Hector as the True Hero of Homer’s Iliad Essay

Hector fights in his kingdom, unlike any of the Achaean commanders do, which shows even more honor. Hector has a deep real love for his wife and children. They are his first and foremost thought, not himself such as Achilles. As much as he loves his family, he is always committed to his responsibilities for Troy. When he took the leadership role of Troy, he commits his life to serving his country and follows through with his commitment until his death.

Meanwhile, Hector was often pictured as a strong, valiant man who also had a gentler side, unlike Achilles. Even when facing attacking armies, Hector fought to protect his family from the invading forces and for the survival of his city. It should be noted that before Hector faced the tragedies of the upcoming Trojan War, he blessed his only son and asked Zeus, the god of all gods, to grant his son to be like him, the “first in glory among the Trojans” (340). Though Hector was a better man in a moral sense when compared to Achilles, he still had some flaws. While attempting to eliminate Achilles, Hector mistakenly killed one of Achilles’ closest men, Patroclus, who happened to be wearing Achilles’ armor. After Patroclus’ death, Hector, under the belief that he had defeated the great Achilles, removed the armor from the corpse and wore it, which defiled the warrior’s respect and honor. Also, in “Book 22” of the Iliad, Hector tainted his honor during the arrival of Achilles by leaving “the gates [of Troy] behind and [fleeing] in fear” (347). Even though he fled Achilles, Hector knew that in order to save his people, he must face the great runner, and he did so for Troy. Unfortunately for Hector, he was facing certain death. When Hector took his final stand, Achilles, with Athena’s assistance, dealt the final blow that killed the great Hector. Due to the infinite outrage of the death of Patroclus’ death still dwelling inside of him, Achilles refused to return

The Ancient Greeks idealized and worshiped their heroes, this is portrayed in Homer’s epic poem, The Iliad. To become a hero in ancient Greece, one would have to live and die in pursuit of glory and honor. Both Achilles and Hector seek victory in battle to become the “true hero.” Although both characters possess many hero-like qualities, Hector proved to be the genuine hero.

In the Greek society, Achilles has the role of the aggressive soldier. From the very first lines of the epic, we are introduced to Achilles’ murderous rage:

In Homer's epic, The Iliad, there are many great characters, both mortal and immortal. However, no characters seem to match the greatness and importance of Achilles, the mightiest of the Greeks and Hector, Trojan prince and mightiest of the Trojans. Although they are the mightiest of their forces, their attitudes and motives for the Greek-Trojan war are completely different.

In the Iliad, it states “what if you are a great soldier? That's just a gift of god,” and “King Agamemnon countered, “Not so quickly, brave as you are, godlike Achilles – trying to cheat me.” These two quotes provide the fact that Achilles is part god and the he has some supernatural capability. Therefore, Achilles is an epic hero because he has this trait. To sum things up, Achilles is more of an epic hero, as oppose to Hector, since he demonstrates these

Homer concentrates on Hector throughout the chapter and makes comments about how brave and courageous he was. He also mentions that he is a great commander and leader of the Trojan army. In addition, Hector knew the reason behind the invasion which was Paris stealing Menelaus’ wife, Helen. This gives Agamemnon an excuse to attack Troy. Both Hector and his wife know that he is soon to meet his death, it’s inescapable. However, even though it is not his fight, he still feels compelled to go to war with his country and search for some vague glory. Hector seems to be very heroic. Moreover, Homer describes Hector as an immense warrior almost god-like. But in

The main purpose of the composition of epic poems was to not only entertain the reading audience, but also to teach lessons and display the differences between proper and inappropriate morals and behaviors. Both The Iliad and The Odyssey by Homer display characters that are able to function as lessons to the reader. Homer displays the character Hector as one of the literary heroes in The Illiad and Odysseus as one in The Odyssey. Hector is a better example of a literary hero than Odysseus because of his respect and outward affection for his family, his esteem for the gods, and his ability to handle and employ his responsibility of power.

