Shield of Achilles
The great shield Hephaestus forged for Achilles in the Iliad, the poem's supreme example of the god-smith's craft and the model of the cosmic artifact in Greek epic. Five metal layers of bronze, tin, gold and silver carry scenes of the whole world: earth, sea and sky with sun, moon and stars, two cities, one at peace with weddings, lawsuits and dance, one besieged in war, fields ploughed by oxen, a ripe harvest, a vineyard, a cattle raid with lions, and a choir of dancers, all encircled by the stream of Ocean. Homer describes its making at length when Thetis visits Hephaestus, and the finished