332 LIGHT SCIENCE FOR LEISURE HOURS. 



It is "by no means necessary to the plot of tho 

 " Iliad " that Achilles should lose the celestial armor 

 given to Peleus as a dowry with Thetis. On the 

 contrary, Homer has gone out of his way to render 

 the labors of Yulcan necessary. Patroclus has to be 

 so ingeniously disposed of, that while the armor lie 

 had worn is seized by Hector, his body is rescued, as 

 are also the horses and chariot of Achilles. 



We have the additional improbability that the 

 armor of the great Achilles should fit the inferior 

 warriors Patroclus and Hector. Indeed, that the 

 armor should fit Hector, or rather, that Hector should 

 fit the armor, the aid of Zeus and Ares has to be 

 called in : 



" To this Jove's sable brows did bow ; and lie made fit his limbs 

 To those great arms, to fill which up the war-god entered him 

 Austere and terrible, his joints and every part extends 

 With strength and fortitude." Chapman's Translation. 



It is clear that the narrative would not have been 

 impaired in any way, while its probability and con- 

 sistency would have been increased, if Patroclus had 

 fought in his own armor. The death of Patroclus 

 would in any case have been a cause sufficient to 

 arouse the wrath of Achilles against Hector though 

 certainly the hero's grief for his armor is nearly as 

 poignant as his sorrow for his friend's death. 



It appears probable, then, that the description of 

 Achilles's Shield is an interpolation the poet's own 



