NEW THEORY OF ACHILLES' SHIELD. 313 



Orion is not mentioned by name in the e Shield of 

 Hercules,' as in the other; but Orion, Lepus, and the 

 two dogs seem referred to : 



Elsewhere men of chase 



Were taking the fleet hares j two keen-toothed dogs 

 Bounded beside, these ardent in pursuit, 

 Those with like ardour doubling in their flight. 



In each e shield ' we find a reference to the operations 

 of the year hunting and pasturing, sowing, ploughing, 

 and harvesting. It is hardly necessary to point out the 

 connection between these operations and astronomical 

 relations. That this connection was fully recognised 

 in ancient times is shown in the ( Works and Days ' of 

 Hesiod. We find also in Egyptian zodiacs clear evi- 

 dence that these operations, as well as astronomical 

 symbols or constellations, found a record in sculptured 

 domes. 



The judicial, military, and other proceedings de- 

 scribed in the ( Shield of Achilles ' were also supposed 

 by the ancients to have been influenced by the courses 

 of the stars. 



If we had no evidence that ancient celestial spheres 

 presented the constellations above referred to, we 

 might be disposed to attach less weight to the coinci- 

 dences here presented ; but the ' Phenomena ' of 

 Aratus affords sufficient testimony on this point. In 

 the first place, that work is of great antiquity, since 

 Aratus flourished two centuries and a half before the 

 Christian era ; but it is well known that Aratus did 

 not describe the results of his own observations. The 



