| Name: | Dad |
| Email: | gdvail{at}comcast.net |
| HomePage: | http:/web.mac.com/riprap/Site/Home.html |
| Where are you from: | San Francisco, CA |
| Comments: | What's happening in El Mahalla? |
| December 26, 2011 17:11:19 (GMT Time) |
| Name: | Chris M |
| Email: | |
| HomePage: | http:// |
| Where are you from: | Greece |
| Comments: | Greetings, I happened to come upon your reconstructed version of the famous Homeric shield of Achilles during some research I am currently conducting. I am very impressed by your representation of it for I am a scholar/researcher in the field of the Classics, as well of Hellenic descent. I am writing this e-mail to ask you, if I could be permitted to use your graphic image in an attempt to create an actual shield of it for personal use. |
| July 7, 2009 20:33:11 (GMT Time) |
| Name: | AchillesShield Sleuth |
| Email: | achilles{at}meieus.com |
| HomePage: | http://meieus.com/achillesshield |
| Where are you from: | USA |
| Comments: | Thank you Mario for the wonderful investigation you sent me on! The short answer to your post is that, 'apparently' is in fact not supportable, as proven conclusively by Arrian of Nicomedia, AD 87 - 180, in his 'Anabasis', books 1 and 6. Here are the links, http://websfor.org/alexander/arrian/book1a.asp and http://websfor.org/alexander/arrian/book6a.asp and here are the translated quotes: (from Book 1:)It is also said that he went up to Ilium and offered sacrifice to the Trojan Athena; that he set up his own panoply in the temple as a votive offering, and in exchange for it took away some of the consecrated arms which had been preserved from the time of the Trojan war. It is also said that the shield-bearing guards used to carry these arms in front of him into the battles. (from Book 6:)Alexander, thinking that the men who carried the ladders were too slow, snatched one from a man who was carrying it, placed it against the wall himself, and began to mount it, crouching under his shield. After him mounted Peucestas, the man who carried the sacred shield which Alexander took from the temple of the Trojan Athena and used to keep with him, and have it carried before him in all his battles.(end of quotes) As we learn from these quotes, there is no declaration made to identify this armor as that of Achilles'. Plutarch's Alexander 63.3, Diodorus XVII.99.4, Quitus Curtius IX and Justin's Epitome 11.5.10 all relate this visit to Troy and similarly make no declaration of the weapons' owner. It was a very tough investigation, and I will accordingly update this website with the complete details. Thanks! |
| December 10, 2008 15:06:54 (GMT Time) |
| Name: | Mario |
| Email: | |
| HomePage: | http:// |
| Where are you from: | Sydney |
| Comments: | Love the article about achilles shield!! Although, the search doesn't stop there, Apparently Alexander the Great visited Achilles tomb and close by was a temple where Achilles armour and shield were kept. Alexander took Achilles shield and used it once in a battle where he climbed the walls of a enemy castle jumped down to the centre of the castle and had a heated battle with the enemys, it was a close call which nearly cost Alexanders life having been struck by an arrow. |
| June 10, 2008 08:05:22 (GMT Time) |
| Name: | AchillesShield Sleuth |
| Email: | achilles{at}meieus.com |
| HomePage: | http://meieus.com/achillesshield |
| Where are you from: | USA |
| Comments: | “My students like hearing that there’s some sort of redeeming social value to video games,” he says. “I try to show that the games do have artistic merit, and share traditions that date back to the ancient storytellers.” Travis ties video games and the classics together in two ways. One is to use the games to look at the Aeneid from an unconventional perspective. The other is to compare the oral improvisatory nature of Homeric epics with the way video games engage players. The Iliad and the Odyssey are Homeric epics that predate the Aeneid – a written work – by centuries. They began as oral works, performed before large groups by bards who often improvised as they went along, perhaps to cater to a particular audience. Travis suggests that the bards’ audiences were interactive with epic poems in much the same way that today’s video gamer interacts with a software-generated adventure tale. “Like today’s gamers, the bards’ audiences didn’t know what was going to happen next, so they were immersed in the story and were interactive with it in a very real way,” Travis says. “The popular notion that video games are unique in their interactivity overlooks a tradition well over 2,000 years old.” Roger Travis, an associate professor of modern and classical languages, uses video games in his classes on classical literature at University of Connecticut. You can read more at: http://www.advance.uconn.edu/2007/070416/07041607.htm |
| April 6, 2008 11:23:13 (GMT Time) |
| Name: | AchillesShield Sleuth |
| Email: | Achilles{at}meieus.com |
| HomePage: | http://meieus.com/achillesshield |
| Where are you from: | USA |
