s

the

Gorgon's

ead;

n one nstance

t s

simply

n

image

f

Athene's

egis

without

orgon

ead).14

WhenThetis ravels rom lympuso earth ransportinghe glori-

ous

arms

f

Hephaistos,

ery

eautiful,

uch

s no

man ver

has carried

on

his shoulders"

19.10-11),

human

reaction

o them

s

mixed

(19.12-23):

itp6a0ev

AxthXXfio;g

6'

8&v'pcpE

Sai68otah

cdvtca.

MvpRt186vag

'

ipa

navra;

'LE

pog;,

ol)FS

ngX\

(vXrTv

iotS6Etv,taX' ~txpeoav.orocpAXtheXS;

d e1t8',

IV

tv

'&LXov

8

06xxo;"

v

&8

oi

aoe

8Etvbv3r6n

Pepd0pov,

GE

i

o

Ea;,

ktcpa

vOEv"

r~pIErto

'

Fv

XeipEontv

XO)v

eoi

dlXya&Wopa.

aXI)Tp

1LEti pEoiv

a

t

erdxpnero

6pcXISaXXa

Xeioov,

aot'icca

Rtrlzpa

1v

rXartetp6vFta

tpo(rla8a-

MT-rep

jr1-

Cv

0vXbxa

8e6

6pRv,

t

'

r0t1t

(

;

Epy'

e tV

o0av6woa~v

LVR1& po-byv

68pa

tre~aoat.

viv 8' ijrotp~v~y 00op4itogat

So

speaking

he

goddess

laced

down

he

rms

efore

Achilles. he

elaborately rought

rms lashed

oudly.

Thenfear

eized

ll

the

Myrmidons;

ot

ne of

them

ared

to

ook at the rms

traight

n,

but

hey

hrank

ack

n terror.

ut

Achilles,

themore

e

ooked,

he

more he

nger

made

ts

way

nto

him.

And

his

eyes,

ike

unglare, litterederribly

nder

is

ids.

He was

delighted,

olding

n hishands he

hining

ifts

fthe

god.

and

305

n.

15,

and

bibliography

herein.

or

comparison

ithGreek

rchaic

rmor,

ee

Bryan

Hainsworth,

he

liad:

A

Commentary

ol.

III,

Books

9-12

(Cambridge

993)

215-223.

14

The

image

of

the

aegis

on

the shield

s

on an

Attic

black-figure

eck

amphora

(c.

570

BCE)

by

theCamtar ainter

Boston,

Museum

f

Fine

Arts

1.21);

see

LIMC

1.2

Achilleus 91. Steven owenstams

surely ight

n

arguing

hat

hisvase

scene,

s with

most ther ase

depictions

fAchilles'

rms,

epresents

chilles

eceiving

is new arms

in

Iliad

19;

"The

Arming

f Achilleus n

Early

Greek

Vases,"

CA

12

(1993)

199-218.

For

the

Gorgon

ead

on the

hield,

ee

LIMC

IV.2,

pp.

285-286

and

299-301;

cf. Hilda

Lorimer,

omer nd the

Monuments

London 1950)

190

n.

3.

In

Euripides'

lectra,

he

Gorgon's

ead

s added o

Achilles'

hield;

ee notes

8 and

36,

below.




6/19

34

Stephen

Scully

Then

when

he was

delighted

n

his

midriff,

ooking

t the elabo-

rately

wrought ork, traightwaye addressed ismother ithwinged

words.

"Mother,

god gave

these

rms,

work

efitting

he mmortals. o

mortal

man

ould

do this.

utnow shall rm

myself..."

Though

his

assage

referso the rms n

the

plural,

henarrator's

tten-

tion

has

focused

lmost

xclusively

pon

the scenes from

he

shield,

and t s reasonable o maginehatAchilles, s hegazes,sees whatwe

have

ust

seen.15

ven while he

hexameters

rom

9.14-17

are

unusu-

ally expressive

n their

eries f

enjambed

erses

losely inkingMyr-

midon

error

ith

Achilles'

welling

nger

nd

pleasure,

t s left o

us

to

interpret

hese

ntense

nd

highly

ivergent

eactions,

s

thenarrator

offers

cant

xplanation.

he

activity

f

ooking

oins

the onstellation

of

emotions:

he

Myrmidons

nable to

look,

and Achilles

ooking

intently.

he

Myrmidons'

ear

tems rom

he arms nd not from he

presenceof the goddess,even though he armspose no personal

threat.16

s with

reactions o

epic

poetry

tself,

source

of

pleasure

(tipxt;)

for

most

audiencesbut

of

tears

nd

grief

or

Odysseus

nd

Penelope,17

o

perhaps

here we

may

detect

a

similar

divergence

between

esponses

o the

hield

y

readers fthe

poem

nd

by

warriors

within he

poem.

Some

suspect

hat

he

Myrmidons

re

filledwith

earbecause

they

are

"overawed

y

the

glare

of

the rmour

lone,"18

lthough othing

n

15

In thenarrator'seferenceoHephaistos' rms ollectivelys "all skilled rtwork"

(6ai6aXa

rtdvra)

t

19.13,

we

may

perhaps

hink

f the

phrase,

n a kindof

reverse

metonymy,

s

reference

rimarily

o

the

shield,

tself

crafted

ll

over"

nivroo

&at-

8diXhov,

8.479).

The same

word

describing

ll

the arms lso

refers

o

the

multiple

scenes

on

the

shield:

8ai8asa

norX&,

18.482.

ElsewhereAchilles'

shield

(odKCog)

s

iKaXv

8at&xikov

22.314).

It seemsreasonable o assume

hat

whenAchilles

s

said to

examine

Hephaistos'

work

8ai8acXa

Xmiaov,

19.19),

he

is

examining

irst nd fore-

most

he

hield

tself,

hemost

onspicuous

fthe

god's gifts.

16

At

II.

19.13-17,

Edwards

note

8)

suggests

d.

24.47-57 as a

parallel

ut

he

efer-

ence

s

of

imited

elp.

The

Greek ear f Thetis nd

the

Nereids n

the

Odyssey

when

they omeupfromhedeeptomourn chilles'death tems romhegoddesses'wailing.

17

Cf.

George

Walsh,

he

Varieties

f

Enchantment

Chapel

Hill

1984)

3-21.

