Book Eighteen

Achilles (a-KIL-eez) is wild with grief when he hears the news of Patroclus' (pa-TRAH-klus) death. Taking great handfulls of dirt and soot, he pours it over his head, rubs it in his face, and tears his hair. Antilochus (an-TIL-uh-kus), streaming tears himself, holds Achilles hands so that he won't stab himself. Achilles' great cry of pain is heard by his mother, the goddess Thetis (THEH-tis), in the underwater palace where she sits beside her father, the Old Man of the Sea. She cries out in sympathy, and her sister sea nymphs rush to her support. All of the daughters of the Old Man of the Sea follow when Thetis comes ashore at Troy to console her son.

"I can't go on living unless it is to revenge myself on Hector," Achilles tells his mother. She warns him that his own death will soon follow. But consumed with despair and consciousness that he has been of no use to his comrades, Achilles is more than ready to die. Not that he forgets his reputation, as it will earn him great glory to bring grief to the wives of Troy before he dies. Thetis concurs that there is nobility in coming to the aid of his comrades, but she reminds him that he can't very well fight without his armor. She insists that he refrain from combat until the following morning, when she will return with a new set of arms crafted by the blacksmith god Hephaestus (he-FEES-tus).

Meanwhile, Hector is on the verge of wresting the body of Patroclus from the hard-pressed Greeks. Hera (HEER-uh) sends the messenger Iris to alert Achilles that Hector would like nothing more than to spike Patroclus' head on the palisade of Troy. "Take care lest your friend's corpse be mutilated on its journey to the Underworld of the dead." says Iris. Achilles explains what the goddess already knows, that Hector has his armor. So Iris suggests that he show himself on the rampart — even unarmed he might give the Trojans pause. Athena equips him with the storm-shield of Zeus (zyoos) and causes a tower of flame to rise up from his head.

Three times Achilles shouts out a tremendous war cry, and the piercing sound, together with the flames fed by Athena, have the desired effect. The Trojans wheel in panic; twelve warriors die in the crush of chariots, run through with their own spears. The body of Patroclus is brought safely into the camp. Hera causes the sun to set, ending the battle for the day. The Trojans take counsel. Now that Achilles has apparently rejoined the fray, it is proposed that they withdraw within the walls of Troy. But Hector scorns this advice. He for one is not afraid to face Achilles.

While the Greek camp resounds with the wails and groans of mourning for Patroclus, Thetis ascends to Olympus and enters Hephaestus' palace of bronze. She finds the smith hard at work on a marvelous project, crafting twenty cauldrons on wheels of gold that will roll under their own power to the feasts of the gods. The nymph is greeted cordially by Charis (KA-ris), the Grace whom Hephaestus had married, and by the smith himself, who comes hobbling briskly up on his crippled legs. He is eager to grant any favor since Thetis saved his life when Zeus threw him from Olympus and he fell to earth. Thetis and her sister Eurynome (yoo-RIN-oh-mee) took him in and sheltered him for nine years in their underwater cavern. Now he hastens to put his work aside as he attends to his guest.

As he changes out of his working clothes, Hephaestus is waited upon by mechanical serving women, cast in gold and infused with artificial intelligence and strength. He puts himself at Thetis' disposal. She requests armor for her son. Hephaestus jumps right up and sets to work, commanding his twenty bellows to adjust their flow of air to the intensity of flame required for the various phases of the craft. Hefting his hammer and tongs, he begins to work the molten metals — bronze, tin, silver, and gold — upon the anvil. First he makes an enormous shield of five thicknesses of metal, worked with a design of earth and sky and sea, sun and moon, and starry constellations. And on it he depicts two cities, one aswarm with the pursuits of peacetime — a wedding feast with song and dance and a quarrel in the marketplace — and the other city immersed in the strife of war — a besieging army, an ambush, a battle for life and death.

And Hephaestus adds scenes of oxen ploughing, harvesters reaping, and children picking vineyard grapes while a young man sings to the lyre a lament for the dying of the year. He depicts a pair of lions mauling a herd of cattle and contrasts a peaceful meadow of sheep. He excels himself in portraying a spinning circle of dancers, a tour de force of the joyful exuberance of youth. And around it all, as around the real world, flows the mighty stream of Ocean River. To the shield Hephaestus adds a breastplate, helmet, and greaves, and Thetis gratefully takes the gear in hand and descends from Olympus.

Note:

fell to earth — It is not clear if Hephaestus was crippled from birth or as a result of this accident.