People talk often of the tortured artist and of how all great art comes from pain. While art can still be produced without suffering, art produced without suffering is likely to not be very good. In chapter 18, we are given PAGES worth of description of Achille's shield, the artistry of none other than "the famous crippled Smith"(Homer 482) himself, Hephaestus, and he's gone through plenty of suffering...
Before creating Achille's shield, Hephaestus states that he wishes he could hide Achilles away from pain and death, and that he will do so by making armor for him "that any man in the world of men will marvel at through all the years to come-whoever sees it splendor." While Hephaestus favors Achilles because Achilles' mother, Thetis, saved his life, I cannot help but think, also, that Hephaestus pours himself into his shield, as well as the rest of his work, as a way to deal with his pain.
Hephaestus was rejected as a child because he "was a cripple"(Homer 480). His mother did not see beauty in him. He causes people to marvel and amaze at the beauty of his craftsmanship, at his art, because even his own mother could not see the beauty in his existence.
The suffering of three individual's is being poured into and is the cause of this great artwork: Hephaestus', Achilles', and Thetis'. Without the grief and rage of Achilles, there would be no need for this shield and armor. Without the pain felt by Thetis for her son, there would be no one owed a debt by the god, Hephaestus, to ask for the armor out of fear of losing her son if he were to go into battle without it. Finally, without the pain of Hephaestus, there would be no tortured artist to pour their pain and empathy of Achille's pain into the beautiful work of art that the shield became.
P.S. I commented on Ian Blair and Abigale Bell's posts.
Hi Haylee! I really enjoyed reading your post! I totally agree with your idea of a tortured artist in Hephaestus. I can see metalwork as being his way of expressing to others all the beauty they could not see in him. Also, I think he might have been living through Achilles in a small way. He made this great shield, unmatched in workmanship, that would gain the most awe and respect. Awe and respect is something Hephaestus could never gain through battle like Achilles. I think this line of thinking follows yours in that Hephaestus put his all into this shield simply because he could not gain honor any other way.
ReplyDeleteI agree with your statement about how art produced with little to no suffering tends to not be very good. I personally love music that tells a story with its tone and lyrics, and what better story than a tragedy? It only makes sense that I'd love music from tortured artists. The quality of the music is also affected because you can feel the raw emotion from the lyrics and the singer's voice and honestly, I live for that stuff.
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