On Olympos, Thetis calls upon Hephaistos. She tells the god about all that has taken place on the battlefield that day, and she asks him to provide new armor for her son. Hephaistos assents and makes a marvelous and beautiful set of new armor for Achilles. The new shield alone is a masterpiece, being built up of five layers and having on it a representation of the signs of the zodiac and of two cities engaged in all the peaceful and warlike activities of mankind. When the armor is finished, Thetis takes it in her arms, and, thanking Hephaistos, she goes to find her son.
Readers see, then, that Achilles is given his final chance to decide his fate, for Thetis tells him that he will die if he avenges Patroklos. Despite this knowledge, Achilles chooses to continue his plan for revenge. Patroklos was his closest friend, a lesser reflection of his own glory, and, in an emotional sense, part of himself; so in every way, the killing of Patroklos was a direct blow to Achilles himself. His determination to avenge his friend is so intense because he realizes that he is responsible for Patroklos' death, and he is angry with himself as well as with the Trojans. He hopes that by punishing the Trojans and, in particular, by venting his fury on Hektor, their leader and the human symbol of Trojan resistance, he will be able to assuage his sense of guilt and grief.
In all things, Achilles has a greater capacity for feeling than other men do. His wrath, his grief, and his exploits in the battle to come will now begin to take on a superhuman quality, symbolized in part by the divine armor made for him by the god Hephaistos, as the climax of the tragedy draws near.
