Modelling and dichotomy by Homer

Abstract

In Rhapsody Σ (book18) of Iliad, Homer describes the construction of Achilles' shield by the god of technology, Hephaestus. This shield is the symbol of Achilles, the central hero of the Homeric epic. At the same time, the shield constitutes a whole, even wider than the epic itself. It sums up, in a poetic and descriptive way, the total knowledge of the Homeric era. The shield itself is a model of the whole world, natural and human. It is a model of the physical world's structure, a model of the universe, which had a deep influence on the natural perception of the presocratic philosophers - of Anaximander, Anaxagoras, Empedocles, and later on, of Plato and Aristotle. Moreover, it is a model of the social structure of the Greek city, which also had an effect on the classical philosophers. At the same time, the shield constitutes an introduction to the Platonic philosophical method of dichotomy and to the Aristotelian digital analysis of the world into categories. In this way, Homer paves the way to the following science and technology.