Throughout history writings have portrayed men of greatness, through epic journeys, mythological engagement, and triumphant warriors or as a combination of the aforementioned. In Homer’s epic the Iliad, there is great story that encompasses all of those traits focusing mainly on the aspect of war and its surrounding affects. One aspect often over looked is how lineage and birthright are the building blocks of obligation and roles for the characters within the story. Hector a prince of Troy, as many have concluded by now; was a man of loyalty, virtue, courage and obligation. In many era’s those of noble birthright are portrayed with some semblance of Hector’s traits, and why is this? Being born into leadership encompasses many responsibilities engrained from childhood. Homer illustrates these characteristics in hector through his conversations and actions with family and friends. In Example Homer writes:
Hector answered, “Wife, I too have thought upon all this, but with what face should I look upon the Trojans, men or women, if I shirked battle like a coward? I cannot do so: I know nothing save to fight bravely in the forefront of the Trojan host and win renown alike for my father and myself. (142)
Although we start the story with Hector as a middle aged man with wife and child and many years of experience in a battle, I would like to identify the traits imposed on those of noble birth. Early on in many societies where war was a fundamental component of manhood, there was also politics, communicative skills, networking and influence. From the beginning of their comprehension, nobility is raised to personify, bravery, judgment and leadership. Homer provides us insight into Hectors mindset with the following:
Hector answered, “Wife, ...
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...aving his wife and child, he’s forced to stand firm and lead his men into glory. We fantasize about being born into privilege and rarely think about the implication of that status. Hector is charged with uniting forces, communicating battle plans, rallying the forces during crucial moments of battle and self-sacrifice before dishonor. In a culture full of strife were the warriors is held with esteem and everyone else aspires to be remembered, Hector held strong. In this day and age we still have a semblance of that culture thriving through sports and military operations. But can we compare ourselves to a culture that lives in constant strife for notoriety? The answer to this in my opinion is no.
Works Cited
Homer. The Iliad. World Literature Anthology Through the Renaissance. Ed. Linda Silva. Vol. 1. Charles Town, West Virginia: APUS ePress. 2011. 127–93. Ebook.
Hector is a passionate, heroic figure in Black Ships Before Troy because he is willing to stand up for his Kingdom and motivate others to do the same. “Under the city walls men are dying because of the evil you wrought ten years ago! Up know, leave this playing with your weapons as though they were toys. Get your armour on and join them!” (Sutcliff 36).
In The Iliad, Hector isn't always shown as a courageous character. In book 18, Achilles discovers Patroclus is dead. Upon the realization that Hector is to blame, he is ready to rejoin the fight against Troy. The Trojans start to lose their courage until hearing Hector’s speech in which he says, “Tomorrow at daybreak armed to the hill for battle we slash to attack against their deep curved Hills!...I for one, I'll never run from his grim assault.(18.353-357)” In
"Andromache, dear one, why so desperate? Why so much grief for me? No man will hurl me down to Death, against my fate. And fate? No one alive has ever escaped it, neither brave man nor coward, I tell you it 's born with us the day that we are born. So please go home and tend to your own tasks, the distaff and the loom, and keep the women working hard as well. As for the fighting, men will see to that, all who were born in Troy but I most of all" (Homer 6. 579-589). These particular lines demonstrate Hectors ' loyalty to his family and how far he is willing to go for his family. He is willing to die for his family but before he does, he starts to ensure that his family remains safe. Family seems to a driving factor in Hectors ' life, which could be viewed as a negative thing. For him to drop everything in the world for his family, even risk his life for them could stab him in the back if he let it. For example, if his wife was in grave peril and he had to choose between the lives of his people during a war or her life, he would choose her life but a smart leader would choose the lives of his
“ My Hector. It is for him I have come to the Greek ships, to get him back from you. I’ve brought a fortune in ransom. Respect the gods, Achilles. Think of your own father, and pity me. I am more pitiable. I have born what no man who has walked this earth has ever yet borne. I have kissed the hand of the man who killed my son” ( Book 2...
