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Reconstructing the Shield of Achilles
[Vail] has changed the words back into gold and silver... She has revivified the text... She has provided for us a glimpse of the world of archaic Greece. - James A. Arieti
Gloriously described in the Iliad, Achilles' shield is ingeniously crafted by Hephaestus, ancient Greek god of the forge. Visiting him on Olympos, the sea nymph goddess, Thetis, petitions new armor for her son.
Hephaistos replies, "Have courage, my Lady, please trust me! Good gear I can make, but to hide him from death? Now, that is another matter. I only wish I could help him with that, as I can with the making of arms, for I am an expert. No eyes have beheld such gear as I shall provide him!"
True to Hephaistos' word, Achilles' divine armor offers the hero a path to revenge, the fulfillment of his destiny, and his key to immortal glory. But as he prepares for battle, Achilles is not blazing with heroic fervor. He's burning with unrestrained grief, mourning for his beloved Patroklos, trusted chariot driver, brother in arms, his friend with whom he shares everything, especially his heart. Lost to the heat of battle, laid low at the hand of Hektor, slain of life and stripped of armor, his beloved is lost to the ravages of war.
Filled with passionate hatred of war, Achilles swears he will fight the whole Trojan Army single-handed until he takes revenge and brings the Trojan War to its epic end. Donning his new armor, Achilles shines from head to toe in blazing bronze, his body emitting a halo of flames.
Homer brings it all together, right here. Life and death, revenge and hate, righteousness and evil, glory and fate. The voices of the muses strain to the point of breaking as their song empowers Achilles with supernatural fire. Lifting his shield and charging into war, the epic weight of Achilles' fate tips the scale of Justice in favor of Peace, ushering in the closing act of the Trojan War.
(From the Foreword by Dr. James A. Arieti, Graves H. Thompson Professor of Classics, Hampden-Syndey College, VA)
The arms are presumably lost, but fortunately for us, Kathleen Vail has reconstructed it.
Using her Homer the way Schliemann used his, she has excavated from the text the shape and composition of the shield of Achilles. In so doing she has confounded some of the critics, who claimed it could never be done.
"Detailed reconstruction of the shield is impossible," writes Webster.
"...nothing so comprehensive and detailed as this could ever have been seen by Homer or his audience," says Hogan.
"It is not to be supposed that the poet had ever seen such a shield as he describes," claims Gardner.
Finding artworks of roughly contemporary handiwork, she documents the illustrations and shows that indeed they could have been found on a shield such as Homer describes. It took a god one night to construct the shield; it has taken Ms. Vail-a mere mortal-five years of work and study to complete hers.
Reading Homer's description of the shield while looking at the illustrations will compel one to read slowly, savoring the details. A humorless Platonist-the kind who took Plato literally and failed to see the smile behind the dialogues-might think that these images take us even further away from the reality of the ideas. Homer, the Platonist would say, imitated in words the shield Achilles used; Ms. Vail altered the medium and put the words into pictures, moving still more distant from the original idea of a shield.
Gloriously described in the Iliad, Achilles' shield is ingeniously crafted by Hephaestus, ancient Greek god of the forge. Visiting him on Olympos, the sea nymph goddess, Thetis, petitions new armor for her son.
Hephaistos replies, "Have courage, my Lady, please trust me! Good gear I can make, but to hide him from death? Now, that is another matter. I only wish I could help him with that, as I can with the making of arms, for I am an expert. No eyes have beheld such gear as I shall provide him!"
True to Hephaistos' word, Achilles' divine armor offers the hero a path to revenge, the fulfillment of his destiny, and his key to immortal glory. But as he prepares for battle, Achilles is not blazing with heroic fervor. He's burning with unrestrained grief, mourning for his beloved Patroklos, trusted chariot driver, brother in arms, his friend with whom he shares everything, especially his heart. Lost to the heat of battle, laid low at the hand of Hektor, slain of life and stripped of armor, his beloved is lost to the ravages of war.
Filled with passionate hatred of war, Achilles swears he will fight the whole Trojan Army single-handed until he takes revenge and brings the Trojan War to its epic end. Donning his new armor, Achilles shines from head to toe in blazing bronze, his body emitting a halo of flames.
Homer brings it all together, right here. Life and death, revenge and hate, righteousness and evil, glory and fate. The voices of the muses strain to the point of breaking as their song empowers Achilles with supernatural fire. Lifting his shield and charging into war, the epic weight of Achilles' fate tips the scale of Justice in favor of Peace, ushering in the closing act of the Trojan War.
(From the Foreword by Dr. James A. Arieti, Graves H. Thompson Professor of Classics, Hampden-Syndey College, VA)
The arms are presumably lost, but fortunately for us, Kathleen Vail has reconstructed it.
