Reasoning: The Shield in Homer

I mentioned previously that I was interested in the many different words for shield in Homer. Propertius II found an article which is, in fact, the first thing that pops up on Google when one searches for "Homeric Sheild." The article is from 1913 and is probably out of date, but I found it quite intersting. In the article "Notes on the Homeric Shield" (JSTOR), Tayler argues that there are two main types of shield in Homer: ἀσπίς and σάκος. Almost to a person, the Trojans use ἀσπις, which Tayler posits are large Minoan-style hide covered shields, while the Achians use a combination of ἀσπίς and σάκος all though most of them prefer the smaller metal σάκος. Sometimes, the stronger of the heroes use ἀσπίς with large metal designs (usually circles). Making the large ἀσπίς entirely out of metal would be too heavy.

The "note" was short and intriguing. Tayler mentions that he is not actually an archaeologist and he is basing his evidence primarily on the literary distribution of the two words throughout the text. If anyone has more recent information on this, I would love to read it.

Appetitive: Homeric Vocabulary

I have a confession to make: I don't really like Homer. Gasp. Yes, I know, it seems very strange that a classicist is not a fan of Homer, but I just can't get into it. Back when I first read the Odyssey, I really liked it, but in the last few years I have tried to get through both the Iliad and the Odyssey and failed.

However, I finally started reading some of the Iliad in Greek with Propertius II and I am actually enjoying it. Although I know English is a spectacularly rich and wonderful language, there is something more expressive in the Greek-- partially, I think, because this type of epic is better designed for Greek than for English. While reading the short (22 lines) of Greek, I noticed that the richness of the definitions of the words were making me smile. I picked a couple of words that I really liked in context. I provide a basic form of the definitions I found in Richard John Cunliffe's A Lexicon of the Homeric Dialect:

αὔω-- This can be either to shout or to cry, but also to make the sound that armor makes when struck by a spear.
εἵλω-- hem up in a coop or drive prey together for slaughter. Homer uses this word to describe the way that Idomeneus covers himself with his shield as Deiphobus comes toward him in an attempt to avenge the death of Asios.

I also found the expression of a particular line that I liked.

"κρύφθη γὰρ ὑπ'ἀσπίδι πάντοσ' ἐΐσῃ" (XIII.405)-- "for he was hidden under his shield [which was] equal all directions" i.e. his shield was a circle. To me there is something both poetic and that reflects the culture in this phrasing. As Propertius II mentioned, Homer's poems show a fascination with geometry. Sadly, Lattimore renders it as "he was hidden beneath his shield's perfect circle" (Lattimore XIII.405)

I am also interested in Homer's many different words for shield. I will post what I find.