The Shield of Achilles had five layers of metal. Homer describes the divine smith Hephaestus forging the replacement armor for Achilles in Book 18 of the Iliad, after Hector strips Patroclus of Achilles’ original equipment.
The five plates are described in Book 20 as two outer layers of bronze, two inner layers of tin, and a central layer of gold. The poem also mentions a threefold metal rim and decorative work involving bronze, tin, silver, and gold. The shield’s construction is therefore separate from its imagery: the famous scenes are engraved or fashioned across the layered surface rather than representing additional layers.
Hephaestus decorates the shield with a miniature cosmos. It includes earth, sea, sun, moon, constellations, two cities, farming, law courts, warfare, livestock, harvest, dancing, and marriage. Readers sometimes confuse the five structural plates with the shield’s many concentric scenes, but Homer’s explicit construction count is five.