Book XVIII: The Shield of Achilles

As Book XVIII opens, Achilles is in anguish over the death of Patroclus. Antilochus has given him the news that Patroclus is 'down,' that the Trojans are battling over his corpse, and Hector has his armor. Achilles drops to the ground, defiling himself with ash and dirt in his grief while Antilochus tries to soothe him. Achilles begins to wail, and his mother hears him. She and the nymphs of the sea join him. When Thetis joins her son on the beach he is inconsolable. 

The two of them converse through their grief. Achilles tells his mother that she should have married another immortal, and his father, Peleus, should have married another mortal. He says "You will no longer welcome me home" since he has lost his will to live. The only thing worth the fight is to kill Hector. Thetis tells him, "Hector's death means yours."

Achilles tells his mother that he wishes "all strife could stop, among gods/And among men, and anger too--it sends/Sensible men into fits of temper..." (112-14). Thetis plans to go to Olympus to ask Hephaestus to make Achilles a beautiful suit of armor. Meanwhile, Iris, the messenger of the gods, tells Achilles to hurry up and save Patroclus: Hector means to desecrate the body, drag it back to Greece, behead it, and impale it on the ship's mast. Achilles, perhaps still a little delirious from his grief says, "no, I better not...my mom's getting new armor for me. The messenger tells him to 'go to the trench' and let the Trojans get a glimpse of him--that will be enough to let them know it's on. 

Then Achilles gets to his feet and Athena adorns him with magic armor, "haloed his head with a golden cloud that shot flames from its incandescent glow" (216-18). Then he did as instructed and let out a war cry that made the Trojans wince. 

Later on, the Trojans decide to hold an assembly before making dinner plans. Polydamas (son of Panthous), steps forward with a plan. He suggests they lay low behind the wall, seeing as how Achilles is back and badder than ever. When he was still mad at Agamemnon, the Myrmidons were easier to battle--but now Achilles has vengeance on his mind and is made all the more ferocious. He says to camp that night in the marketplace, far from their wall, where Achilles doesn't expect to find them. Then they'll plan an ambush. Hector says "nonsense!" and they should stay on the plain. 

Meanwhile, Achilles and his fellow Greeks spend the night mourning Patroclus. They clean and dress his body and lay him to rest. Zeus and Hera watch and comment. 

Meanwhile (again) Thetis approaches the mansion of Hephaestus. He's busy making ambulatory cauldrons. Thetis is greeted by his wife, Charis, who welcomes her warmly. Hephaestus is equally cheered to see her, recalling the time she and Eurynome saved him after Hera tossed him off a cliff. He was lame, you see. 

Hephaestus sets to work on a magnificent shield for Achilles. He ornaments it with carvings of the entire world, representing the dichotomies of city and country, war and peace, love and hate, 'conflict and celebration' (1).