Group work sheet:

But Thetis answered, warning through her tears,
"You're doomed to a short life, my son, from all you say!
For hard on the heels of Hector's death your death
must come at once--"

"Then let me die at once"-- Achilles burst out, despairing


Hephaestus makes Achilles a great and massive shield with five layers of metal and across its vast expanse, with all his craft and cunning, the god creates a world of gorgeous immortal work.

1. In Book 18, Homer focuses on the manufacture of Achilles' shield. What is so important about this shield? What is significant about scenes on the shield?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

2. Extended similes often make significant comments on broader aspects of the situation in which they appear. Discuss the function of the extended simile in one of the following passages.

--page 159. Book 4, lines 489-496
--page 519. Book 20, lines 554-569
--page 542. Book 22, line 31-38.