Let us start by zooming in on the small picture in Scroll 18, Achilles' Shield. The world represented there is Achilles' own personal world. It is also a 'microcosm' that reflects the macrocosm of the Iliad, which is the story of Achilles. Continuing to zoom in, we see depicted in this world a City at War and a City at Peace, and it is in the City at Peace that we see a scene of litigation. There is a plaintiff, a defendant, an inner circle of elders judging the case, and an outer circle of the general population looking on. The defendant is claiming the right to pay full compensation for the death of a man, while the plaintiff claims the right to refuse compensation. The victim (the dead man) and the parties to the case are left anonymous on the shield.

The macrocosm, the Iliad as a whole, can help us identify who the parties are, and the microcosm, the scene on the Shield, helps us identify the juridical, legal, and moral issues of the Iliad.

Now we move back to the beginning of the Iliad: Scroll One. The first word of the Iliad is mênin (dictionary entry: mênis), which means 'supernatural anger'. This anger experienced by Achilles is then described as baneful and causing countless sufferings to the Achaeans (=Greeks). These first two verses encapsulate the plot of the entire epic, and this anger is also connected to what is at stake in the litigation scene. The first two verses and the litigation scene have the same agenda but different perspectives. Reading the Iliad from this beginning has a linear perspective, while the scene on the Shield has a circular one.

The picture presented through words on the Shield can be a point of entry into the larger questions of justice and morality in the epic as a whole. As you read the Iliad, beginning with scroll 1 and continuing all the way through scroll 24, consider how the images on Achilles' shield interact with the outer narrative. How does the meaning of the shield change as you progress? Some questions to consider: how would this scene be significant for Achilles? One way to think about this is to consider the relationship between the anonymous figures on the shield (victim, plaintiff, defendant, judges, and crowd) and the characters in the outer narrative of the Iliad, starting with the quarrel in Scroll I. As we continue through the macronarrative of Achilles' story, how might the correspondence between the figures of the micronarrative (especially the victim, plaintiff, and defendant) and those of the macronarrative change? What do these shifting relationships tell us about the outer narrative? Below are some more discussion questions for you to think about as you read.

For a detailed examination of the relationship between the litigation scene on the shield of Achilles and the larger narrative of the Iliad, read "The Shield of Achilles: Ends of the Iliad and Beginnings of the Polis," by Gregory Nagy

1. The picture that is crafted by the divine artisan seems to represent the world as seen by Achilles. What is at stake in the litigation scene on the Shield? From what you know of Achilles from Scroll One, why would this scene be important in Achilles' world view? Why is the litigation scene depicted in the City at Peace?

Casey Dué
Discussion 1

Casey Dué
Discussion 2

3. In other traditional versions of the story of the Trojan war, the conventional way to start is by talking about the "Judgment of Paris," in which Paris has to choose the goddess who should receive the golden apple inscribed"To the Fairest." He must choose between Hera, Athena, and Aphrodite, each of whom offers Paris a reward if he chooses her: Hera offers him great wealth, Athena offers him great power, and Aphrodite offers him the most beautiful woman in the world. Of course, he chooses Aphrodite, and his 'reward' of Helen of Troy is the immediate cause of the Trojan War. The Iliad, as we have seen, begins instead with the quarrel between Agamemnon and Achilles. How does beginning with this quarrel instead of the Judgment of Paris relate to the overall ideas about justice in the Iliad?

Casey Dué
Discussion 3

Mary Ebbott
Discussion 2

5. After Phoenix tells the story of Meleager, Achilles continues to refuse to return to battle and help his comrades. Ajax, who considers himself one of Achilles' nearest and dearest comrades, is outraged. He reacts to the words of Achilles by telling Odysseus that they might as well leave, since they won't ever be able to persuade Achilles. Ajax says to Odysseus: "Achilles is savage and remorseless; he is cruel and cares nothing for the affection [philotês] that his comrades lavished upon him more than all the others. He is implacable--and yet if a man's brother or son has been slain he [=that man] will accept a fine [poinê] by way of amends from him that killed him and the wrong-doer having paid in full remains in peace in his own district [dêmos], but as for you, Achilles, the gods have put a wicked unforgiving spirit [thumos] in your breast, and this, all about one single girl, whereas we now offer you the seven best we have, and much more into the bargain." (Iliad IX.628-639).

Several responders last week offered the suggestion that the scene on the shield is 'in the future' with respect to the strife between Achilles and Agamemnon and its mechanism for resolution. What do the words of Ajax, however, imply about the expectations of Achilles' comrades for how this dispute should be settled? On the other hand, is the dispute about the affection of Achilles' comrades, or about 'one single girl'? What has Achilles come to see as at stake or the 'price' involved in his choice about whether to return to the war?

6. Scroll 3 presents the duel between Paris and Menelaus, the two husbands of Helen. In this scroll, the duel is described as being for "Helen and all her possessions" (see 3.70, 3.91, 3.282, 3.285, and 3.458; see also 22.114). We have seen how the argument over the woman Briseis between Agamemnon and Achilles is similar to the war over Helen between Paris and Menelaus (and all their friends). Is the one-on-one duel between Paris and Menlaus similar to litigation in any way? And in Scroll 9, Achilles is offered Briseis back with the addition of many material goods by Agamemnon to rejoin the fighting. What is the importance of material goods in these disputes, and how do they factor in to a 'just' resolution of either dispute?

9. (a follow-up). Hektor is now wearing Achilles' old armor and the old shield, with the old pictures on it. As an experiment of the imagination (there are no right or wrong answers!), try to describe what might have been represented in the older picture. How might this suit Hektor's world-view now just as it suited Achilles' world-view before the death ofPatroklos?