Henk van Oosten

Achilles' Shield Decoded Henk van Oosten

Troy, the Trojan War and the meandering route of Odysseus were never found in the ancient Greek world. There is a lot of speculation, but no evidence. Where is Troy? Is it all Homer's imagination? No, it is elsewhere. A new viewpoint arose when interpreting the forging of the new shield of Achilles (Iliad) by using several metals and its decoration with pictures of the earth, the sky dome and Oceanus. Why such a decorated weapon? Thinking about this lead to a surprising breakthrough: the forging of the new shield might have a special meaning: no nice but useless decorations, but crucial information. This decoding of Achilles' shield shed new light on famous elements in Homer's poems, such as a new motive for the Trojan War and forgotten Bronze Age knowledge for celestial navigation on Oceanus by Odysseus. This ultimately leads to the discovery of Troy, Ithaca, the battlefield of the Trojan War and Oceanus in a complete different part of the world.