18

dwards

note8)

ad

19.13-17;

followed

y

Becker

resumably

note1)

149. Stan-

ley

note 1)

303 n.

1,

draws

ur attention

o

thefact hat

uripides

t Electra

455-469

adds

Perseus

nd

Medusa

to

Achilles'

original)

hield o make t

seem moreominous




7/19

Reading

the

Shield

of

Achilles

35

19.13-23 s said

of

the rmor's

lare, nly

he

errible

oise

s it strikes

the

ground.

f

the

glare

s so

painful

or he

Myrmidons,

ow s

it that

Achillescan gaze uponthesegifts n suchprolonged xamination?

AboutAchilles'

pleasure,

ommentatorsre

equally

t an

impass.

t

is

a

commonplace

ow to

hear

hat t

derives

rom

delight

n

Hephais-

tos'

divine

workmanship,19

view

perhaps

o be inferred

rom henar-

rator's

ccount f

Achilles'

looking

t

the

laborately

rought

ork"

(6(Sai6

a

ei8ooov)

and fromAchilles'own words

o

Thetis:

this

s

the work f the

gods.

No

mortal

man

could

make

these rms."

But

what

s the

fear

which

revents

he

Myrmidons

rom

njoying

similar

pleasure?Andwhyshouldwe believethatAchilles s thinkingnly

about

Hephaistos'

unning

t the

forge

t this

oint

n

the

narrative?

About he hield's

glare.

Earlier

n the

poem,

-a

x;was

associated

with

Hektor,

specially

n his

efforts

o

set

fire o the

Akhaian

hips,

ut

after thene

aused a

aoax;

to

blaze

from

Achilles'

head as

he stood

upon

the

Akhaian

ditch

18.214),

thatnoun

s

exclusively

ssociated

with

Achilles nd his

armor,

he rmor's xternal

lare

verbally

inked

with n

inner ire

also

oaea;)

emanating

rom

Achilles'

eyes.

When

Achilles reparesoputon his newarms t the ndof Book 19,a radi-

ance

otka)

likethat rom

he

moon hines rom

is shield

nd

a

fire

(ao X),

like a

fire

n

a

mountain

eak

seen

by

sailors

ost at

sea,

shines

from he shield with

a

glare

thatreaches

to the aether

cf.

19.374-380).

The

image

of

brilliance

s furtherssociated

with

Hephaistos'

helmet

which shines like a star

(cf.

19.381-382;

cf.

22.134-135).

Similar

anguage

describesAchilles:

s

he

puts

on

his

armor,

is

eyes

"were

gleaming

ike

radiance

f fire"

cagn~Lro6lv

;0

ei'rlE

up6; oEa;,

19.366),

s

they leam

with

irewhen

he firstxam-

ines

Hephaistos'

gifts

Ev

oi

oos

/

8setv t6n l3xeqibpcov,

;g

ri

oag;,

ipCiavOev,

"his

eyes

/

shone

terribly,

ike a

fire,

nder

his

brows,"

9.16-17).20

hat

affinity

f inner ire nd outer

gleam

sug-

than ts

description

n the

liad,

although

e does

not

offer

his,

r

any

other

eason,

s

explanation

or the

Myrmidon light.

n

Euripides' play

(lines

442-451),

Achilles

receives

Hephaistos'

rms n Phthia

efore e

sails for

Troy.

or a full

discussion

f the

Achilles'

wo etsof

armor,

ee Judith

arringer,

ivineEscorts:

Nereids

nArchaic

nd

Classical GreekArt Ann Arbor1995) 17-48. Also see Lowenstamnote 14)

and

Edwards

note

0).

19

Becker

note1)

149-150.

Also

see Rabel

note

)

178.

20

See

Oliver

Taplin,

Homeric

oundings:

The

Shapingof

the

liad

(Oxford

1992)

226-227. More

broadly

or he

ssociation

f Achilleswith

ire

n

Books 18

through

2,




8/19

36

Stephen

cully

gests

ikeness

ather

handifference

etweenAchilles

nd the

shield.

Achilles'

pleasure

n

the

arms,

we

may

surmise,

tems

not

only

from

his aestheticppreciationftheir raftmanshiputalso from inship

with

ts

power.

What

of

Achilles'

growing

nger

when

looking

at

Hephaistos'

work?

Most

understand,

ightly

think,

hat

t

derives

rom

Achilles'

desire or

evenge.

Butone critic

as

suggested

hat he

nger

e

linked

with

Achilles'

reading

f the shield-in

particular

ith

he

scene of

a

king

holding

scepter

nd

feeling

oy

in his

heart,

residing

ver har-

vest nd

distributing

onors

n

a

fitting

ashion

o all members f his

community18.556-560). RemindedfAgamemnon,chilless filled

with

age.21

n

this

eading nger

s derived

xplicitly

rom scene

on

the hield.But

this ineof

thought

uts

great

mphasis

n

Achilles'ret-

rospective

ision

ust

at the

point

when

his attentionsre

turning

n a

new

direction.

Only

a few ines

ater n the

assembly

f the

Greeks,

Achilles

eclares hat e

is

making

n

end

of his

anger

6Xoo;)

against

the

king

cf.

19.67);

with n

eye

to

the

futurend with

ome

urgency

("but

ome

quickly"),

e bids the

king

mobilize he

Akhaians in

order

that maymake rial ftheTrojans ace oface" 19.68and70).

With

the

news of

Patroklos'

eath,

he

object

of Achilles'

anger

shiftsfrom

the

Greeks to the

Trojans,

and

more

narrowly

rom

Agamemnon

o

Hektor

cf.

18.79-126).

All of Book 19

prepares

or

that

hift nd

the

necessary

mobilization

or

war-receiving

his

new

armor,

econciliation ith

Agamemnon,

he

marshalling

f

the

troops,

and

finally

ressing

n

thatnew armor-before

chilles,

insatiate

f

war"

20.2),

can

engage

he

Trojans

t

the

beginning

f Book 20.22

f,

on

one

level,

the

mages

on the shield re

timeless,

n

anotherevel

they

re located n

time,

morefocusedon futurewarthan

glancing

backward

o

past

grievances

r

might-have-beens.

In

light

of

Achilles' reconciliation

ith

Agamemnon

nd the

see

Richardson

note

12)

108

and

ad

22.317-321,

nd

Whitman

note )

136-146,

whose

commentsre

nfluenced

y

Schadewaldt

note1)

352-374.

