The epic poem, The Iliad by Homer depicts the Trojan War and its Heroes. Heroism is the qualities of a character of a person that makes them great. Two characters seen as heroic are Achilles and Hector, however; Achilles is more heroic because of his audacity, allegiance, compassion.
Heroism can be defined as the pursuit of good through warfare. Achilles is more heroic than Hector because more action occurs by the time Achilles engages in battle. Achilles is audacious because his recklessness drives him to the point of seeing the destructions of every last Achaean. Hector is audacious because despite the difficulties he faces, he still fights. While Achilles is holding the story back, Hector moves it forward. Achilles’s allegiance to Patroclus makes him great because Achilles realizes the only way to avenge Patrocolus’s death was to join the battle. Hector’s allegiance is also as well important because even though he knows the Trojans are losing, he fights. Achilles becomes compassionate when the King of Troy kneels before Achilles begging for Hector’s defiled body. Hector shows compassion towards his family by telling Achilles before his combat to return his body to Troy.
Achilles’s audacity brings about the destruction of many Achaeans. The story begins with Agamemnon arguing with a priest because he wanted his daughter back. Achilles being as logical as possible tells Agamemnon to return the girl and that his warriors would find him an even greater war prize. Agamemnon short tempered as he is assumes Achilles is trying to hold on to his war prize while he had to give his away and they begin to biker. After the girl was returned Agamemnon sent his men to take Achilles war prize. Because Achilles was so bound to this principle...
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...ctor fighting with all his strength he loses because Achilles was half-divine. Not quite satisfied after ripping his armor off Hector’s body, he drags Hector’s body that hung out of his chariot three times around Troy’s palace and took the body with him. After six days past, the King of Troy, Priam, kneeled in front of Achilles begging for Hector’s body back so that he could do a proper burial. Achilles would not budge but then Priam mentioned Achilles father and Achilles returned the body. When Priam mentioned Achilles’s father, Achilles realized that one day the same might happen to his body where his father goes and beg and they would not return his body. He also realized that after all he went through he allowed his anger to get the best of him after he had already killed Hector but through Priam’s words he has become less self-absorbed and more compassionate.
... in Achilles’ armor once the battle started getting direr, particularly for some of Achilles’ greatest friends. Finally, after Patroclus is killed, Achilles returns to battle, distraught over Patroclus’ death. Through the virtues and heroism of the Achaean heroes: Diomedes’ courage and oratory skill in reinvigorating the troops; Agamemnon’s honesty in admitting himself as the cause for Achilles’ rage and providing enormous wealth and honor to Achilles in an attempt to atone for his mistake; Nestor’s wisdom in selecting the three most likely to be successful; Phoenix’s favor with Zeus preventing Zeus from interfering against them while they attempted to bring Achilles back to the battle; Odysseus’ skill as an eloquent orator in his attempt to convince Achilles; all of this together eventually led to the mission of returning Achilles to the battle being successful.
In Webster’s Dictionary, a hero is defined as a person noted for courageous acts or nobility of purpose, especially if this individual has risked or sacrificed his life. In the Iliad and the Odyssey, the code which administers the conduct of the Homeric heroes is a straightforward idea. The aim of every hero is to achieve honor. Throughout the Iliad and the Odyssey, different characters take on the role of a hero. Honor is essential to the Homeric heroes, so much that life would be meaningless without it. Thus, honor is more important than life itself.
The Ancient Greeks admired their heroes and tried to learn from both their achievements and their mistakes. They believed that most great leaders and warriors followed a predictable behavior cycle, which often ended tragically. In Homer’s epic poem, The Iliad, Achilles is a great warrior who traces the stages of the behavior cycle twice, from arete to hubris to ate and then to nemesis. Achilles is a highly skilled warrior and a great leader who becomes a narcissist and an arrogant person, which leads to selfish and childish behavior resulting in the death of his best friend. Following Patroclus’ death, Achilles repeats the behavior cycle by regaining his courage and motivation, and goes back to battle against Hector. The pride he feels in killing Hector and his overpowering hatred for him, leads Achilles to another bad decision: disrespecting the body of his enemy. This foolish choice leads directly to Achilles death. Although The Iliad is mainly known as a story about the Trojan War, it is understood as a story about Achilles and his struggle to be a hero.
