And first Hephaestus makes a great and massive shield,
blazoning well-wrought emblems all across its surface,
raising a rim around it, glittering, triple-ply
with a silver shield-strap run from edge to edge
and five layers of metal to build the shield itself,
and across its vast expanse with all his craft and cunning
the god creates a world of gorgeous immortal work.
– Homer
The Iliad, Book 18, lines 558-564. The crippled smith and god Hephaestus is asked by Thetis to forge a set of armor for her son Achilles. The most intricate part of this is the shield, made of triple-ply metal and carved with eleborate scenes, which are extended metaphors for different aspects of life. Hephaestus goes to work immediately on this.