21

Stanley

note1)

25;

cf.

3. Also see Becker

note

1)

149 n.

272.

For

another

eading,

see

Rabel

note

)

175-176.

22

For

the

narrative

rilliance f

Book

18,

see Reinhardt

note 1)

349-411;

Whitman

(note ) 199-206;

Stanley

note1) 186-192;for hat f Book 19,see

Lynn-George

note

10)

170-174;

Stanley

note

1)

192-199.

For Book 19

as a

"sorry

ntroduction"

o

Books

20-22,

see

Denys

Page, History

nd

theHomeric liad

(Berkeley

972)

314-315.

For

a

review f

Alexandrian ook division etween ooks 18

and

19,

see

Taplin

note

20)

201-202.




9/19

Reading

he hield

fAchilles

37

Greeks,

t

has

recently

een

suggested

hat

Achilles'new rmor

lays

crucial ole n thehero's social

reintegration."23

ade

naked

(pyutv6g,

17.711)after ektortrippedatroklosf Achilles'oldarmor,hehero

undergoes

hat his ritic escribes s "a

rebirth

nto

human

ociety"

(p.

22)

whenThetis

resents

er

on with

is new

war

gear.

The

poem

suggests,

owever,

hat

Achilles s not

being

eborn

nto

human

ociety

but

nto

paradoxical

orm fmortal

odhood.

First,

he

argument gainst

social

reintegration.

ven

when his

mother

uggests

o Achilles hat

e

call

an

assembly

nd

renounce

is

gilvtg

gainst

he

Akhaians,

erreasons re

not

ocial

but

desire or

Achilles oputon his warstrength19.36). In the gora,Achilles is-

tens

o

Agamemnon'song

speech-66

lines-without

nterruption

in

the

peech,Agamemnon

lames

Ate

for

he

past

quarrel

nd

goes

on at

length

bout he

gifts

e

will

give

Achilles,

9.78-144),24

ut

Achilles'

reply

s brief. He

speaks

withdisdain

regarding

he

gifts-give

the

gifts,

r

keep

them,

s

you

wish-and

he fails ven

to

mention

riseis

by

name

19.146-153).

Objects

hat nce

caused

a

rift

n

the

Akhaian

camp

and were hallmark f Achilles'social

standing,

ow

have

ittle

meaning orhim. His mind,ikeThetis', s noton socialreintegration

but

laughter:

But

now,

et us remember

he

spirit

f

battle

straight-

way"

(vv

"

tgvlldt0a

CXptrla

/

aFya

.,i',

19.148-149);25

"straightway"

(alW

t

R,')

(cf.

19.36)

is

doubly

mphatic

y

enjamb-

ment nd the adverbial ntensifier

li,6'.

There

s

no

need,

Achilles

continues,

o waste our time

chatting

(ickoontElytv)

or

to

delay

23

Thomas

Hubbard,

Nature nd

Art n

the Shield

of

Achilles," rion

3rd

series

2

(1992)

21.

For

different

easons,

eonard

Muellner

n

The

Anger

f

Achilles:

Menis

n

Greek pic (Ithaca 1996) 141-142,also sees Achilles'eventual cceptance f thegifts

when

hey

re

placed

"in themiddle

f

the

ssembly"

19.249)

as

reinforcing

is "bonds

to

the

group."

24

For

an

analysis

f

Agamemnon's

peech,

ee Dieter

Lohmann,

ie

Komposition

er

Reden n der

lias

(Berlin1970)

75-80;

O.

M.

Davidson,

Indo-European

imensions

f

Herakles

n Iliad

19.95-133,"

Arethusa

3

(1980)

197-202.

See

also Robert

Rabel,

"Agamemnon's

risteia,"

GRBS

32

(1991)

103-117;

William

Wyatt,

Homeric

ATH,"

AJP

103

(1982)

247-276. For the

peeches

f

Thetis,

Achilles,

nd

Agamemnon

t the

beginning

fBook

19,

ee

Taplin

note 0)

203-212.

25

For

viv

&6

"but

now")

as characteristicf

Achilles'

mphactic

peech

patterns,

ee

Paul Friedrich nd JamesRedfield, Speech as a Personality ymbol:The Case of

Achilles,"

anguage

54

(1978)

283. Cf.

Jasper

riffin,

Words

nd

Speakers

n

Homer,"

JHS 106

1986)

50-57.

For

the

process

f

Achilles'

remembering

attle"

n

this

peech,

see Richard

Martin,

he

Language of

Heroes:

Speech

and

Performance

n the liad

(Ithaca1989)

79-80

and200.




10/19

38

Stephen

cully

(19.149-150).26

n

certain ontexts

war

itself

may

be

considered

"social"

act

motivated

y

ai6t0g

nd a

sense

of

human

ommunity,27

but hats far romhe ase forAchilles nBooks19-22.

In

Thetis'

mperative

hat

Achilles

enter

nto,

r

put

n,

86Geo)

his

war

trength,"

hetis

mploys

he

ameverbwhich

arliern the

narra-

tive

described

he

nger

ntering

nto

'8u

x6,o;)

Achilles s he

looks

at

Hephaistos'

ifts

19.16).

WhenAchilles rms

himself t the

nd

of

Book

19,

the

wo

meanings

f

the

verb-putting

n and

entering

nto--

will

be

used

again:

"His

eyes

/

glowed

as

if

they

were the

radiance

(oaag)

of

fire.

Unendurable

rief

ntered

nto

86v')

his

heart.

Rag-

ingattheTrojans he enterednto(S1iaero) i.e.,puton) thegifts f

the

god

which

Hephaistos

had

made

for

him with

much

toil"

(19.365-368).

More

specifically

han

n

Achilles'

speech

to

Thetis

after

having

viewed

his new

gifts

19.21-27),

this

passage

links

Achilles'

human

grief

or

Patroklos

with

his

divine

rmor;

t

further

joins

that

grief

with

his

rage

at

the

Trojans, erving

o

amplify

ur

understanding

f

the

ess

specific

nger 6Xoo;,

19.16)

which

grew

n

Achilles

s

he

firstook

tock f

Hephaistos' ifts;

he

flame

(cXa

)

in

hiseyesfurtherinksbothpassagesatthebeginningnd end ofBook

19.

