The "code" of arms

It may be because I am seriously contemplating Homer and Virgil's weapons of war for my paper that I chose this topic to dicuss.

Achilleus seems to set the bar in terms of respected and honored warriors. His desire to attain kleos and demonstrate valor and virtue paved a path for future epic warriors to follow. He willingly entered war and proved to be a mighty and mindful fighter despite the loss of his closest companion. Achilleus is by no means a flawless hero but his mortality seems to redeem himself and invites others created in his image to prevail.

This is evident in Book 8 where yet again a promising warrior must be protected, I mean shielded, from impending doom.Venus knows that the war will be brutal so she asks her husband Vulcan to make a strong shield for Aeneas as great as the ones that he made for Achilleus. Vulcan makes the strongest possible, a seven-ply shield.

The scenes carved into the shields are chosen carefully. On Aeneas's shield the Battle of Actium is important because it is when Augustus put an end to a tumultous civil war. These images are captured on the shields similar to the weaving of the shroud. Each attempt to deflect doom while paying homage to those that have come and conquerored before. It is serves as a reminder to the audience and epic figures alike that prior victories can influence and even assist future ones.