Using her Homer the way Schliemann used his, she has excavated from the text the shape and composition of the shield of Achilles. In so doing she has confounded some of the critics, who claimed it could never be done.
"Detailed reconstruction of the shield is impossible," writes Webster.
"...nothing so comprehensive and detailed as this could ever have been seen by Homer or his audience," says Hogan.
"It is not to be supposed that the poet had ever seen such a shield as he describes," claims Gardner.
Finding artworks of roughly contemporary handiwork, she documents the illustrations and shows that indeed they could have been found on a shield such as Homer describes. It took a god one night to construct the shield; it has taken Ms. Vail-a mere mortal-five years of work and study to complete hers.
Reading Homer's description of the shield while looking at the illustrations will compel one to read slowly, savoring the details. A humorless Platonist-the kind who took Plato literally and failed to see the smile behind the dialogues-might think that these images take us even further away from the reality of the ideas. Homer, the Platonist would say, imitated in words the shield Achilles used; Ms. Vail altered the medium and put the words into pictures, moving still more distant from the original idea of a shield.
190 pages, Paperback
Published July 19, 2018
39 people want to read
About the author
Kathleen Vail
1 book2 followersKathleen Vail is a member of the Maker Movement taking on the Classics. Combining career skills as a computer engineer and graphic artist for the US Department of Defense with research skills as a lifetime student of Homer’s ancient Greece, Kathleen has created a physical, artistically relevant reconstruction of the divine shield of Achilles based literally and solely on Homer’s specifications in Book 18 of the Iliad.
Enjoying great success since its creation, Vail’s reconstruction of Achilles’ shield appears on the cover of Dr. Kenneth Atchity’s 2014 Kindle version of "Homer’s Iliad: The Shield of Memory," and Carolina López-Ruiz’ "Gods, Heroes, and Monsters" (2nd Edition, Oxford University Press, 2018). She has also given presentations of her work to various groups and organizations, including Virginia chapters of the Classical Association and Mediterranean Society.
Visit Kathleen’s website and blog, TheShieldofAchilles.net for an in depth exploration of all things Achilles, including his spectacular armor, and Homer’s amazing power to excite our imaginations and inspire great creations by artists and artisans, aka Makers, throughout the ages and across all art forms.
Enjoying great success since its creation, Vail’s reconstruction of Achilles’ shield appears on the cover of Dr. Kenneth Atchity’s 2014 Kindle version of "Homer’s Iliad: The Shield of Memory," and Carolina López-Ruiz’ "Gods, Heroes, and Monsters" (2nd Edition, Oxford University Press, 2018). She has also given presentations of her work to various groups and organizations, including Virginia chapters of the Classical Association and Mediterranean Society.
Visit Kathleen’s website and blog, TheShieldofAchilles.net for an in depth exploration of all things Achilles, including his spectacular armor, and Homer’s amazing power to excite our imaginations and inspire great creations by artists and artisans, aka Makers, throughout the ages and across all art forms.
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Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
December 4, 2018
Reviewed For Readers' Favorite by Grant Leishman
Reconstructing the Shield of Achilles by Kathleen Vail is a scholarly attempt to put some meat and vision to the legendary shield of the warrior Achilles from Greek fable and mythology, especially as described by Homer in his numerous epic poems, such as the Iliad and the Odyssey. The author takes us on a trip through legendary Greek history, describing in detail the circumstance and the background to the most famous of all Greek battles; the Battle for Troy and then its aftermath. We are shown various other scholars’ depictions of their view of what they believed Achilles’ shield would have looked like, before the author creates her own version of the fantastic amour that was the Shield of Achilles. Using Homer’s direct translated text, she follows the journey of the shield subsequent to the death of Achilles, as Odysseus takes control of the legendary armour. She finds considerable justification for accepting the words of Homer as being, in some part, real and truthful, rather than just fanciful meanderings.
As a big fan of both Homer and the fables of Greek mythology, as a layman, I still found this book, Reconstructing the Shield of Achilles to be a fascinating insight into the Greek traditions, heroes and fables of the time. Author, Kathleen Vail has produced a book here that is as useful to a Greek Scholar as it is to someone with a love of heroic adventure and the time of mythical Greek lore. I don’t usually quote from books I review, but one passage in this book is so telling and reminds us all why the study of history and especially of archaeology, is critical to us, as a human race. “Human history is rendered tangible in the physical form of archaeological artifacts. In our search for archaeological treasures, we find meaning and significance in our collective human life on Earth. With each discovery, we gain extraordinarily perceptive records. From this unique perspective, we gain both a telescopic view into the lost and distant past and a microscopic view of iconic moments in the human experience.” For me, this perfectly sums up the field of study and the importance of this book. Perhaps the most ironic observation in the book is that Achilles, the greatest warrior in history, actually hates war. As a final note, the photographs and renderings of Greek history and mythology give the book an impressive perspective that even the layman can truly enjoy. This is a fantastic book and receives my wholehearted endorsement.