When

he

Greek

eaders

elay

battle o allow the

rmy

o

fight

n a

full

tomach,

chilles

efuses

o

share n

themeal

19.199-214),

clear

indicationf

how

far

he is now

from

eing

ssimilatednto he

human

order.28

nxious,

however,

est

"wretched

unger

ome

upon

his

knees"

(19.354;

cf.

19.348),

Zeus

bids Athene distill

nectar

and

26

The

meaning

f

choionerlEtv

s

not

fully

nderstoodnd

may

be

colloquial,

ut he

general

enseof

spinning

ut

timeunder

retenses

r

chatting

eems

fairly

ertain

rom

context;

f. M.

Schmidt,

KLOTOPEUO,"

in

Thesaurus

inguae

Graecae:

Lexicon

des

friihgriechischen

pos,

ed.

Bruno

nell

Gottingen,

989).

27

On

aiSd&g,

ee

James

Redfield,

ature nd

Culture

n

the liad

(Chicago

1975)

113-119;

D.

Claus,

"Aidos

n

the

Language

of

Achilles,"

APA115

(1975)

13-28. For

different

enses

f

ai8ctS

for

rojans

nd

Greeks n the ontextf

war,

ee the

ontrasting

speeches

f

Ajax

and

Hektor

t

15.405-746;

f.

Scully

note

10)

107-110.

28

Cf.

Marilyn

rthur

ho

speaks

f

this efusal s

"a

negative

hich ocates

him ut-

sidethe

ompass

f

the ocial

order,"

n

"The Dream f a

WorldWithout

Women:

oetics

andthe

Circles f

Order

n

the

Theogony rooemium,"

rethusa 6

1983)

103;

cf.

Lynn-

George note10) 172-174. Forthe ymbolismf of a sharedmeal, ee OswaldMurray,

"The

symposion

s

social

organization,"

n The

Greek

enaissance

f

the

Eighth

entury

B.C.

(ed.

R.

Haigg)

Stockholm

983)

195-199;

John

oley,

mmanent

rt:From

truc-

ture

o

Meaning

n

Traditional

ral

Epic

(Bloomington

991)

174-189;

Steven

Nimis,

Narrative

emioticsn

the

pic

Tradition: he

Simile

Bloomington

987)

23-42.




11/19

Reading

he hield

f

Achilles

39

ambrosia

into

Achilles'

chest,

a

complex gesture

which

tacitly

acknowledges

chilles'

mortalityy

recognizing

is need for

uste-

nancebutone which lso assimilates hemortal eronot nto he om-

pany

of the

men

but

of

the

gods.29

uch divine ntervention

upports

Cedric

Whitman's

loquent

laim

that

Achilles' old

armor,

iven

o

Achilles'

father n

the

day

he

married

hetis

17.194-197),

"symbol-

izes

both he

mortal nd

mmortal

spects

f Achilles.

The new

arms

are to

be

wholly

mmortal,

miracle uited o a manwhosemortal

art

no

longer

oncerns im."30

nother

tudy

which iminishes chilles

n

comparison

o

Hephaistos'

arms calls the

hero

"small, imited,

r

merely uman nthe ontextf' thenew rms,31ut hepoem uggests

somethinguite

different.

s

Achilles

rmshimself

or

attle,

is

new

clothing

cquires

strange

uoyancy:

The armsbecame

ike

wings

and

raised

up

the

shepherd

f

the

host"

i^

6'

'E'E"

itteppX

yiYVEv',

ertpFe

6

t

ot~gPva

aOv,

19.386).

This

s

a

remarkable

onceit,

nparal-

leled

elsewhere

n

the

liad,32

nd further

uggests

form f

transcen-

dence. The

move

toward

eification

s

particularly

ard

for

modern

sensibility

o

recognize.

Simone

Weil,

for

example,

an

speak

with

power egardinghedehumanizingorceAchilles ecomes nhisway

to

killing

Hektor,

savagery

he

describes s

making

thing

f

Achilles

ven

while

he

lives,

butshe

never

cknowledges

hat

n

sav-

29

No

where

lse

in

Homer s

a

living

uman

eing

fednectar nd

ambrosia,

lthough

Thetis,

rompted

y

Achilles'

nxiety,

t

19.38-39 distills

ectar

nd ambrosia

hrough

the

nostrils f

Patroklos'

orpse

o

keep

t

fresh;

or

he

delicacy

f

Achilles'

speech

o

Thetis,

ee

Martin

note

25)

33.

As

a

sign

of

Odysseus'

refusal

f

Kalypso's

gift

f

immortality,

e

eats

mortal

ood

while she

consumes

he

food of the

gods

(cf.

Od.

5.194-199).

In

Hesiod's

Catalogueof

Women

fr.

3a MW

22-23)

and

perhaps

n the

Homeric

Hymn

o

Demeter

237)

ambrosia

ppears

to

make a mortal

mmortal;

f.

Edwards

note

8)

ad

19.352-354. For

Taplin

note

0)

210

n.

12,

the

Zeus-inspired

eed-

ing

of

Achilles

marks

hehero's

uniqueness

nd

perhaps

is nearness

o

death.

Stanley

likens

tto the

embalming"

f

Patroklos,

note1)

195-196.

30

Whitman

note

)

203;

see

notes

2 and

35,

below. MarkEdwards n

"Neoanalysis

and

Beyond,"

A 9

(1990)

311-325,

argues

hat n

all other

raditions,

hetis

ave Hep-

haistos'

rms

o

Achilles n

Phthia efore

e set

ail

for

roy.

See note

18.

31

Schein

note )

142.

32

Edwards

note

8)

ad

19.384-386

compares

o 17.210-214 when Hektor

uts

on

Achilles' ldarmor: Inboth hedivinelymade rmour as a powerfullypliftingffect."

But f

a

likeness,

t s

distant:

the

rmorwas

fittedo

Hektor's kin.

The

terrible

res,

War

God,

entered im.

His

limbswere

filled

within f

strength

nd

might"

17.210-212).

Whitman,

omewhat

arrowly,

ssociatesthe

image

with "the swiftness nd

upward

course

f

flames,"

note

)

139.