| Comments: | "Ajax's long-lost palace discovered on Greek island" SALAMINA, Greece (Reuters) - On a deserted green hill above the Aegean Sea, archeologists have unearthed what may be the palace of Ajax, one of the greatest heroes in Greek mythology. From a rocky outcrop among the tranquil ruins, it is easy to imagine the warrior-king of Homer's Iliad setting sail from the island for Troy over 3,300 years ago, as crowds lined the pine-covered slopes to wave farewell... ..In Homer's Odyssey, the long-wandering hero Odysseus finds Ajax dead in the underworld but still angry he was not awarded the armor of the dead Achilles. One version of his death has him so offended at the snub that he goes mad and commits suicide. UNIQUE FINDS Six years of excavations at the site of Kanakia, on the southwestern tip of Salamina island, have revealed a maze of stone walls making up at least two major palatial complexes, the settlement around them stretching down to the natural port. The building with the two great halls -- or megara -- covers 8,070 square feet and has 33 rooms on four levels. Unlike Mycenae, Salamina is not surrounded by great walls but is built with defense in mind, with narrow, guarded entrances. Among the finds are tools, Cypriot pottery and bronzes, proof of relations with the eastern Mediterranean. But the most stunning discovery is a single bronze scale from an armor breastplate that bears the stamp of a famous Egyptian pharaoh. Translated by professors Jacke Phillips and John Ray at Cambridge, it is the name of Ramesses II who ruled Egypt during the 13th century BC. Lolos said it was possible that Salamina men had fought as mercenaries in the army of Ramesses. "The piece is ... unique," Phillips said. "I know of no other armor scale with a hieroglyphic inscription." Read More, at: http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20060502/lf_nm/greece_ajax_dc_1 |
| May 6, 2006 15:53:10 (GMT Time) |
| Name: | AchillesShield Sleuth |
| Email: | Achilles@meieus.com |
| HomePage: | http://meieus.com/achillesshield |
| Where are you from: | USA |
| Comments: | "By viewing the shield as an element of contradistinction—that is to define it on the basis of contrast—one can see that the shield symbolically unifies the entire poem. Achilles’ shield is the mechanism through which the poet presents a tool of warfare as a reflection of civilization; explores the concept, structure, and nature of the universe; and examines the role of art in society." Read more in Janet Turner's excellent article, titled "Clatter, Clash, and Contrast: Achilles’ Shield as an Element of Contradistinction in the Iliad." Find it at: http://ecademy.agnesscott.edu/~jturner/achilles.pdf |
| April 9, 2006 14:35:52 (GMT Time) |
| Name: | AchillesShield Sleuth |
| Email: | Achilles@meieus.com |
| HomePage: | http://meieus.com/achillesshield |
| Where are you from: | USA |
| Comments: | "The Shield of Achilles and the Negative Future Perfect" by Christopher Chiasson at: http://core-relations.uchicago.edu/Volume4/chiasson.htm |
| April 9, 2006 14:19:11 (GMT Time) |
| Name: | AchillesShield Sleuth |
| Email: | Achilles@meieus.com |
| HomePage: | http://meieus.com/achillesshield |
| Where are you from: | USA |
| Comments: | Excellent website, "The Historical World behind the Trojan War" by Wilfred E. Major at: http://home.att.net/~a.a.major/interest.htm Enjoy the whole site, or skip to the final page regarding Achilles' shield, at: http://home.att.net/~a.a.major/wrapup.htm |
| April 9, 2006 13:01:18 (GMT Time) |
| Name: | AchillesShield Sleuth |
| Email: | Achilles@meieus.com |
| HomePage: | http://meieus.com/achillesshield |
| Where are you from: | USA |
| Comments: | 'Palace of Ajax' found in Greece Here is another good link about this important discovery: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/4853332.stm |
| March 30, 2006 14:56:08 (GMT Time) |
| Name: | AchillesShield Sleuth |
| Email: | Achilles@meieus.com |
| HomePage: | http://meieus.com/achillesshield |
| Where are you from: | USA |
| Comments: | Archaeologist Links Ancient Palace to Ajax(Aias) Excerpt from the article: "This was Ajax' capital," excavation leader Lolos, professor of archaeology at Ioannina University, told The Associated Press on Wednesday. "It was the seat of the maritime kingdom of Salamis — small compared to other Mycenaean kingdoms — that was involved in trade, warfare and piracy in the eastern Mediterranean." "Ajax was one of the top fighters in the legendary Greek army that besieged Troy to win back the abducted queen of Sparta, Helen. Described in Homer's Iliad as a towering hero protected by a huge shield, Ajax killed himself after a quarrel with other Greek leaders." (The quarrel over the shield, of course) http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060330/ap_on_sc/greece_ajax_palace |
| March 30, 2006 13:32:31 (GMT Time) |
| Name: | Sarah |
| Email: | sh123@yahoo.com |
| HomePage: | http://notyet.com |
| Location: | Vancouver |
| Comments: | Great website. I especially love the beautiful full image of the shield, and the thought provoking essays on the significance of Achilles' incredible shield. Your rendition of Homer's words to images is very careful and lovely and I wish you all the best with this work. |
| October 19, 2005 14:55:20 (GMT Time) |