Throughout time people have looked up to heroes. Hero can be mighty fictional people who save a damsel in distress to just your everyday person who helps out another. Hector, killer of men, led the Trojan army as their greatest warrior. Pat Tillman was a man who left a successful football career behind in order to join the army. However he was later killed in combat with an official story saying that he was shot by an enemy, but it was later revealed that he was killed by friendly fire. In the epic poem The Iliad, Hector is seen as a brave and selfless hero and shares these traits with the modern-day hero Pat Tillman.
Throughout the text, major characters seem to be at constant battle with their different emotions. This inner conflict is mirrored by the everyday conflicts between the gods. Just as Zeus and Hera are constantly at odds with one another, so are the different sides of Achilles: his cultural responsibility, pride, honor, and revenge. No one is completely at peace with his or her conflicting emotions in The Iliad – and therefore, neither are the gods, who represent these emotions. Hector is a prime example of a human who finds himself torn between two forces: his love for his growing family, and his duty as a prince of Troy. He admits to Andromache that he worries about his own mortality, but emphasizes that “I would die of shame to face the men of Troy…if I would shrink from battle now, a coward.” (Homer 6: 523, 525). Hector’s deeply ingrained sense of honor and loyalty to home is clearly established in the beginning of the text. Therefore, when Zeus later grants Hector “power to kill and kill till you cut your way to the benched ships” (Homer 11: 241-242), it is not too much of a stretch to attribute Hector’s dodged perseverance to his upbringing and rigid sense of duty, rather than to the
In Book 21, Achilles kills a hostage at his mercy, whose life he has sparred in the past. By the end of Book 21, Achilles has killed so many Trojan’s that the river is clogged with the bodies of his victims. Achilles behaves without a care for human life, as well as his treatment toward Hector before and after he kills him. As stated in Blucher’s article, Achilles is found to go berserk, committing atrocities to both living and dead. This, for Shay, is the story of the Iliad and also as Shay goes on to demonstrate, the story of many Vietnam combat veterans”. (Blucher). Before their battle Hector begs Achilles to honor his corpse if he is killed in war, and Achilles refuse, saying, “Don’t try to cut any deals with me, Hector. Do lions make peace treaties with men? Do wolves and lambs agree to get along? No, they hate each other to the core, And that’s how it is between you and me, No talk of agreements until one of us Falls and gluts Ares with his blood” (Homer). His statement of intent to dishonor Hector’s corpse and to damage the body after his enemy’s death, shows that he had anger towards his superiors. The most disturbing portrayal from Achilles is his behavior, when Hector’s father Priam meets with him to ask for Hector’s body. This show Achilles’ anger is driven by rage towards other superior officers in the
The Iliad, the Greek epic documented by Homer that describes the battles and events of the ten year siege on Troy by the Greek army. Both Trojans and Greeks had their fair share of heroes and warriors, but none could match the skill and strength of the swift runner, Achilles. Achilles had the attributes of a perfect warrior with his god-like speed and combat abilities. However, even though he was Greek’s greatest warrior, he still possessed several flaws that made him fit the role of the Tragic Hero impeccably. Defined by Aristotle, a Tragic Hero is someone who possesses a high status of nobility and greatness, but must have imperfections so that mere mortals cannot relate to the hero. Lastly, the Tragic Hero’s downfall must be partially their own fault through personal choice rather than by an evil act, while also appearing to be not entirely deserved of their unfortunate fate. Achilles is a true Tragic Hero because he withholds all of these traits. Achilles proves to be a good man that puts his loved ones first, reveals his tragic flaws of pride and anger, shows dynamic qualities as a character when his flaws are challenged, and has a moment of clarity at the end of his rage. Achilles truly exemplifies the qualities of a Tragic Hero.
