NEW THEORY OF ACHILLES' SHIELD. 311 



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

 two dogs seem referred to : 



Elsewhere men of chase 



Were taking the fleet hares ; two keen-toothed dogs 

 Bounded beside ; these ardent in pursuit, 

 Those with like ardour doubling in their flight. 



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

 of the year hunting and pasturing, sowing, plough- 

 ing, 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 evidence that these operations, as well as astro- 

 nomical symbols or constellations, were pictured 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 there were no evidence that ancient celestial 

 spheres presented the constellations above referred to, I 

 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 positions of 

 the constellations, as recorded by him, accord neither 