Reconstructing the Shield of Achilles by Kathleen Vail is a scholarly attempt to put some meat and vision to the legendary shield of the warrior Achilles from Greek fable and mythology, especially as described by Homer in his numerous epic poems, such as the Iliad and the Odyssey. The author takes us on a trip through legendary Greek history, describing in detail the circumstance and the background to the most famous of all Greek battles; the Battle for Troy and then its aftermath. We are shown various other scholars’ depictions of their view of what they believed Achilles’ shield would have looked like, before the author creates her own version of the fantastic amour that was the Shield of Achilles. Using Homer’s direct translated text, she follows the journey of the shield subsequent to the death of Achilles, as Odysseus takes control of the legendary armour. She finds considerable justification for accepting the words of Homer as being, in some part, real and truthful, rather than just fanciful meanderings.
As a big fan of both Homer and the fables of Greek mythology, as a layman, I still found this book, Reconstructing the Shield of Achilles to be a fascinating insight into the Greek traditions, heroes and fables of the time. Author, Kathleen Vail has produced a book here that is as useful to a Greek Scholar as it is to someone with a love of heroic adventure and the time of mythical Greek lore. I don’t usually quote from books I review, but one passage in this book is so telling and reminds us all why the study of history and especially of archaeology, is critical to us, as a human race. “Human history is rendered tangible in the physical form of archaeological artifacts. In our search for archaeological treasures, we find meaning and significance in our collective human life on Earth. With each discovery, we gain extraordinarily perceptive records. From this unique perspective, we gain both a telescopic view into the lost and distant past and a microscopic view of iconic moments in the human experience.” For me, this perfectly sums up the field of study and the importance of this book. Perhaps the most ironic observation in the book is that Achilles, the greatest warrior in history, actually hates war. As a final note, the photographs and renderings of Greek history and mythology give the book an impressive perspective that even the layman can truly enjoy. This is a fantastic book and receives my wholehearted endorsement.
January 17, 2019
As someone that has read and enjoyed the works of Homer, this book made me appreciate them even more. It brings to light many themes and subtleties – especially regarding Achilles’ shield – that never would have stood out to me before, at least not so tangibly. This book clarifies and discusses these things in such an intriguing way.
Vail’s writing is very engaging and fast paced. Whether she is breaking down poetic metaphors or summarizing the plot of the Iliad and Odyssey – which she does very nicely – it kept me turning pages.
Between the engaging sections of text are beautifully clear, high-resolution photographs of ancient vase paintings and artifacts that illustrate what is being discussed. There are enough of these great photos to qualify this book as an art history reference.
Regarding the central focus, I found it interesting to learn that artists and scholars in the past have gone to great lengths to illustrate Achilles’ shield based on the literal words of Homer’s long description in the Iliad. The description is so complex that many scholars have claimed it to be impossible. But Vail has succeeded in creating her own image of the shield, which is itself an impressive work of art that fits right in with the ancient artifacts shown in the book. Her version of the shield incorporates every detail that Homer describes, line by line in the Iliad, and does so while staying true to the style of ancient Greek art.
I recommend this book to anyone interested in Homer, history, art, or mythology. It makes a great companion piece to read after the Iliad and Odyssey.
Vail’s writing is very engaging and fast paced. Whether she is breaking down poetic metaphors or summarizing the plot of the Iliad and Odyssey – which she does very nicely – it kept me turning pages.
Between the engaging sections of text are beautifully clear, high-resolution photographs of ancient vase paintings and artifacts that illustrate what is being discussed. There are enough of these great photos to qualify this book as an art history reference.
Regarding the central focus, I found it interesting to learn that artists and scholars in the past have gone to great lengths to illustrate Achilles’ shield based on the literal words of Homer’s long description in the Iliad. The description is so complex that many scholars have claimed it to be impossible. But Vail has succeeded in creating her own image of the shield, which is itself an impressive work of art that fits right in with the ancient artifacts shown in the book. Her version of the shield incorporates every detail that Homer describes, line by line in the Iliad, and does so while staying true to the style of ancient Greek art.
I recommend this book to anyone interested in Homer, history, art, or mythology. It makes a great companion piece to read after the Iliad and Odyssey.
December 1, 2018
Remarkable combination of mythology, history, and literary detective work. Scholarly yet entertaining and easy to read. Vail reconstructs the design of the shield made for the Greek hero by the god Hephaestus in Homer’s Iliad. Her interpretation and analysis start with Homer, but draw on other sources from antiquity and later scholarship.
