Commentary: Foreboding in the Law Library of Achilles

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Commentary: Foreboding in the Law Library of Achilles

First fashioned he a shield, great and sturdy, adorning it cunningly in every part, and round about it set a bright rim... and on it he wrought many curious devices with cunning skill. Therein he wrought the earth, therein the heavens, therein the sea, and the unwearied sun, and the moon at the full, and therein all the constellations wherewith heaven is crowned ...With these words (from Samuel Butler's translation of The Iliad) the poet Homer begins a lengthy description of the shield the blacksmith god Hephaestus crafted for the Greek champion Achilles. From the wild profusion of the items Homer tells us were depicted on the shield (inclu...

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