Symbols

Achilles' Shield Achilles' shield is the central piece of the new armor that Hephaestus forges at the request of Thetis, after Hector took from Patroclus's body the armor the gods had given to Peleus. It is a large, strong shield of five layers, with a triple, gleaming rim... Agamemnon's Scepter Agamemnon's scepter is the staff of authority that the poem passes from hand to hand, from the oath to the blow, from the assembly to the tribunal. In Book II the poet tells its story, from Hephaestus to Zeus, to Hermes, to Pelops, to Atreus, to Thyestes, and... Zeus's Scales Zeus's Scales are the golden balance in which the father of the gods weighs the Keres, the portions of death, of the two sides at war. The poem shows it in action twice, and both times the pan that sinks belongs to the side whose fated day has come: at midday... Achilles' Armor Achilles' Armor is the armor that the gods gave Peleus on the day of his wedding to Thetis, and that Peleus passed on to his son. The poem makes it change bodies: from Achilles to Patroclus, who wears it to deceive the Trojans; from Patroclus, unarmed and... Hector's Body Hector's body is the object around which the poem's ending turns. After he dies before Troy, Achilles pierces the tendons of both his feet, ties him to his chariot and drags him, and repeats the dragging around Patroclus' tomb day after day, while the gods... The Leaves The leaves are the image with which Glaucus answers, in Book VI, Diomedes' question about his lineage: the generation of men is like that of the leaves, which the wind knocks to the ground and the green forest brings forth again when spring arrives. Apollo...