ABSTRACT
The underlying tension between the human scale and the scale of the world that is abbreviated on the ecphrastic shield’s surface translates effortlessly into scale modulations that give the description its edge: from celestial bodies the people proceed to the masterly carved grapes or a bellowing cow, then shift back to the all-embracing Ocean. To be a “cosmic icon”, as the three most famous shields are now characterized, means therefore to be a hand-held world in both the overall structure and the plethora of detail. An ecphrastic piece included in a tragedy would seem to accommodate Aristotle’s belief that, while working on the plot and using the dialogue, the poet should visualize the scene to the highest possible degree. The younger Philostratus is not alone in transforming the ecphrastic shield of Achilles into part of a large panoramic scene – a scene that the shield ekphrasis progressively engulfs.
