The Iliad by Homer: Book VI

In almost all instances of war the cause has been related to greed, or the gaining of land and possessions. Greed is presented in the very first book of Homer’s “The Iliad.” It isn’t displayed by the cowards, but the “heroes” of the war such as Agamemnon, Achilles, and Pandarus. The entire cause of the Trojan War is the result of the greedy and cowardly behavior of Paris. There are many factors that had sparked the war, including the interference of the gods; however, the main factor to be blamed for the war is greed.

“As is the generation of leaves, so is that of humanity. The wind scatters the leaves on the ground, but the live timber burgeons with leaves again in the season of spring returning. So one generation of men will grow while another dies” (6.146-50)

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

Hector fights for his own kleos and for the glory of Troy, and leaves his family behind for it. His desire to leave his legacy behind is greater than his love for family. However, he realizes that there is more than one way to leave a legacy behind. Despite leaving his family behind, he hopes that his son will supplant him praying to Zeus “Zeus, all you immortals! Grant this boy, my son, may be like me, first in glory among the Trojans, strong and brave like me, and rule all Troy in

In Homer’s epic, the Iliad, the legendary, has no two characters that are so similar yet so different as Greek warrior, Achilles, and the Prince of Troy, Hector. Achilles is the strongest fighter in the Greek side, and Hector is the strongest Trojan. They are both put into the mold of a hero that their respective societies have put them into; however; it is evident that they are both extremely complex characters with different roles within their society and with their families, and with the gods.

Although his father Priam begs Hector to retreat behind the safety of the walls, knowing Achilles will most likely kill the last of his sons, Hector believes this is his fate to fight Achilles. Pride and honor play a role in preventing Hector from backing down. However this is where Achilles turns out to be more hero-like than Hector as Hector backs off when he is confronted with Achilles one on one. Each hero responds in a different manner to this conflict. Hector, in this case, decides to flee from Achilles, who chases him. Achilles, vengefully kills Hector with a spear to the throat which is the only part of Hector‘s body which isn't covered with Patroclus‘ armor. After Hector dies Achilles shamelessly desecrates the body and allows Greek soldiers to "have a piece of Hector" by cutting him. These actions do not follow the warrior code of the Greeks, which in turn angers the gods. When Achilles and his soldiers gain pleasure from repeatedly stabbing Hector's lifeless and bloody corpse, Achilles true nature is shown, and according to the heroic code, this should take away his title as a hero. In my mind Hector was more of a hero than Achilles although Achilles survived and Hector didn't. Hector died for the Trojans and died in the glory of battle whereas Achilles downgrades himself by attacking the lifeless corpse and gains pleasure. Also Achilles takes Hector's body and keeps it as a ransom. Knowing Hector's father,

In book 22, Hector becomes an instrument of fate and is shown no mercy by Achilles. Hector was consistently tricked by Apollo into fighting the battle even though there was no hope of winning. At the end of the book, as Achilles is bounding towards the city of Troy with Hector standing out front. Despite all of the encouragement to come back inside the city walls, Hector remains outfront and faces his death. Ultimately his pride gets the best of him and he would rather stay out and accept his fate of death, then to come inside and receive shame for leading his people into a losing battle in the first place. Hector chooses to leave his city to fend for itself without its greatest warrior to save himself from shame. The parallel between Hector and Achilles leads to a greater understanding of the theme of freedom vs. fate. Hector gives into his pride and accepts the “fate that awaits us all” and Achilles is motivated by freedom and seeks the revenge of his friend ultimately escaping death. Homer makes an excellent statement of this connection between the two men when he writes: “They ran by these springs, pursuer and pursued, a great man out front, a far greater behind” (book

Around the twelfth to thirteenth century B.C. God intervention caused one of the bloodiest wars in history, the Trojan War. The main characters in this war and the story that comes with it (The Iliad) are Achilles the best fighter on the Greek side and Hector the Trojans best warrior. Hector and Achilles were heroes in the story but they were different types of heroes. Achilles is known as the epic hero because he had supernatural help and characteristics but Hector was the modern hero the regular human hero because he was just human and had no supernatural power or help.