There are four qualities that make up the Homeric code, which both Hector and Odysseus possess. The first is a common quality that all heroes have. To help one’s friends while harming one’s enemies. Hector and Odysseus both do this in the Trojan War, throughout the Iliad. Hector is helping his friends and harming his enemies by fighting for Troy. Odysseus does the same by fighting for the Greeks. Hector demonstrates the second characteristic, being the bravest and best of others. He accepts Achilles’ challenge, Hector is being brave and very much a hero because he knows that if he doesn’t he will lose his pride and that Achilles will destroy the Trojans if Hector doesn’t fight him. Hector is also demonstrating the third trait of a Greek hero, to stand fast and firm in battle. Odysseus is a speaker of words and a doer of deeds, the last characteristic, in the Odyssey. One instance is when his f...
Homer. The Illiad. The Norton Anthology of World Masterpieces: Expanded Edition?Volume I. ed. by Maynard Mack. New York: W.W. Norton & Company, 1995.
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.
The Iliad presents a full range of valorous warriors: the Achaians Diomedes, Odysseus, and the Aiantes; the Trojans Sarpedon, Aeneas, and Glaukos. These and many others are Homer’s models of virtue in arms. Excelling all of them, however, are the epic’s two central characters, Achilleus, the son of Peleus and, Hector, the son of Priam. In these two, one finds the physical strength, intense determination, and strenuous drive that give them first place within their respective armies. Further, in their inner struggles they together present a complete archetype of the hero. The Homeric vision of the hero presents Achilleus and Hektor resolving the paradox of embodying the ideals of their communities and at the same time standing utterly apart from their fellow humans. This conflict between alienation from and integration with all of humankind first arises in the question of the heroes’ motives; this implies different choices of Other or Self, in which one finds implications for leadership and response to human fate, respectively. It is the struggle of interests and destinies—their own against their communities’—that takes them beyond the frame of ordinary human life.
Hector’s nobility is the reason that he must return to battle, because he must fight for the land that he loves, otherwise, he would be considered a coward and would no longer be considered honorable. Hector again demonstrates this trait in Book Twelve. The Trojans are attempting to invade into the Achaean camp and an eagle flies overhead carrying a snake, which is an unfortunate sign for the Trojans. Polydamas notices this sign and exclaims to Hector: “Stop the attack, don’t fight them at their ships! All will end as the omen says, I do believe” (12.249-250). Polydamas begs Hector to reconsider their barrage at the Achaeans because of the ominous sign that appeared to them. Hector’s honor is questioned and this provokes Hector to give a stern reply to
When facing their doom, an individual will make promises, sacrifices, and seek concessions in order to delay or avoid it. The legendary Hector “will lay down all (his) weapons” (22.126) and consider groveling as a strategy. This champion of Troy with his strict code of conduct, instantly debases himself. This is completely out of character for Hector. It “shows Hector 's nearly insane desperation” (Farron, 53). He dreams of negotiation with Achilles. In his delusion, he fantasizes surrendering “Helen / and everything Paris brought back with her” (22.129-130) and offering Achilles “all the treasure in Troy’s citadel” (22.137). Hector speculates appeasing Achilles may spare his life and the decimation of Troy. Imagine Hector, the would-be king, descending into a sort of madness, eyes darting furtively back and forth, as he plots his escape. Can he actually believe in a successful resolution to his dilemma? As inconceivable as this may sound, Hector’s thoughts briefly pondered the likelihood of this. He would bargain for his life. Hector cannot fathom the gravity of this moment. Achilles has no regard for his own life, Menelaus’ honor, his place in the annals of Greece, or treasure. He will not allow Patroclus’ death to go unavenged. Achilles will not negotiate over Hector’s or Troy’s salvation. His wife and parents desperately beg him to stay within the walls, knowing Hector’s death was
Throughout the Iliad, Homer portraits the extent to which honor plays a role in the lives of Greeks and the manner in which they are willing to sacrifice in order to reach their goals. The Iliad is set during the Trojan War, a particularly long and bloody war, fought not over boundary disagreements, and not over political conflicts, and not to protect the nation. Rather, it was a war fought to defend the personal honor. The possession of women was important to a man’s standing and honor. Paris’ theft of Helen struck a huge blow to the honor of Menelaus and becomes the initial cause of the Trojan War. Consequently, Menelaus, the Spartan ruler, called upon his brother Agamemnon to gather the Greek forces to launch the war against Paris demanding the return of Helen and reinstating the honor for the king. The war lasted for ten years and cost innumerable Greeks’ lives and brought incurable pain upon their families. To Greek heroes, honor is more important than their life as much as that life would be meaningless without it, and they even willingly sacrifice their lives in order...