Most compelling here is Vail’s actual artwork as she depicts all of the motifs for the shield. The book is lavishly illustrated, not only with the author’s work, but with dozens of paintings from antiquity.
This is a unique and fascinating book for anyone who loves the ancient Greeks.
Most compelling here is Vail’s actual artwork as she depicts all of the motifs for the shield. The book is lavishly illustrated, not only with the author’s work, but with dozens of paintings from antiquity.
This is a unique and fascinating book for anyone who loves the ancient Greeks.
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November 13, 2018A wonderfully interesting diversion. The author, Kathleen Vail, a computer engineer and graphic artist as well as writer, re-created an artistically relevant shield of Achilles. It was, based literally and solely on Homer’s specifications in Book 18 of the Iliad. She describes how she did the design using bits and pieces of information that she dug out of classical literature and a multitude of research bases. At the end of the book she records many of these “golden nuggets” uncovered in her research. As for the shield itself, after inscribing the scene images with a stylus on individual thin sheets of brass, they were painted with enamels to match, as literally as possible of the original descriptions in Homer’s Greek. Bronze, silver, and tin, as well as specifically mentioned colors, e.g. red and blue, were represented with colored enamels, and unpainted brass represents inlaid gold.
The author is quick to acknowledge in her work Homer’s captivating power over the human imagination, especially Homer’s ancient narrative describing the forging of the ageless and invincible weapons of Achilles, with which he heroically brings the Trojan War to a close. The shield itself was designed and made for Achilles by Hephaistos, the Greek god of blacksmiths, metalworking, artisans and volcanoes. Hephaistos came up with a shield that was interpreted by some to represent a microcosm of civilization, in which all aspects of life are shown. If we were looking over Hephaistos’ shoulder while he worked, we would see, starting at the shield’s center, the Earth, sky and sea, the sun, the moon and the constellations, following this Homer tells us we will see beautiful cities full of people on the verge of war; a king's estate; a vineyard with grape pickers; a herd of classic straight-horned cattle and savage lions which the herdsmen and their dogs fend off; a picture follows of a sheep farm and celebrants dancing on a country green; and finally along the edge a design was made that represented the great Oceanus stream that encircles the earth.
Vail’s reconstructed graphic of the shield reminded me a great deal of the extraordinary gates and doors of the medieval churches in Italy including the Gates of Paradise, for example, in the Baptistry of the Cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore in Florence by Lorenzo Ghiberti (1450) or the central solid bronze double doors of St Peter’s Basilica which were created in 1445 by Antonio Averlino. Though these works of art only portray a small part of life, including scenes from the Old Testament and from the life and martyrdom of Saints Peter and Paul, you can’t help but feel that there is a message here for everyone and for all time.
Despite having the whole world depicted on his shield, including acts of peace, war, life, death, weddings, farming, dancing and courtrooms, a shield that we think would dazzle anyone, the author tells us that Achilles seems not to be impressed. Apparently nothing interested him except hastening the death of Hector and himself, events that would bring an end to the Trojan War.
Did the shield ever really exist? Will some future dig reveal it? Whether it did or did not, the author believes that the “ingenious and truly extraordinary significance of the Shield of Achilles...is that it is... an archaeological treasure buried within the pages of Homer’s Iliad. Not buried under the ancient earth, or as yet undiscovered, Homer’s Shield of Achilles is accessible to all, offering the same exquisite quality of view, both telescopic and microscopic, as any ancient archaeological artifact.”
The author is quick to acknowledge in her work Homer’s captivating power over the human imagination, especially Homer’s ancient narrative describing the forging of the ageless and invincible weapons of Achilles, with which he heroically brings the Trojan War to a close. The shield itself was designed and made for Achilles by Hephaistos, the Greek god of blacksmiths, metalworking, artisans and volcanoes. Hephaistos came up with a shield that was interpreted by some to represent a microcosm of civilization, in which all aspects of life are shown. If we were looking over Hephaistos’ shoulder while he worked, we would see, starting at the shield’s center, the Earth, sky and sea, the sun, the moon and the constellations, following this Homer tells us we will see beautiful cities full of people on the verge of war; a king's estate; a vineyard with grape pickers; a herd of classic straight-horned cattle and savage lions which the herdsmen and their dogs fend off; a picture follows of a sheep farm and celebrants dancing on a country green; and finally along the edge a design was made that represented the great Oceanus stream that encircles the earth.
Vail’s reconstructed graphic of the shield reminded me a great deal of the extraordinary gates and doors of the medieval churches in Italy including the Gates of Paradise, for example, in the Baptistry of the Cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore in Florence by Lorenzo Ghiberti (1450) or the central solid bronze double doors of St Peter’s Basilica which were created in 1445 by Antonio Averlino. Though these works of art only portray a small part of life, including scenes from the Old Testament and from the life and martyrdom of Saints Peter and Paul, you can’t help but feel that there is a message here for everyone and for all time.