12/19

40

Stephen

Scully

agery,

ury,

nd

indifferenceowards ll

mortalityncluding

is

own,

Achilles s

paradoxically

lso

moving

owards

odhood.33

How, fat all,do these hemes elate o Achilles'obviouspleasure

when

ooking

t

Hephaistos'

reation?

or

many

eaders

f

the

poem,

the

disjuncture

etween he

god's

and Achilles' visionof life means

that he

hero's

pleasure

an

only

derive rom

he

how,

not he

what,

f

Hephaistos'

work

f art.

But

readers

end

o focus

n thehuman

cenes

n the

hield,

aying

scant

ttention

o

the

opening

nd

closing escriptions.

chilles'

plea-

sure n

the

shield,

suggest,

as

less

to

do with ts various ndividual

human torieshan viewingfthe hield s a whole. As ifHephaistos

were

creating

he

universe rom

ts

beginnings,

e first

ashions

n

the

shield n

image

of

Earth,

eaven

nd

Sea,

followed

y

the

un,

Moon,

and stars

18.483--489).

Only

hen oes the

god

turn

is attentiono the

human

world,

while

t the nd he fashions round herim

f

the hield

and

around

the

realm of

humankind

n

image

of River

Ocean

(18.607-608).34

uch

framing

f thehumanwithin hebroader

ettings

of

Earth,

eaven,

un,Moon,

tars,

ndRiver

Ocean,

s

Olympian,

nd

a distancingision f themortal hat nlyAchillesn histranscendent

fury

an

long

sustain.35

pollo,

n the midst

f

gods warringgainst

33

Weil,

The

liad,

Poem of

Might"

n

ntimations

f

Christianitymong

heAncient

Greeks,

r. nd

ed. E.

Geissbuhler,

London1957)

24-55,

esp.

24-29.

34

ee

Hubbard

note

23)

28. Edwards

note

8)

argues

hat

he

depiction

f

theheav-

enly

bodies nd

the wo

ities hould e

considered

ne

scenebecause

he

heavenly

od-

ies

are

"the ternal

ompanions

f human ife" nd "are watched

losely"

y

humankind

(p.

211).

In

arguing

his

oint,

dwards

gnores

hat

Av

Fv

483)

intoduces

he

ection n

the

heavenly

odies

while

v

&E

(490)

introduceshe ection

n

the wo

cities,

nd

seven

other

ections f

the

hield

541,

550,

561, 573,

587, 590,

607).

It s also

noteworthy

hat

differenterbsdescribe

Hephaistos'

work n the

heavenly

odies

i

rev',

483)

and on

the two

cities

(noiroce,

90).

In

an

overly

ubtle

rgument,

abel

(note5)

writes

hat

Hephaistos

ntended

o

diminish

hehuman

igure y placing

heuniverse

n

the enter f

the shield

hat

he

Muse-narrator

ubverted

hat ntent

y

placing

happyking

in

the

center f

theverbal

onstruction"

p.

175).

351

fully

gree

with

Hollander

note6)

and

Heffernan

note

6)

who characterizehis

ekphrasis

s

"notional,"

n

imaginary

ork f artwhich

efies

eing

rendered

isually.

For

this

eading,

t

does not

matter hetherhe

portrait

fthe

heavenly

odies re ocated

at

the

enter

f

the

hield,

s

its

place

in thenarrative

equence

f

scenes

on

the hield

might uggest,

r on

the outer

dge

of

the shield.

For the

difficulties

f

drawing

he

shield

nd a

criticismf

placing

he

heavenly

odies

t the

enter,

ee K.

Fittschen,

er

Schilddes

Achilleus

ArchHom

(Gbttingen

973)

esp.

3-5;

challenging

he

viewthat

the cenes

re

arranged

n

theorder hat

hey

re

presented

n

the

poem,

ee

H. A. Gart-

ner,

Beobachtungen

um

Schild

des

Achilleus,"

n

Studien

um

Antiken

pos,

ed.

H.

Girgemanns

ndE.

A.

Schmidt,

Meisenheim

m Glan

1976)

46-65.




13/19

Reading

he

hield

fAchilles

41

each

other

ver

mortals,

ndicates

hat

Olympian erspective

n

Book

21

whenhe

calls

mortals

insignificant"

6Seto()

and likens hem

o

leavesona treewhich grow ndthen ade way" 21.463-466).

The

shield's

raming

f

the

humanwith n astral

erspective

s

par-

alleled

n

only

ne other

nstancen

the

poem

when

eus,

acknowledg-

ing

his

ove

for

Troy,

s

about o

forecastts

doom

(4.44--47):36

Of

all

the

ities f

men

who ive

upon

earth which well

under

he

un

and

starry

eaven

/

none has

ever been

morehonored n

my

heart

han

sacred

lios /

and

Priam,

nd

the

people

of Priamof the

good

ash

spear."

The

portrait

f

human

xistence n the shield

nd Zeus'

fatal

imageofTroy restatementsbout henaturefman,not ommentary

about

the

good

life

or

war;

they

re

also,

I

propose,

way

of

under-

standing

hefire

n

Achilles'

yes

and

the

uncommon

leasure

e

finds

in

beholding

divine

vision

of

the

cosmos.

In

Achilles'

quasi-divine

state,

he

moves

toward

divine

ynoptic

erspective,

ne

especially

shared

y

Zeus

among

he

Olympians

nd

embodied

n

his shield.

For

Achilles

Hephaistos'

reation

ives

pleasure

because the

mage

as a

collective

whole

transcends

uman

partition.

he immortal

ods

by

definitioneelnofear tthat tark ision; nlyAchilles mongmortals

can

find

leasure

n

t

becausehe

has

no

fear f his mminent

eath.

t

has

seemed

ignificant

o

some

hat

Achilles

ndothers

n

the

poem

fail

to

mention

ndividual

cenes on

the

shield. But such

specificity

s

rarely

he case

with

rtifactsr

descriptions

f

landscapes

n

Homer.

Unlike

Aeneas

responding

o

sculpture

n

Juno's

emple

t

Carthage,

frieze

by

frieze,

haractersn the

liad and

Odyssey

end o

react

o

objects

ynoptically,

ot

piecemeal.37

t s

ust

this

ynopticaking

n-

the

ife-affirming

nd the

death-dealing

uman

nterprises

ast

n the

frame f

Olympian

istance-thatmoves he

Myrmidons

ndAchilles

at the

beginning

f

Book

19. It s

a

vision-for ll its

partialmages

f

joy,

renewal,

nd

festival--ofGorgon-like

error,

s

the

narrator

36

Cf.

