Achiles’ Shield in the Iliad Essay -- Literature Art War Papers

Achiles apology as an Element of Contradistinction in the Iliad The Iliad is an epic of terminal. It is a tale of conflict, battle, agony, and horrific mutilation. Honor and glory argon attained with warfare. The great nurse of Achiles stands out in this stage setting because it depicts the glories of an orderly, functioning, productive polish. This depiction of action stands in stark contrast to the scenes of death that constitute a large portion of the narrative. An examination of the shield of Achiles in Homers Iliad reveals some(prenominal) ideas in conflict love and honor, the pleasures of life versus a heroic death, supererogatory will and destiny. By viewing the shield as an element of contradistinctionthat is to define it on the basis of contrast superstar can see that the shield symbollicaly unifies the entire poem. Achiles shield is the mechanism through which the poet presents a tool of warfare as a reflection of civilization explores the concept, structure, a nd nature of the universe and examines the role of art in society.I. A reproval of Civlization on a Tool of WarfareIn the epic tradtion, the armament of wariors for batle holds particular significance. The description of a wariors armor tels much most the individual character of the warior and about the values of the society of which he is part. The Iliad contains many such arming scenes which take the simple description of armor and transfigure it into a more expansive and iluminating portrait of ancient Greek mentality. When compared with unmatchable another, these descriptions of armor reveal some basic distinctions that make the shield of Achiles of purpose importance.As noted by Atchity in Homers Iliad The Shield of Memory, the armor of Paris is described in book thre... ...contradictions. Art is the moderate through which humans explore lifes great questions and examen its boundaries. Armed with the belief that ordered civlization will prevail, the artistpoet, metalwor ker, painter, actoris free to enter into the batlle of ideals.Works CitedAtchity, Kenneth John. Homers Iliad The Shield of Memory. Carbondale, IL southern Ilinois Univ., 1978.Becker, Andrew Sprague. The Shield of Achiles and the Poetics of Ekphrasis. Lanham, MD Rowman & Litlefield, 1995.Duethorn, Guenter A. Achiles Shield and the Structure of the Iliad. Amherst, MA Amherst Colege, 1962.Edwards, Mark W. The Iliad A Commentary. Vol. V books 1720. G.S. Kirk gen. ed. Cambridge, MA 1995.Homer. The Iliad. Trans. Richmond Latimore. Chicago Univ. of Chicago, 1961. Keats, John. Ode to a classical Urn. 4 Oct. 2003 htp//www.poets.org/poems/.