First, we can discuss the men themselves. Hector was a mortal. He was the son of a King and a queen. Hector had a family of his own which was his life. In addition to his family Hector loved the people of Troy and he had their best interest. Achilles on the other hand was “strong, swift, and godlike” (233). Achilles’ mother was the daughter of a god. Thetis was a sea goddess who did everything she could to protect her son, Achilles, and make him immortal. Also, Achilles was an only child. Since Achilles was an only child, it is clearly displayed how his mother baby’s her little boy. She turns to the God’s to assist him, she is always there to comfort him, and she has a new suit of armor built for him to go back to war and slay Hector. Second, they were different for the reasons why they fought. Achilles fought for military glory, recognition, and to become a legend. His mother says, “Now you are destine for both an early death and misery beyond compare” (240). Achilles chose a short life with a lot of glory over a long life with no glory. Achilles wanted to be a legend and a well respected warrior. Hector had a humanistic approach. He fought to protect his people and bring peace to his land. Achilles fought and lived for war, while Hector was really a family man. Achilles ran off of rage and passion, which is shown after the death of his friend Patroclus. “Over the sea and the dunes, he would hitch Horses to
Although Achilles and Hector are both leaders of men, Hector leads with a mature sense that gives his men reason to respect him. In turn, Hector respects his men which gives fulfillment to both parties. Hector is not a man to sit around and mull over strategies and ideas - Hector is a man of action. His men are inspired to fight because they see their captain fighting as well. Hector fights for belief and respect while Achilles fights out of rage and rashness. Achilles is not respected by his men, rather he is feared. Nobody wants to receive the blunt of the attack when Achilles randomly flies into a rage, therefore his men are terrified of him and allow him to do as he pleases.
...sion, Achilles and Hector share many similarities but also have many differences between them. They are both great warriors and leaders of their armies. They thrive to achieve honor, glory, and respect. This is so important for the Ancient Greeks; it is more significant than life itself. However, Achilles is very much an independent character and a selfish person. While Hector is a soldier, an unselfish person, and a loving family man; he cares not for just his own glory but the glory of Troy. Furthermore, the reasons behind Achilles and Hector fighting reflect their personalities: Achilles is selfish so he fights for himself, but Hector is more of a caring character and therefore he fights for Troy and his family. However, overall Achilles is the superior warrior because he slays Hector in just a few moves, and his achievements are exceptional compared to Hector’s.
...battle that Achilles’ ego needed. However, Hector tried to do the right thing by offering the deceased be returned to their respective camps after the battle was over. It is at this point that Achilles is beyond the common courtesies of war and flat out denied Hector’s request. This action by Achilles shows his arrogance and the bloodlust that was truly in his heart rather than the courage that so many people claim that he had.
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.
The first requirement of Aristotle's tragic hero is that they are more admirable than the average character. Achilles meets this requirement because of his ability on the battlefield. In The Iliad, the background to the story is the war between the Greeks and the Trojans. This background is not only the basis for the story overall, but is also the basis for Achilles' own story. This begins when Achilles refuses to join the battle because he is insulted by Agamemnon. This decision results in the action that drives the remainder of the story. Later in the story when Achilles becomes angered and goes to the other extreme, launching into battle and killing ferociously. The significance of this is that it places battle as central to both Achilles' story and to what is important in the setting of the story. Importantly, the aspect that makes Achilles greater than most is his ability o...
...h Agamemnon and wishes that ‘strife could die from the lives of gods and men’… Not to avenge Patroclus by killing Hector would be a renunciation of all that he stands for and has lived by”. Even though “sorrow fell on Achilles like a cloud” (216), he went back out to the battlefield and killed Hector. It took a great deal of bravery for Achilles to face the man who killed his best friend but Achilles, being the hero that he was, got back into battle and killed him because he couldn’t let Patroclus’ death go unavenged.
Even though The Iliad is a Greek epic poem Homer is really getting at how Hector was a better hero than Achilles or even the Hero of The Iliad. Homer shows Achilles as a selfish, disgraceful warrior that does not care about the lives of his fellow countrymen and even wish for their deaths. Achilles is put in a repulsive light while Hector is seen in a captivating way. He is a family that puts his life down for his family and City. Homer actually made Hector the real hero in The Iliad.