Goodbye, Old Friend. Hello, New Armor. (The Iliad, Book 18)
ALEXA, PLAY: The Invincible Shield by Judas Priest
Antilochus ran to relay the news of Patroclus’ death to Achilles.
Achilles had noticed the Trojans getting closer and had a bad feeling already. When Antilochus arrives, he bursts out crying and Achilles knows.
A black cloud appears over the Golden Boy’s head and he falls to his knees and wails. The women from his camp come and join him in his lamenting. They make such a racket with their mourning that Thetis, Achilles’ mother, comes from her home in the sea to see what’s the matter.
Achilles tells his mother about Pat’s death and says that he loved Patroclus more than he even loved himself and how can he go on without his best friend?!? (This is really the bit that inspired so many readers to think that Achilles and Patroclus were perhaps more than friends?) He also notes that Hector took Patroclus’ armor, which, we know was actually Achilles’ armor, so now he doesn’t have anything to wear to battle to avenge Pat’s death!
Thetis, mother that she is, tells Achilles that she will help him. She tells him to wait there just for a bit and not run into battle without armor. She understands that Achilles now needs to go to battle and she knows that he will not survive, but she wants to help. So she goes to Mount Olympus to ask Hephaestus, the godly blacksmith and craftsman to create new armor for Achilles.
While all of this is happening, the Greek soldiers are still in the process of bringing Pat’s body back to their camp, while Hector is STILL trying to grab the body so that he can display the fact that he defeated Achilles’ best friend. Mariones and Menelaus are still carrying Pat but every time Hector gets close, the Ajaxes would swat him away.
Hera sees this and wants to help so she sends Iris, the messenger god, to Achilles and tells him that he needs to show his face so that the Trojans would know he was getting ready for battle now. She tells him that would scare them away enough to get Patroclus’ body to safety. He wouldn’t need to go into battle just yet, knowing that he was still waiting on new armor, he would just need to show the Trojans that he knew what they did and he was angry.
Achilles walks out to an overlook above the battlefield, where he can see the Greeks retreating and the Trojans going after them. During his walk there, he was joined by Athena, who gave him a crown of flames to make him look even more golden than usual. He really is a sight to behold. He and Athena both stand on the edge of the overlook where everyone can see Achilles, shining like a damn lighthouse. And then he let out a scream, a true menacing war cry. Athena helps by amplifying the sound so everyone on the battlefield can hear the roar of Achilles.
The Trojans recognize that this was Achilles and they are terrified. They turn tail and run. Back at their camp, Polydamous suggests that the Greek army was already tough and now with the help of Achilles, they’ll be even more dangerous, so perhaps they should retreat and sleep within the walls of Troy and wake up early to fortify their walls. But Hector, spurred on by none other than Big Daddy Zeus, says that is a silly idea. They are Trojans and they are not afraid. They will camp outside and attack again in the morning.
In the Greek camp, they are preparing Patroclus’ body for burial and Achilles is preparing for battle. He says that he won’t rest and Patroclu won’t be buried until he has slain Hector. Achilles is also accepting his fate that he will also die in battle but not before he avenges the death of his best friend and possible boyfriend.
Up in Olympus, Thetis goes to the workshop of Hephaestus. Thetis explains everything that’s happened up to this point and asks Hephaestus if he can whip up some new armor for Achilles real quick. Ever the nice guy, Hephaestus agrees and pops into his workshop where he does, indeed, create a whole new set of armor including a shield. And it’s not just any shield. The Shield of Achilles, a gift from the gods, is legendary. Now, arms full of armor and this spectacular shield, Thetis runs back to give them to Achilles.
The Shield of Achilles