Scully

note

10)

124-127. In

Euripides'

epiction

f

Achilles'

hield,

e

com-

plements

omeric

omponents

ith he

conventionally

orrific

mage

of

the

Gorgon's

head,

but

t s

according

o

Euripides

he

mages

f

sun and

constellations hich

ause

Hektor

o

panic

cf.

Electra

68-469).

37

Fordescriptionsfart n liad,seeBeckernote1) 51-77,andbibliographyherein;

on

Od.

19.226-231,

ee

Lynn-George

note

10)

188-189.

Odysseus'

reference

o the

city's

wins

arbors,

ts

&yopd,

nd its

city

walls n

his wonder t

seeing

Scheria

from

afar

Od.

7.43--45)

s

exceptional

n this

regard,

ut

even

this s a

synoptic

ision;

ee

Scully

note

10)

2-3

and

45-47.




14/19

42

Stephen

Scully

implies:

death-dealing,

he

"thingness"

f

slaughter.38

or is this a

visionfor

Achilles

o savourwhen

his

spirit

alms.

In Book

19

in

a

speechoverthecorpseof Patroklos nd before heelders,Achilles

acknowledges

ith

erenity

n awareness

f

his own

mpending

eath,

claiming

n

addition hathis tiesto

his father eleus

are now

severed,

and

his

hope

of

having

protective

ink

o

his

son

Neoptolemos

s

now

lost with he

death f

Patroklos

19.319-333).

Only

now n his

indif-

ference

o

past

nd future

s

Achilles

n

a

position

o be nourished ith

ambrosia

nd

find

leasure

n an

image

of the

humanworld o circum-

stanced.39

If nHomer'smind he hield s round ndHephaistos' omposition

consists f

concentric

ircles

which ver

xpand

utward

o

the

imit

f

River

Ocean,

the

rotary attern

f

expanding

ands

mplies,

n theone

hand,

an

ordered

oundedness

f discrete

cenes. Even

within

he

shield,

he

god

renders

n

image

of

man

seeking

o

discover

imit,

s

both

parties

n

a

litigation

cene turn

o an arbitrator

o

get

a

"limit"

(nripap,

18.501).

One

party

wishes he

imit

f

murder

o be the

pay-

ment f

ransom,

hile

he

otherwants he

imit o be

blood-revenge.40

The litigatingarties earch or losurewithinhe acred ircle fthe

d(yopd

18.504)

where

he

elders it and

isten,

group

which

s

itself

surrounded

y

a circleof

townspeople

ager

to influencehe

verdict.

Yet

the

narrativen

this

cene,

s

in all the

other ceneson

the

hield,

38

Whitman

note

)

206

comments:

Whenhe first eceives

the

hield],

Achilles ees

only

heflash f

ts

brightness,

ut

before he liad is

over,

e lives

up

to

the

fullness f

its

classic

mplications-passion,

rder,

nd the

hangeless

nevitability

f theworld s it

is."

There s

very

ittle n

thetext

o

suggest

hatAchilles

does

not "live

up

to" these

implications

rom

he time

he first xamines

he shield

o

carefully. ompareLynn-

George's legant

erception

f the hield s

"a

monument

nsistently

oud with hemusic

of

mortality"

note

10)

187.

Lynn-Georgergues

hat he

rt f

the

hield,

like

he

liad,

does

not o much

reserve

he

iving

rom estruction

s, rather,

ndefinitelyuspend

nd

sustain

he

pic

struggle

n

the

ertainty

f destruction."

his state f

ndeterminismon-

firms

sense

of

nevitable

estruction

hile hemedium

f

epic produces

senseof "the

impossible

ossibility

f

survival

n art"

pp.

188-189;

cf.

180-183,

10 and

220-227).

39

Like

Achilles,

Aeneas n

Vergil's

eneid

akes

pleasure

n

Vulcan's

rms

8.730;

cf.

8.617

and

619),

and like

Achilles

he examines ll

the

pieces

with

great

care

(cf.

8.618-619),

but

unlikeAchilleshe has little

omprehension

f the "text f

the

shield

which s beyond elling"clipeinonenarrabile extum,.625;cf.8.729-730). All char-

acters n

the

liad,

unlike

hose

n

Vergil,

omprehend

ully ephaistos'

ext,

believe.

40

For

the

difficulty

f

nterpretation

f this

cene,

ee

R.

Westbrook,

The TrialScene

in the

liad,"

HSCP

94

(1992)

53-76,

whose

nalysis

follow or hemost

art.

For

the

relation

fthis

cene o

Ajax's

speech

n

Book

9,

see

Andersen

note

).




15/19

Reading

he hield

fAchilles

43

remains

nresolved.41s a

critic

has

poignantly

oted

recently,

the

logic

of this

tory-within-a-storypills

over

nto he

ogic

of the

story

ofAchilles,"which eaches ts imitn Book24; and Homer's tory,n

expanding

ircles,

pills

ver

o thosewho hear

he

poem:

"That

s,

the

Iliad

neednot nd

where he

inear arrative

nds,

o the xtent

hat

he

pictures

n

the

Shieldof

Achilleshave an

opening

nto

virtual

re-

sent,

hus

making

he ntent

fthe

liad

open-ended."42

The

aspect

f the

hieldmost

errifying

or

mortals,

owever,

s

less

this

nconclusivenessf action han

he

sight

f the

separate

ands

as

part

f

a

unified hole.

That

ynoptic

nd nhuman

erspective

reaks

thesense ofthespecialstatus fthe human y placing t withinhe

context f a

larger

osmos

and

Zeus'

will.

In the

early tages

of

the

Iliad

mortalsook

for

peaceful

onclusion o

the

war,

irstn the

form

of

theAkhaian

rmy

ushing

o their

hips

o

return

ome,

hen

y

for-

mal

truce nd

single

ombat

etween aris nd

Menelaos,

he

victor

o

take

Helen and

spareTroy.

t is thewill of the

gods,

however,

nd

par-

ticularly

f

Zeus

that hewar

press

n

to

ts

bitternd.

