23rd Annual Student Research Conference
Homeric Justice and Achilles' Shield
Alyson M. Collins
Dr. Molly K. Herbert, Faculty Mentor
Throughout the Iliad, the agora, divinely sanctioned oaths, and proportional justice are utilized to create the characterization of Homeric justice. These ideas form the basis behind the Achilles-Agamemnon, Hector-Achilles, and Troy-Greece disputes, which the Iliad then uses to explore the themes of justice, fury unleashed and honorable retribution. Achilles' divinely wrought shield represents the foundation of this Homeric justice. Similar to the theory that Homeric gods mirror humanity, the shield holistically symbolizes all three of the disputes. Homer used mirrors and reflections, and the ultimate symbol of it all is in Achilles' shield which the blacksmith-god Hephaestus created as a "world of gorgeous immortal work" (Iliad, trans. Richmond Lattimore, 18.564).
Keywords: proportionality in Homeric justice, Homeric religion, Fate versus Zeus, Ate , Homeric disputes in the Iliad
Topic(s):Interdisciplinary
Classics
Presentation Type: Oral Paper
Session: 59-3
Location: MG 2050
Time: 3:15