Despite having the whole world depicted on his shield, including acts of peace, war, life, death, weddings, farming, dancing and courtrooms, a shield that we think would dazzle anyone, the author tells us that Achilles seems not to be impressed. Apparently nothing interested him except hastening the death of Hector and himself, events that would bring an end to the Trojan War.
Did the shield ever really exist? Will some future dig reveal it? Whether it did or did not, the author believes that the “ingenious and truly extraordinary significance of the Shield of Achilles...is that it is... an archaeological treasure buried within the pages of Homer’s Iliad. Not buried under the ancient earth, or as yet undiscovered, Homer’s Shield of Achilles is accessible to all, offering the same exquisite quality of view, both telescopic and microscopic, as any ancient archaeological artifact.”
April 2, 2019
Visually appealing, well-structured, researched, user-friendly.
Kathleen Vail (Aisha Abdel) is the visual artist who re-constructed Achilles' Shield, the legendary piece of armor that Hephaistos forged at the request of Achilles' divine mother. The Shield is richly decorated with scenes of peace & of war; its description is found in Homer's Iliad, Scroll 18. In this book, Ms Vail presents her own work together with the historical and philosophical framework in which it was incubated. The author displays literary & artistic craft, as well as rich imagery in the form of her own creation and of Greek vase paintings that inspired her art.
The book is structured along the following axes:
_ (a) narratives (summaries) of the background story (pre-Trojan up to what led to the Shield's creation) and of what the sources let us know (or guess) regarding the Shield's post-war fate;
_ (b) presentation of the Shield, featuring an apt translation of the relevant Homeric passages and her own re-creation of the scenes, as well as the path (illustrated) that led to her artistic choices;
_ (c) historical, pictorial, literary, philosophical context that sparks and supports our interest in this glorious piece of ancient art.
The narratives of the heroic actions are based on mythological material (ancient sources) and, notwithstanding a couple of minor slips, the author relays a pretty accurate picture of the info provided therein. The language is flowing, the content calls to deeper reflection. Imo, she succeeds in capturing the relation between a people's worldview and the repercussions on the artistic expression of this world. The artist's glance is evident in the wealth of iconographic material, both ancient and modern; the researcher's care for substantiation shows in the way she sources, captions, and links her material (both externally & internally) in order to facilitate easy reference for the reader.
The ancient iconographic material being under Creative Commons types of licence (more on this in the book itself), the reader can download, print, and sometimes re-use this highly decorative imagery that feels so strangely "modern" in all its antiquity. Besides offering food for thought and discussion (text, speech), the book invites the reader to immerse herself in the way the ancients viewed and pictured their world (visual arts) by exposure to series of artwork/artifacts that revolve around specific themes (e.g., Wedding, Danse, Harvest, Justice, War, etc. scenes in Archaic Greek iconography), and also to interact with the material by questioning and/or building upon or around it.
I'd like to close this review with a citation from the book's Forward, kindly provided by James A. Arieti, PhD, Classics, which brings up one among numerous implications of the Shield's existence: "The usual subject matter for shields is what stirs up fright, Gorgon heads, serpents, and fierce battles. Several possibilities present themselves to explain the extraordinary subject matter of the new armor Hephaestus makes. [......] Homer reminds us in the midst of battle of the dying warrior’s life in peace. We can imagine the one about to die seeing on Achilles’ shield scenes reminiscent of his own life. He falls carrying into Hades the memory of those pleasant scenes; what in his dying moments will he think of the value of glory?" _ The Question remains open.
Kathleen Vail (Aisha Abdel) is the visual artist who re-constructed Achilles' Shield, the legendary piece of armor that Hephaistos forged at the request of Achilles' divine mother. The Shield is richly decorated with scenes of peace & of war; its description is found in Homer's Iliad, Scroll 18. In this book, Ms Vail presents her own work together with the historical and philosophical framework in which it was incubated. The author displays literary & artistic craft, as well as rich imagery in the form of her own creation and of Greek vase paintings that inspired her art.
The book is structured along the following axes:
_ (a) narratives (summaries) of the background story (pre-Trojan up to what led to the Shield's creation) and of what the sources let us know (or guess) regarding the Shield's post-war fate;
_ (b) presentation of the Shield, featuring an apt translation of the relevant Homeric passages and her own re-creation of the scenes, as well as the path (illustrated) that led to her artistic choices;
_ (c) historical, pictorial, literary, philosophical context that sparks and supports our interest in this glorious piece of ancient art.
