Thetis Bringing Armor To Achilles Analysis

This piece of artwork, promptly titled Thetis Bringing Armor to Achilles, was created by Benjamin West in 1806. It depicts the scene in book 19 of The Iliad in which Thetis brings his son, Achilles, a set of armor that was made by Hephaestus during the Trojan War. Benjamin West (1738-1820) was born in Pennsylvania and was an Anglo-American painter of historical scenes who had created multiple versions of this portrayal during his lifetime (Wikipedia). This version, made in 1806, is located in the The New Britain Museum of American Art’s. The picture was "painted as Britain was preparing for an invasion by Napoleon’s armies and was perhaps intended as a call to arms for West’s adopted country" (Curatorialintern). The characters in
One of the biggest changes being of the details of Achilles shield. In The Iliad there are four pages of description of what is being designed on Achilles shield, ranging from the different elemental aspects of earth to places inside towns and cities such as a dancing grounds and farmlands. Yet in this painting there isn’t so much detail within the shield as there could be. There is one section of the shield that we can closely analyse: that being the rim of the shield. In The Iliad the shield is said to have “the greatest strength of the River Ocean, lapping the outermost rim of the massive shield." (Iliad 18. 651-652). West's version of the “Greatest strength of the River Ocean” in this painting, however, is depicted to be some swirls wrapped around the shield. This could, however, possibly be detailed on the scabbard instead of the shield as there seems to be more clearer icons and symbols on that rather than the shield. The problem with that, according to The Iliad, is that there was not a scabbard made for Achilles by Hephaestus. In fact not only was there not a scabbard made, but according to The Iliad there are two other pieces of armor missing in this piece of art: the breastplate and the