The Iliad 18.483–497

and therein all the constellations wherewith heaven is crowned—the Pleiades, and the Hyades and the mighty Orion, and the Bear, that men call also the Wain, that circleth ever in her place, and watcheth Orion, and alone hath no part in the baths of Ocean. Therein fashioned he also two cities of mortal men exceeding fair. In the one there were marriages and feastings, and by the light of the blazing torches they were leading the brides from their bowers through the city, and loud rose the bridal song. And young men were whirling in the dance, and in their midst flutes and lyres sounded continually; and there the women stood each before her door and marvelled. But the folk were gathered in the place of assembly; for there a strife had arisen, and two men were striving about the blood-price of a man slain; the one avowed that he had paid all,

ἐν μὲν γαῖαν ἔτευξʼ, ἐν δʼ οὐρανόν, ἐν δὲ θάλασσαν, ἠέλιόν τʼ ἀκάμαντα σελήνην τε πλήθουσαν, ἐν δὲ τὰ τείρεα πάντα, τά τʼ οὐρανὸς ἐστεφάνωται, Πληϊάδας θʼ Ὑάδας τε τό τε σθένος Ὠρίωνος Ἄρκτόν θʼ, ἣν καὶ Ἄμαξαν ἐπίκλησιν καλέουσιν, ἥ τʼ αὐτοῦ στρέφεται καί τʼ Ὠρίωνα δοκεύει, οἴη δʼ ἄμμορός ἐστι λοετρῶν Ὠκεανοῖο. ἐν δὲ δύω ποίησε πόλεις μερόπων ἀνθρώπων καλάς. ἐν τῇ μέν ῥα γάμοι τʼ ἔσαν εἰλαπίναι τε, νύμφας δʼ ἐκ θαλάμων δαΐδων ὕπο λαμπομενάων ἠγίνεον ἀνὰ ἄστυ, πολὺς δʼ ὑμέναιος ὀρώρει· κοῦροι δʼ ὀρχηστῆρες ἐδίνεον, ἐν δʼ ἄρα τοῖσιν αὐλοὶ φόρμιγγές τε βοὴν ἔχον· αἳ δὲ γυναῖκες ἱστάμεναι θαύμαζον ἐπὶ προθύροισιν ἑκάστη. λαοὶ δʼ εἰν ἀγορῇ ἔσαν ἀθρόοι· ἔνθα δὲ νεῖκος

Lattimore commentary

Archaeologists have not discovered anything as elaborate as this shield. The closest parallels are silver plates from Phoenicia and bronze shields from Crete (possibly imports from Asia Minor), both types having several concentric illustrated bands. The basic aesthetic principles—that big is beautiful, that the cosmos can be imitated in one epic work—apply to the Iliad as a whole. The divine craftsman stands in for the poet himself. It is worth noting, however, that Zenodotus, an early Homeric critic in Alexandria (third century BC), rejected the entire description as non-Homeric. The city at peace, along with its harmonies of music and marriage, also contains disputes, but has a legal framework to deal with them. The issue at law—whether to accept a blood price or demand a death in return—echoes the choice of Achilleus (to take compensation for being dishonored or let his companions die).

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