This extract from Book 6 of Homer’s The Iliad comes at a point where the Trojans are heavily losing to the Achaeans. Hélenus, son of Priam has instructed Hector to return to the city to gather the elders to tell them to offer prayers to the gods so that goddess Athena may pity Troy. It is interesting that Homer should choose Hector to deliver this message rather than an unimportant character; Homer uses it as a devise to develop Hector and make him a more (if not the most) sympathetic character. He shows his contrasting sides; his family oriented side as opposed to the cruel warrior. The interaction with his child, Astyanax, brings a moment of tenderness and humanises Hector.Hector’s contrasting aspects to his character can be explored through

The Iliad: Book I, is about the conflict between Achilles and Agamemnon in the beginning of the Trojan War. It shows how vigorous Achilles’ rage was and that he is no one to mess with. The book states “Peleus’ son Achilles, murderous, doomed”. This shows his fury in just a few words. Achilles was a Greek hero who was the son of a Goddess named Thetis. He was an incredible solder; brave, violent and godlike. However, Agamemnon was the commander of the Achaean Army. He was greedy, aggressive and selfish. He was described as “the most grasping man alive”. He absolutely hated Achilles. I feel that he was jealous of how respected Achilles was among the ranks in the army because of his superior skills in the field of battle. Agamemnon claimed Chryseis as his prize, after sacking a Trojan town. Chryseis was a daughter of a Priest of Apollo, Chryses. He offered an enormous ransom to get his daughter back. At first Agamemnon didn’t want it but the people round him persuaded him that it would be best to let her go so they could be released from the plague that Apollo put on them. Agamemnon then poised to Achilles that he is going to steal Achilles prize, Briseis. This is when Achilles’ rage shows at its best. He nearly draws his sword to kill Agamemnon but he is stopped by the goddess, Athena.

Now that I have given a rough setting for book 12 of Metamorphoses, I will give a brief background of the battle with Hector. Achilles’ battle with Hector in book 22 of Iliad begins outside of the walls of the city of Troy at the end of the Trojan War. Hector was the last of the Trojan’s outside of the walls, ignoring his father King Priam’s pleads for him to get back to safety inside of the walls of the city. However, Hector believes he must fight for his honor and believes it is more honorable to die as one fighting to defend his city rather than dying an old man. At this same time moment, Achilles is going on a killing spree, because he believes glory is found in the size of the amount of Trojans he kills. This leads to Achilles chasing who he believes is a Trojan, Agenor, but in reality is the god Apollo distracting Achilles. Apollo is acting as a Trojan in order to divert Achilles from his killing of Trojans to save Trojan lives. Achilles’ anger is heightened due to the trick, and is now even more dangerous to Hector. After realizing that Achilles’ anger meant there was no chance of negotiation, Hector chose to run. After three laps around the walls of the city, Zeus began to pity Hector but was dissuaded by Athena who informed him

Lay your commands on others, don’t order me about, for I do not think I shall obey you anymore” (Homer, 10). Again, pride can be defined differently; arrogant, like Achilles, or like Hector, full of dignity and self-worth. Though Hector still has character flaws, arrogance is not one of them. Furthermore, because of the fact that Hector fights in his homeland, Homer is able to fully illustrate the pride he has for Troy and his family. Unlike Achilles, Hector praises and respects the gods, asking them to watch over his son. “O Zeus and all ye heavenly gods! Grant this my son be as notable among our people as I am, and let him be as strong” (Homer 93).

The Iliad is an epic tale of war and hero’s within the Greek way of life. A

In the Homeric society, being an ideal and successful warrior was so critically important to many individuals for the sake of being remembered. Like the love of glory, no one would remember the person for centuries if he/she did not give them a reason to remember he/she. By being a brave and a heroic warrior it gave fame and recognition to the warrior which, in return, made them memorable. In the text it can be seen that Hector will go to great lengths to be the brave warrior that he is. For example, he criticizes his own brother for being a coward when fighting against Menelaus, stating that his charm and good looks are going to get him nowhere in the realm of being a great hero and being remembered. He even stands firm to protect Troy even though he does not agree with the war. Since Hector is the mightiest of warriors for the Trojans, he always leads his army into battle, gives commands, and kills fiercely for the sake of his reputation. His loyalness to the king, his royal position, his country and his army all contribute to him being a brave warrior and for him to receive the glory and being honored.