The narratives of the heroic actions are based on mythological material (ancient sources) and, notwithstanding a couple of minor slips, the author relays a pretty accurate picture of the info provided therein. The language is flowing, the content calls to deeper reflection. Imo, she succeeds in capturing the relation between a people's worldview and the repercussions on the artistic expression of this world. The artist's glance is evident in the wealth of iconographic material, both ancient and modern; the researcher's care for substantiation shows in the way she sources, captions, and links her material (both externally & internally) in order to facilitate easy reference for the reader.
The ancient iconographic material being under Creative Commons types of licence (more on this in the book itself), the reader can download, print, and sometimes re-use this highly decorative imagery that feels so strangely "modern" in all its antiquity. Besides offering food for thought and discussion (text, speech), the book invites the reader to immerse herself in the way the ancients viewed and pictured their world (visual arts) by exposure to series of artwork/artifacts that revolve around specific themes (e.g., Wedding, Danse, Harvest, Justice, War, etc. scenes in Archaic Greek iconography), and also to interact with the material by questioning and/or building upon or around it.
I'd like to close this review with a citation from the book's Forward, kindly provided by James A. Arieti, PhD, Classics, which brings up one among numerous implications of the Shield's existence: "The usual subject matter for shields is what stirs up fright, Gorgon heads, serpents, and fierce battles. Several possibilities present themselves to explain the extraordinary subject matter of the new armor Hephaestus makes. [......] Homer reminds us in the midst of battle of the dying warrior’s life in peace. We can imagine the one about to die seeing on Achilles’ shield scenes reminiscent of his own life. He falls carrying into Hades the memory of those pleasant scenes; what in his dying moments will he think of the value of glory?" _ The Question remains open.
March 11, 2019
An excellent companion book to the Iliad, which is well-researched and academic while also being an enjoyable read. It's been a while since I've read the Iliad, so I thought it might be a struggle, but I think Reconstructing the Shield of Achilles works for both kinds of reader - the Homer expert and the more casual reader. Classicists will enjoy how comprehensive it is, while the average reader with an interest in the Classics will find it accessible. The plot, characters and themes of the Iliad are summarised clearly, and the layout of the book (short chapters, lots of illustrations) makes it easy to dip in and out of.
Both the book and the shield itself are clearly labours of love for the author, and that passion and dedication shines through. An engaging combination of Classical studies and art history that I'd recommend to anyone with an interest in Homer or the ancient world more generally.
Both the book and the shield itself are clearly labours of love for the author, and that passion and dedication shines through. An engaging combination of Classical studies and art history that I'd recommend to anyone with an interest in Homer or the ancient world more generally.
December 5, 2018
Reconstructing the Shield of Achilles is a well constructed book by Kathleen Vail. Kathleen takes us back in time to Homers lliad and the forging of Achilles armour and his magnificent Shield. Vail's reconstruction of the Shield provides an in-depth story of the Trojan war. She describes Achilles Shield forged by the god Haephaistos in great detail by reproducing individual parts of the Shield, thus giving us her interpretation of each part with wonderful high quality illustrations. The interpretation of the Shield of Achilles has been a bone of contention among scholars and historians alike for many years. Perhaps now Kathleen has solved the long awaited puzzle. A thoroughly fascinating read which I can recommend to all interested in this subject.
December 13, 2018
The Trojan War is one of the earliest wars recorded in the history of human combat. The Iliad and the Odyssey are among the oldest extant works of western literature, written by the blind poet Homer in the eighth century. The Trojan War concerns the Achaeans of ancient Greece and the inhabitants of Ilios, the Trojans. But the story begins before that, at the wedding of the sea nymph goddess Thetis and the mortal but mighty king of the Myrmidons, Peleus. The seeds of this tragic and interminable war were sown when Eris, the goddess of strife, was not invited but arrived anyway, tossing into the company a golden apple inscribed with the words ‘to the most fair.’ Paris, the long-lost son of the Trojan King Priam, is asked to choose between the goddesses Hera, Athena, and Aphrodite. Lured by her promise of bestowing upon him the most beautiful woman in the world, Helen of Troy, Paris chooses Aphrodite… Unfortunately, Helen is married to Menelaus, king of Sparta. And thus, the epic war begins, brought to life by the words of the poet Homer, and forever cemented in the minds of succeeding generations.
Greek mythology and the various heroes, gods, and demi gods have a solid place in modern popular culture, given the many novels and movies devoted to various mythological themes. Names like Zeus, Poseidon, Achilles, Hector, Paris, Helen, Menelaus and Agamemnon are not unfamiliar, especially the mighty Achilles, hero of the Greek forces. Achilles being the son of a goddess, Thetis, and a mighty mortal, Peleus, meant he was already special. Added to this was his legendary prowess as a warrior. When Achilles loses his armor during battle to Hector, the son of King Priam, his mother pleads with Hephaistos, the lame god, to fashion her son an incredible shield. Thetis, knowing that Achilles’ death would follow upon that of Hector, still had the shield made, bowing, one imagines, to the inevitability of the cycle of life. Hephaistos makes the shield, and the details are minutely described by Homer. These details bring us to the reconstruction of this magnificent piece of armor by Kathleen Vail, who documented this artistic project in her book, Reconstructing the Shield of Achilles.
