In Book Eighteen of the Iliad, Homer devoted a great deal of space to describing Achilles' shield.
It was an exceptionally magnificent shield. Hephaestus, god of forging, used bronze, tin, and gold as materials, decorating it with the earth, the sky, the stars, and two cities of men.
Hephaestus had originally been the child of Hera, queen of the gods, and Zeus, king of the gods. Because he was ugly, he was abandoned, only to be found later by the sea goddess Thetis, who was also Achilles' mother.
Because Hephaestus broke his leg in the course of his fall, he was crippled from then on. In the Homeric epics, Achilles, Thetis' other son, was called "swift-footed."
Having heard the prophecy, Thetis held Achilles upside down and dipped him into the waters of the Styx. Thus, apart from his ankle, Achilles was invulnerable. Yet Thetis was still uneasy, so she had her foster son Hephaestus forge a shield and armor for Achilles.
Naturally, Hephaestus spared no effort in answering his foster mother's request. The forge he used had been made for him by the Cyclopes.
One of the two cities of men on the shield was under attack by two armies. They were strong and numerous, yet divided in opinion, endlessly arguing over whether to destroy the beautiful city completely or split its wealth evenly between them.
The people within the city refused to surrender. They did not intend to sit and await death, so they secretly prepared their weapons and left the city, entrusting its defense to their wives and children.
They came to a place suitable for an ambush, a riverbank where people usually brought their livestock to drink. The scenery was beautiful, with no trace of war in sight. One shepherd boy was even passing the time by