.NEW THEORY OF ACHILLES' SHIELD. 305 



It appears probable, then, that the description of 

 Achilles' Shield is an interpolation the poet's own 

 work, however, and brought in by him in the only way 

 he found available. The description clearly refers to 

 the same object which is described (here, also, only in 

 part) in the Shield of Hercules.' The original de- 

 scription, doubtless, included all that is found in both 

 * shields,' and probably much more. 



What, then, was the object to which the original 

 description applied ? An object, I should think, far 

 more important than a warrior's shield. I imagine 

 that anyone who should read the description without 

 being aware of its accepted interpretation, would con- 

 sider that the poet was dealing with an important series 

 of religious sculptures, possibly that he was describing 

 the dome of a temple adorned with celestial and terres- 

 trial symbols. 



In Egypt there are temples of a vast antiquity, 

 having a dome, on which a zodiac or, more correctly, 

 a celestial hemisphere is sculptured with constellation- 

 figures. And we now learn, from ancient Babylonian 

 and Assyrian sculptures, that these Egyptian zodiacs 

 are in all probability merely copies (more or less 

 perfect) of yet more ancient Chaldsean zodiacs. One 

 of these Babylonian sculptures is figured in Eawlin- 

 son's 'Ancient Monarchies.' It seems probable that 

 in a country where Sabseanism, or star-worship, was 

 the prevailing form of religion, yet more imposing 

 proportions would be given to such zodiacs than in 

 Egypt, 



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