Similarities Between Achilles And Hesiod

The Shield of Heracles shows heroic values in a different, less developed and complex way than epic poetry does. The poem is a very short, almost 500 line description of Heracles traveling to Thessaly and challenging, fighting, and killing Cycnus, son of Ares along the way. This enrages Ares, who then attempts to fight Heracles but is wounded and then carried back to Olympus, writhing in pain, by two of his other sons. Due to this poems limited length, Hesiod had little time to provide narrative context and develop intricate plot lines. Despite the poem's length and limited intricacy, the poem does explicate heroic values, just in much more limited manner than Homer did in his epics. An example of this less developed, less complex nature of heroic values in this poem can be seen through the importance first word of the poems. Homer used these first words to develop the central theme of the poem while Hesiod did not. Then, despite this …show more content…
Achilles' shield is forged by Hephaestus and the origins of Heracles' shield are unknown using the context given by this poem. Achilles had his shield crafted for him by Hephaestus, the god of the forge. Achilles requesting that Hephaestus make a shield for him is extremely significant. This is a such significant moment in the Iliad because it means that Achilles has finally accepted his fate. By requesting to have this armor forged for him, Achilles is signifying that he is willing to return to battle. Achilles is aware that he will not return from this battle. Therefore, the request of Achilles to forge this armor signifies that he is ready to die. This is another example of Homer embedding rich symbolism and an intricate plot line into his work, similar to the way he packs so much meaning into the first word of the