Baiting

is

wife,

he

asks f

"it s dear

and

sweet

o

all the

gods"

that

riendship

revail,

or evil warandgrimwarfare4.15-17). The sweetnesswhih Zeus

finds

ltimately

n

the

destructionf

Troy,

ven as

he loves

the

city

dearly,

tems ess

from

desire o

punish

he

ity

or

ts

failings-and

they

re

many-than

rom n

affirmation,

y

contrast,

f

the

gods'

free-

domfrom

hange,

estruction,

nd

death.43

Absentfrom

muchof

the battle

description

n

Books

20 and

21,

Achilles'

new

armor

nd

shield ome back nto

he

tory

s

theGreek

hero

loses n

on

Hektor.

The defender

f

Troy,

fter

tanding

irmnd

re-affirming

is

resolve

hrough

nner

ebate,

s emboldened

o

holdhis

ground

and "see to whichone the

Olympian

grants

he

glory"

(22.130).44

Yet at

the

sight

f Achilles

haking

is father's sh

spear,

41

Cf.

Lynn-George

note

10)

180-190;

Heffernan

note )

16-21.

42

"The Shield of

Achilles:

Ends of the

liad

and

Beginnings

f the

Polis,"

n New

Light

n a

Dark

Age,

ed. S.

Langdon,

Columbia,

Missouri

997)

203 and

195,

respec-

tively.

43

Cf. Sheila

Murnaghan,

Equal

Honor

and Future

Glory:

he

Plan of Zeus

in

the

Iliad,"

in

Classical

Closure:

Reading

the End in

Greek

and

Latin

Literature,

d.

D.

Roberts t

al.,

Princeton

997)

24. For

complexities

nd contradictions

n

the

pouxofZeus in the

poem,

eeJ.V.

Morrison,

Kerostasia,heDictates fFate, ndtheWill of

Zeus

in the

liad,"

Arethusa 0

(1997)

273-296,

esp.

291-294.

44

22.99-130.

In

imagining

he

secret

whispers

etween

young

man and

maiden,

Hektor ses a

wordnot

found

lsewhere

n

the

poemexcept

or

he

mention

f maidens

on

Achilles'

shield;

there s no

room at

war-ravaged roy, pparently,

or

rtapOFvot




16/19

44

Stephen

cully

his

bronze rmor

leaming

ike the

rays

f

a

blazing

fire

r

the

rising

sun

(22.131-135),

Hektor's

resolve

evaporates

nd he

takes

flight

(22.134-137):

1iniup

o

V

i;o

vo,

ii

ou

o

&vt6ovto;.

"Eicropa

',

60;

FvdqoEv,

eVO

x

pPo,

Ri;8' i'p'

C'

CT

7kT

aOt

Ovctv,

6TccGo&

irnaC

ince,

fi

&

(pooo;S"

The bronze

hat losed bout

himwas

blazing

ike

the

ays

f

burning

ire r ofthe

un

rising.

FearseizedHektor, henhe

perceived.

o

longer

idhedare

stand is

ground

here

ut

eft

he

gates

behind

nd

fled,

rightened.

Hektor's

light

nd

Myrmidon

right

re

the

nly

wo

passages

n the

Iliad

where he

sight

f

arms

nstills error.45

hile both he

Myrmi-

dons and

Hektor

re

seized

by

fear

"-'

rp6gog;,

this

phrase

nly

at

19.14 and

22.136),

n

the

first

assage

no

one

of

the

Myrmidons

ared

(o?{6

rt;

X"Irl)

to

look

straight

n the rms

but rembled

hile

n the

secondHektor,ikeAchilles,ooksuponthebronze shield) d;g v6ri-

oev)

but oses

courage

oi6'

p'

-9r'

~XTrl)

nd takes

light.46

f

glare

s

notmentionedn

the ase

of

the

Myrmidons,

t

certainly

ontributes

o

the

errifying

spect

f

Achilles' rmor

n Book

22,

but

glare

lone

can-

except

n

Hektor's

eminiscences

f a world

ongpast compare

2.127-128 and 18.567

and

593).

45

Parts f

phrases

r

parallel

hrases

ike

hose n 22.136-137

arefound lsewhere

ut

nowheren this

ombination.

Fe

Xp6gooq

ppears

wice

efore he

bucolic iaresis

10.25

and18.247;cf.6.137);

eXlv

is used oncewith p6iog; 5.862). oi)8 rt;itgF-rlafterhe

bucolicdiaresis s

common;

oit'

iap'

irt'

'rb

is used

once

again,

lso withHektor

n the

face

of

Achilles,

ut to differentffect

20.421).

On

the

phrasing

f these

ines,

ee

Richardson

note

12)

ad

22.136-138;

on

Hektor's

light

nd

bravery

ere,

ee Schade-

waldt

note

1)

303-306.

46

If

Erpeaav

t

19.15 were ranslated

s "tremble

nd

run

way,"

hen

he

parallel

s

even

tronger.

hannon

note5)

argues

hat

he bronze"

f 22.134 refers

xclusively

o

Achilles'

spearhead

nd

t

s that

which

auses

Hektor

o flee

p.

81).

Two

passages

n

particular

oint gainst

his

view,

believe:

first,

he

parallel

between19.14-15

and

22.134-137;

second he

parallel

etween

~XaXl

x

sroEro

(22.134)

and

xaXCb

j

AagE

at 22.32 where ronze learly efersothe rmor. erhapst snot coincidence hat his

bronze shines ike

the

rising

un and Thetis

brought

chilles

his arms at dawn

(cf.

19.1-2).

Also,

"Fully

rmed,

chilleswent

orth,

llshining

n his armor

ike

thebeam-

ing

sun

Hyperion"

19.397-398).

See further

arrol

Moulton,

imiles

n theHomeric

Poems

Hypomnemata

9

(G6ttingen

977)

108.




17/19

Reading

he

hield

fAchilles

45

not

explain

Hektor's ear

and

flight.

The

outer

glare

of

armor,

ike

Achilles'

eyes

mentioned

epeatedly

n Book

19,

evokes

the hero's

divine rilliance. hree ooks, ndover1500 inesofhexameter,epa-

rate hese wo

passages.

Some

might uggest

hat

ormulaic

arallels

cast over uch wide canvas houldbe

ignored

s

coincidence,47

ut

believe

hat t s

within

he

apacity

f Homeric

rtistry

or

hese

aral-

lel

formulae,

ike n extended

ing

omposition

n the

tory

fAchilles'

return o

battle,

o

encompass

broad

narrative

pan,

linking

he

moment hen

Hephaistos'

rms re

brought

own

from

lympus

nd

the

ulminating

uel

of

the

poem.

