Kathleen Vail

Reconstructing the Shield of Achilles Kathleen Vail

Enheartening Thetis, Hephaistos replied, "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."

As he prepares for battle, Achilles is not blazing with heroic fervor. He is burning with unrestrainable 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 lo 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 right the whole Trojan army single-handedly 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 encompassed in 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.

Recently featuring her Shield of Achilles on the cover of Gods, Heroes, and Monsters by Carolina Lopez-Ruiz (2nd ed, Oxford University Press), Vail's extraordinary reconstruction has garnered great acclaim from top scholars of the Classics.