A lifetime student of Homer’s ancient Greece, Vail has created a 'physical, artistically relevant, life-size reconstruction of the divine shield of Achilles based literally and solely on Homer’s specifications in Book 18 of the Iliad.' This is no easy feat because although many now discovered and similarly crafted and decorated Mycenaean artifacts – swords, daggers, vases, and more - prove the potential existence of this shield, Vail was working from the details in Homer’s poem and existing archaeological discoveries. The shield is described as having an awe-inspiring effect on Achilles’ enemies, notwithstanding his mighty prowess and physical attributes. However, for me, the importance of the shield is what the poet conveys in the descriptions and which Vail recreates for the reader with images of the actual reconstructed shield and the corresponding artifacts which provided the inspiration for the images.
Vail takes each section and describes it in detail, as well as the significance in Greek society at the time, starting with the centre piece, creation, and radiating outward in circles depicting levels of Greek society – civil, judicial, military, entertainment, daily and pastoral activities. Ultimately the shield depicts both earthly and heavenly cycles of life. The shield is a microcosm of civilization, depicting the values and ideals of the ancient world, and the eternal cycle of birth, death, renewal. If the shield ever existed, where could it possibly be now? Thetis held funeral games in honour of her son Achilles, offering his armor as the prize to the ‘best of the Achaeans.’ Odysseus won the armor but given his many wanderings and shipwrecks before finally reaching home and his beloved wife, Penelope, who knows what happened to the shield? Perhaps only the gods know?
Kathleen Vail offers both the interested amateur and the dedicated scholar a minutely detailed and incredibly well researched literary work, complete with meticulously referenced and labelled images and many bibliographic references. The reconstruction of the shield is, to me, more than a labor of love. There is far more to the story of Achilles, the flawed and magnificent warrior, than the war. The psychological depths, the drama, the tragic emotions, actions, and motivations of the characters, both human and divine, the merging of heavenly and earthly activities, and many grander symbolic themes make the Iliad more than just a poem. The reconstruction of the shield proves this.
Greek mythology and the various heroes, gods, and demi gods have a solid place in modern popular culture, given the many novels and movies devoted to various mythological themes. Names like Zeus, Poseidon, Achilles, Hector, Paris, Helen, Menelaus and Agamemnon are not unfamiliar, especially the mighty Achilles, hero of the Greek forces. Achilles being the son of a goddess, Thetis, and a mighty mortal, Peleus, meant he was already special. Added to this was his legendary prowess as a warrior. When Achilles loses his armor during battle to Hector, the son of King Priam, his mother pleads with Hephaistos, the lame god, to fashion her son an incredible shield. Thetis, knowing that Achilles’ death would follow upon that of Hector, still had the shield made, bowing, one imagines, to the inevitability of the cycle of life. Hephaistos makes the shield, and the details are minutely described by Homer. These details bring us to the reconstruction of this magnificent piece of armor by Kathleen Vail, who documented this artistic project in her book, Reconstructing the Shield of Achilles.
A lifetime student of Homer’s ancient Greece, Vail has created a 'physical, artistically relevant, life-size reconstruction of the divine shield of Achilles based literally and solely on Homer’s specifications in Book 18 of the Iliad.' This is no easy feat because although many now discovered and similarly crafted and decorated Mycenaean artifacts – swords, daggers, vases, and more - prove the potential existence of this shield, Vail was working from the details in Homer’s poem and existing archaeological discoveries. The shield is described as having an awe-inspiring effect on Achilles’ enemies, notwithstanding his mighty prowess and physical attributes. However, for me, the importance of the shield is what the poet conveys in the descriptions and which Vail recreates for the reader with images of the actual reconstructed shield and the corresponding artifacts which provided the inspiration for the images.
Vail takes each section and describes it in detail, as well as the significance in Greek society at the time, starting with the centre piece, creation, and radiating outward in circles depicting levels of Greek society – civil, judicial, military, entertainment, daily and pastoral activities. Ultimately the shield depicts both earthly and heavenly cycles of life. The shield is a microcosm of civilization, depicting the values and ideals of the ancient world, and the eternal cycle of birth, death, renewal. If the shield ever existed, where could it possibly be now? Thetis held funeral games in honour of her son Achilles, offering his armor as the prize to the ‘best of the Achaeans.’ Odysseus won the armor but given his many wanderings and shipwrecks before finally reaching home and his beloved wife, Penelope, who knows what happened to the shield? Perhaps only the gods know?
