Achilles's Shield In The Iliad

The Iliad by Homer describes the great shield built by Hephaestus for Achilles by commission of Thetis. The intricate shield comes into existence after the death of Patroclus, which allows Hector to assume the glory of having Achilles’ armor. Hephaestus constructs the shield specifically for Achilles with “five layers of metal” and “ blazoning, well-wrought emblems all across the surface” (483.559,526). Hephaestus builds the shield with the life and legacy of it’s holder in mind as he adds celestial bodies, cities, peace, conflict, farms, fields, and humans inhabiting these planes. The Shield of Achilles by W.H. Auden features many of the same themes of a life gone too early in his poem. Achilles’ shield balances all that he is with all that he could have been, Auden’s poem highlights the grimness of his future in his take on the shield. Achille’s shield tells the story of the life he never had and the reality of his purpose.

The two cities tell the story of Achilles, the first city being his life prior to joining the campaign to Troy. As detailed in Song of Achilles, he lived a peaceful life being taught by Chiron before getting moved to Sycros and married to the princess. Homer’s addition of a “blood-price” (483.582) foreshadows Achilles slaughter of Hector for the death of Patroclus, and in turn, Achilles’ death at the hands of Paris for the life of Hector. The concept of a blood-price appears multiple times in The Iliad, but Patroclus’ blood-price is the most significant and the addition of such into the shield proves this. The second city represents Troy and the glory Achilles hopes to gain there. The divided army correlates directly to the split between Agamemnon and Achilles earlier in the poem. The shield is a physical manifestation of the life lived by