Throughout the entire Trojan war, Achilles spent most of his time pouting in his tent after Agamemnon kidnapped his prized maiden, Chryseis. He also lets his best friend, Patroclus, go into battle alone only to die when Hector kills him with his spear. Achilles joins the war when he hears of Patrclus death, but it was not out of bravery; out of guilt, revenge and anger, when he hears of his friend's death. When Achilles kills Hector, he binds his feet to his chariot and drags his body around the walls of Troy. In my opinion this was not an act of heroism. But in the Iliad the Greeks loved Achilles. Achilles was considered half mortal and half God. Achilles has all the characteristics of a heroic warrior on a grand scale, and he possesses more than a common measure of all the merits and all the faults of a hero (Bowra 193). All of Achilles traits and glory are won primarily in battle, which sets Achilles apart from Hector because Achilles knows little about home and family. He has no wife: his father he has not seen in years; his mother, even though she helps him but he cannot help her and she isn't even a human being (Bowra 194).

Achilles drug Hector behind his chariot to bestow dishonor and him, but the God’s intervened. Even though Achilles was avenging his friend’s death by dragging Hector’s lifeless body the God’s protected his body. This is due to the fact that Hector was an honorable man, and he fought I the war bravely. The God’s intervened by protecting his body from mutilation because they believed Hector deserved to have the honor and a proper burial that every warrior was given upon dying during a war.

When it comes to fighting, Achilles is the best. No man can best him, and any army with him in their ranks has very good odds of winning. On the other hand, his sense of duty is overshadowed by his arrogance. He fights for the Greeks, but doesn’t obey King Agamemnon as a subject. When Agamemnon steals his prize, Briseis, he gets upset and doesn’t fight, causing a loss in the Greek army. Achilles declares, “What a worthless, burnt-out coward I'd be called if I would submit to you and all your orders, whatever you blurt out. Fling them at others, don’t give me commands!” (Homer, 104) Though Achilles is the mightiest warrior alive, he is unreliable, compulsive to every whim and feeling of discontent. Hector, on the contrary, is

The Greek Heroes are portrayed as godlike in their stories such as the Iliad and the Odyssey they are the main characters. These heroes were subjected to the toy like treatment from opposing gods. Demonstrating her superiority, Athena uses her divine powers to trick Hector into fighting Achilles “Athena luring him (Hector) on with all her immortal cunning….” (186-187). Athena had to forcibly trick Hector into fighting Achilles because hector was afraid of the Greek hero. This can show that the god simply adjusted the battle to favor her pawn Achilles.

It is not uncommon for the gods to make appearances in the Iliad, and Achilles is no exception. He receives help from the supernatural on multiple occasions, much like an epic hero would. The most significant divine intervention Achilles received was by Athena, the goddess of wisdom. “Now let’s get tough and fight and not spare Any spears. Either Achilles kills us both…Or he goes down with your spear in his guts,” Athena said to Hector, pretending to be Deiphobus which deceives Hector into fighting Achilles (Puchner Book XXII, 270-272). There is no arguing whether or not Achilles received help from the gods, as he did on multiple occasions. Athena even helps him again in his battle versus Hector by returning his spear after a missed throw. It is the actions like these that craft Achilles into an epic hero, he isn’t asking for the help, but he receives it anyways because it is his destiny to become the epic hero. At points such as these, it seems as if mortal men don’t have much control over their destiny and that the gods are manipulating the outcomes. This can also be seen when Athena prevents Achilles from attack Agamemnon.

In the center of ancient Greek history are the big heroes, Gods and Goddesses but one of the heroes described with mastery is Achilles the Greek hero who is not described with disdain like other Greek heroes but with more love. The wrath of Achilles and the death of Hector, the biggest hero amongst Trojans, are described with rare mastery and love for Achilles despite the fact that he commits a cruel deed by killing Hector, the beloved Trojan hero and rapes his dead body. Although Agamenon, Achilles, and Hector were great heroes, they were quite different in their personalities, characteristics and values.

He castigates his brother for lacking the stellar character necessary to lead a people, saying, “When you appear as champion-champion beauty- But have no strength, nor character, nor courage” (Homer, Iliad, Book 6: 44 - 45). In the lines, Homer explores two central aspects of the hero: in the first case, the hero forsakes brotherly bonds in order to cater to the needs of their people. Hector, despite his love for his brother, is aware of the danger represented by his lapse in traditional courtesy as well as the duty expected of a prince. On the other hand, Hector fails in his own duties to his city for though he castigates his brother, he fails to prevent his brother. However, in book 9 Homer revisits the concept of a hero’s duties to his people as well as his gods. Bidding farewell to Andromache whose visions plague her, Hector makes it clear that his duty offer him no leeway over the matter of battle with the Achaeans. His understanding of the obligations placed upon him by society is such that they negate any fears over his mortality of loss in the event of death. Thus, he