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Reconstructing the Shield of Achilles
[Vail] has changed the words back into gold and silver… 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, Grave H. Tompson Professor of Classics, Hampden-Syndey College, 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. (1) 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.
Kindle Edition
Published September 25, 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 - 4 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.
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.
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
Displaying 1 - 4 of 9 reviews