Kathleen Vail offers both the interested amateur and the dedicated scholar a minutely detailed and incredibly well researched literary work, complete with meticulously referenced and labelled images and many bibliographic references. The reconstruction of the shield is, to me, more than a labor of love. There is far more to the story of Achilles, the flawed and magnificent warrior, than the war. The psychological depths, the drama, the tragic emotions, actions, and motivations of the characters, both human and divine, the merging of heavenly and earthly activities, and many grander symbolic themes make the Iliad more than just a poem. The reconstruction of the shield proves this.
January 29, 2022
If this woman is not an archeologist whose forte is Greek artwork reconstruction
Her dedication to this object alone should make her go into or be admired by those in the field & she missed her true calling. The Iliad translations I never could get through. I don't have the patience with that type of detail but this woman swims in them like in a warm ocean reveling with every nuance. She reconstructs the shield of Achilles entirely minutely from the poems & works of the Mediterranean ancients in a manner to show how it very easily could have looked. Filled with lyrical thought, ideas & beliefs she sallies forth. She weaves
a story of the story of the Trojan war & Gods & men. Myself never cared overmuch for the Greek histories of the men in the area because folly, warfare & spite replaced good ethics. I like the older female Titans better Gaia, Hecate and such & naturally of the newer Dieties Artemis as she is the hunter & the moon of the newer Deities as they too were capricious. The sagas of men only showed their callousness & pettiness with the added brutality of why they deserved their downfalls in the battles they raged in many cases or just not heeding what told. [Not the more modern peoples but the ones from their "golden age"]They were best & most important in their roles at creating written words as traders & bringing back knowledge from the Assyrians that included much older grains from the Mesopotamians . In turn, Romans took their Gods & ideas with surface changes from them. This woman has created meticulously the shield from stories in a manner that looks artistically different but by ideal viable & legitimate, telling the story how & why long the way. He tale of Achilles demise & the where about theories of the shield continue into the Odyssey that iis narrated in short part form as the original Iliad. He sees a more shining picture than I of the times then & their structure & teachings: "These scenes clearly depict a society willing to respect what is right and wrong, willing to abide by social and self-control. If I am not accountable for my behavior, nothing will stop me from robbing my neighbor if he has something I want. However, if I will be thrown in jail for robbery, I may be more willing to be a peaceful neighbor, instead of a thief. The seed of government grows or dies according to the communal support for peace ." while that might have been an ideal I feel that history proves it was neither cemented or brought over solidly enough to even modern times. have to say, this woman has made me have a kinder outlook towards ancient Greek thought & mythos than I ever thought possible by the time I finished it. Some beautiful artwork.is peppered throughout including her representation of the shield above & beyond in time & detail
Her dedication to this object alone should make her go into or be admired by those in the field & she missed her true calling. The Iliad translations I never could get through. I don't have the patience with that type of detail but this woman swims in them like in a warm ocean reveling with every nuance. She reconstructs the shield of Achilles entirely minutely from the poems & works of the Mediterranean ancients in a manner to show how it very easily could have looked. Filled with lyrical thought, ideas & beliefs she sallies forth. She weaves
a story of the story of the Trojan war & Gods & men. Myself never cared overmuch for the Greek histories of the men in the area because folly, warfare & spite replaced good ethics. I like the older female Titans better Gaia, Hecate and such & naturally of the newer Dieties Artemis as she is the hunter & the moon of the newer Deities as they too were capricious. The sagas of men only showed their callousness & pettiness with the added brutality of why they deserved their downfalls in the battles they raged in many cases or just not heeding what told. [Not the more modern peoples but the ones from their "golden age"]They were best & most important in their roles at creating written words as traders & bringing back knowledge from the Assyrians that included much older grains from the Mesopotamians . In turn, Romans took their Gods & ideas with surface changes from them. This woman has created meticulously the shield from stories in a manner that looks artistically different but by ideal viable & legitimate, telling the story how & why long the way. He tale of Achilles demise & the where about theories of the shield continue into the Odyssey that iis narrated in short part form as the original Iliad. He sees a more shining picture than I of the times then & their structure & teachings: "These scenes clearly depict a society willing to respect what is right and wrong, willing to abide by social and self-control. If I am not accountable for my behavior, nothing will stop me from robbing my neighbor if he has something I want. However, if I will be thrown in jail for robbery, I may be more willing to be a peaceful neighbor, instead of a thief. The seed of government grows or dies according to the communal support for peace ." while that might have been an ideal I feel that history proves it was neither cemented or brought over solidly enough to even modern times. have to say, this woman has made me have a kinder outlook towards ancient Greek thought & mythos than I ever thought possible by the time I finished it. Some beautiful artwork.is peppered throughout including her representation of the shield above & beyond in time & detail
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