The

Myrmidons'

error

rovides

he

clue forunderstandingektor's light,hefirstnstance patternf

action

repeated

n a

major

key

n

the

second.

In

neither

ase is

the

gleam

of armor

ufficient

xplanation

f

this

light.

ather

han ee the

shield s

depicting

"world

which

the

Greeks

nd

Trojans]

have

eft

behind nd

to

which

hey

ope

to

return,"48

s

one critic

ees

it,

sug-

gest

hat he

hield

epicts

visionwhich

nnerves

ven

he

most eso-

lute fhuman eroes.

Robert

abel

also believes hatHektor

eads

he

hield,

ut n a dif-

ferentense. Noting erbal arallels etween escriptionsf scenes n

the

hield

nd

phrases

n

Hektor's

oliloquy,

abel

argues

hat

Hektor's

meditations

re

triggered

y

those cenes.

n

particular,

t s

proposed,

Hektor hinks f

dividing p

the

ity

poils

22.120-121)

because

Hep-

haistos

culpted

uch discussion

f truce

18.511-512),

and

ater

n

a

poignant

ast-minute

everie,

ektor

magines

he ove-talk

etween

young

man and

a

maiden

ecause

of a war-like

rane-dance

f

young

men and

maidens

n a

public

choral

space

depicted

n

the shield

(18.593-606).49ntriguing

s

the dea

is,

it does not

respond ully

o

Hektor's udden oss

of

nerve fter he

oliloquy.

suspect,

ather,

hat

the

rmor,

xemplified

specially

n the

hield,

vokes

n Hektor

sense

of

godhead

made

present.

n

their

ollectivity

he

cenes

on the hield

offer

"literary"

ersion

f

this

resence,

orgon-like

n

tseffect

pon

humankind.

In the finalmoments eforeHektor's

eath

he shield

reenters

he

narrative ith ineswhich choAchilles'

rming

cene

22.312-316):

47

For recentswords f caution

egardingverreading

ormulaic

arallels,

ee Charles

Beye,

Ancient

pic Poetry:

omer,

pollonius, irgil

Ithaca

1993)

19.

48

Taplin

note 0)

205.

49

See

Rabel

note

)

191-194.




18/19

46

Stephen

Scully

6pOtrI0

8'

'Axtx

;,

v-Eo;

68'

attC(Too

Igbv

dypiou, p6o(e6v

odlTKogTrpvoto K(XdlAFev

KaXov xatdlaov,K pvut8' rCnveI)EpOletvi

erpactpdXlo

Kaxai

&,

neptooeiovto

6C

tpat

Xp~aeat,

&"Hy(atorTo;'etl 6qpov At(pi

Oagletd;.

Achilles

ushed;

n

his

spirit

e

was

full

f a

savage

strength;

he

hield,

eautiful

nd

elaborately

orked,

overed

his

chest

in

front;

e

noddedwith he

glittering

elmet

with tsfour orns; ndbeautifulbout twaved hegoldenhorse-

hair

plumes

hat

Hephaistos

ad set

hick

bout

he

rest.

Again,

he

ollocation

f

savagery

ithin

ivine ress.

From

eference

to

the crest of

Hephaistos'

helmet,

he

narrative urns

o simile

(22.317-321):

oto;

6

dorip etot

tet' ourpiot

Urt(t ;&IooXy

aitoepog,

KAAXXtorog

v

opXavo

oarxt

9otrip,

nhXEv ettepii (ppov&ov

KaKObv'B"Eiropt

c0,

eicop6cov

p6da aX6v,

nOl ei~ete

lcdatoa.

As

a

star

moves

mong

he

tars

n

the

night's

arkening,

the

vening

tar,

hemost eautiful

tar

which tands

n the

heavens,

suchwas the

gleam

rom

he

harp oint

f

Achilles'

pear

which ewieldednhis

right

and s hedevised vilfor

odlike

Hektor,

yeing

hebeautifulleshwhere

t

might specially

ield.

The

beauty

f

the

flesh eems

to be

in

the

eye

of thebeholder s

he

anticipates

he

thrust

f

his

spear

onsummatinglong-held

age,

but

the

udden

xpansiveness

nd

feeling

f

serenity

n

the ikeness

f

that

spear

point

o the

mostbeautiful

vening

tar

moving

hrough

distant

sky

liftsour

eye

from

Achilles'

pressing

ll-will o

an

unexpected

remove.50ince Achilles' eentrynto attle, ehave ometo associate

50

Cf. Carrol

Moulton,

Similes

n

the

liad,"

Hermes

102

(1974)

392-394

and

note

46)

76-86;

cf.

Richardson

note

12)

ad

22.317-321.




19/19

Reading

he hield

fAchilles

47

just

this

ynergism

f

beauty

nd

violence,

f

serenity

nd

brutality,

with

the hero's

temperament.

is

combination

f ruthlessness

nd

calm whenfacing is owndeath, ndhischillingense offellowship

with

Lykaon

whom

he is about

to kill

support

he

point

cf.

esp.

21.97-113).

The

image

of

the

evening

tar

bringing

n

night

efits

Hektor'smovementowards

eath,

ut

t

ultimately

ells

us

more

bout

Achilles,

is

many

ffinitiesith he tars

n

Books

18-22,

nd

the

on-

cordance etween

im nd

Hephaistos'

culptures

n the

shield.

Like

the

hield,

hebeautiful

vening

tar eems

trangely

emoved rom

he

violent uman

rama owards

hich

he

poem

has

been

moving.-'

ut

inboth hield ndeveningtar,hefamiliarndthebeautifulurn nfa-

miliar,

r rather amiliar

n

a

tremblingerspective,

oth

nstruments

f

death n an

image

of

an

impersonal

osmos

that

nly

Achilles,

mong

mortals,

an

gaze upon

with

leasure.52

BOSTON UNIVERSITY

51

Cf.

Whitman

note

)

143-144.

521

wish to thank heaudiences t BrownUniversity,warthmoreollege,andthe

American

cademy

n Rome where

ifferentersions

reading the shield of achilles: terror, anger, delight

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