In “Shield of Achilles,” Homer presents a society in which there exists war, immorality, injustice, chaos and punishment that is contrasted with peace, happiness, order and festivals. This juxtaposition between these two types of scenes create the image of a society in which there is a constant pattern of hope followed by sudden and unexpected disappointment. For example, in one of the scenes on the shield, Homer depicts a town with peaceful livestock and shepherds that “had not so much of a thought of danger”(14). Immediately following this image, a gruesome scene takes place in which the invaders, “went in and out with one another and fought as though they were living people hauling away one another’s dead”(14). Based upon the scenes
