A Triptych of Heraldic Shields by Homer, Virgil, and W. H. Auden. (Language & Literature).

A Triptych of Heraldic Shields by Homer, Virgil, and W. H. Auden. Steve J. Van Der Weele, Calvin College, English Department, Grand Rapids, MI 49506;616/452-1633

When Achilles needs a replacement for the shield he has lost to Hector, Hephaistos fabricates one depicting, for the most part, pastoral civilized scenes, though The Iliad is about war. Virgil, in The Aeneid, his adaptation of Homer's epic, has Vulcan emblazon on his hero's shield, for the most part, details of wars to come, though Aeneas's mandate is to extend peace throughout the world. W. H. Auden, in his poem ...

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