The Greek epic, Iliad written by Homer features descriptions of the events in the Trojan war. The Trojan war was conflict between the Greeks and the city of Troy which features the greatest warrior of Troy, Hector. Hector’s obligation to fight with his city and comrades interferes with his relationship with his wife. Although they love each other, their values and beliefs contrast. His wife, Andromache believes that family is more important than risking your life for honor. This situation between husband and wife illustrates the different way characters values are expressed throughout the epic.
... By Homer making Hector the defender of troy, it allows him to appear less violent compared to the Achaeans. He is devolped as a pleasant protector, who is also a intelligant, strong soilder. He stays calm with his brother which showed his forgivness and love for his brother. Although, Hector has these positive traits, He does has his downfall. He allows his pride to take control while Achilles is away from battle and kills Achilles cousin, Patroclus. In return Hector is killed by Achilles anger and then tainted. Hector was distained to death before his pride took place, however he often over talked his abilities in a haughty way, and this contributated to his death. As Proverbs 16:18 says "Pride goes before destruction, a haughty spirit before a fall." Homer uses Hector and Achilles, along with others, to inspire readers to be rightous, humble, and respectful.
In Homer’s The Iliad he tells of the battles and events during the time of a quarrel between King Agamemnon and the warrior Achilles. This was just a small portion of the Trojan War that had lasted ten years. The Iliad shares the ideas of the glory of war, military values over family life, and the impermanence of human life and its creation. One thing that Homer does is characterize the two different warriors Achilles and Hector. These two great warriors both show different kinds of traits that shape the character they become throughout the The Iliad. Achilles is the main hero in The Iliad, but Homer subliminally tries to persuade the reader that Hector is the true hero in this story.
Hector is just mainly a good person. He has his flaws just like every other person who ever lived, but it seems as if his strengths outweighed his flaws. Hector loves his wife and his son more than he loves himself. He was loyal to his wife and wanted the very best for his son. He left them to go fight because he knew it was what he had to do for Troy (Homer 79). In today’s world, people do not merely look for someone who is a great warrior, but also someone who is an overall good person. Hector is very brave and reasonable. He is very courageous and will fight for his country no matter what the cost. Hector does not act like a child in difficult situations like Achilles does, but he acts like a mature man. Along with Hector being a good person, he is also a great warrior on top of all that. The modern world needs somebody they can look up to who acts in a positive way. Hector never turned against his own country like Achilles did when he wanted Zeus to be on the Trojan’s side (Homer 13). The people in ancient times chose Achilles rather than Hector merely because Achilles is an outstanding warrior and he is part god. Fighting is what Achilles excels at, and at that time, that was really the only aspect that mattered. It does not matter that Achilles is selfish, stubborn, and prideful, as long as he can fight well for his country. The Greeks were actually hurt by this because Achilles did not even end up fighting for his country until his best friend died. His stubbornness outweighed his greatness (Homer 178). Achilles was the greatest warrior physically, but he was far from the greatest