The word hero can have multiple interpretations depending on whom is asked: an inspirational teacher, a powerful leader, or a long dead philosopher. By definition, a hero is someone, through their achievements, is seen as a role model or someone who would be looked up to and admired. Although, heroes are anything but by the book, so extraordinary, that using a written definition only boxes in these incredible people. A few traits that many heroes possess are generosity, being adventurous and passion. Generosity is an important part of life; if something is created or done and cannot be shared with anyone else, what good is it doing in the world. When one thinks of generosity there are a few individuals who automatically come to mind, …show more content…
“While the Greeks are laying siege to troy, a quarrel breaks out between Agamemnon and his greatest warrior Achilles”(Fitzgerald) the narrator writes. Achilles gets into this argument with the king because he feels he is not getting enough recognition for his true skillfulness on the battlefield. When Achilles faces Hector to avenge Patroclus’ death, he shows his great strength and wisdom when it comes to fighting. “As the Trojan charged, Achilles/ drove his point straight through the tender neck,/ but did not cut the windpipe” (Homer 165-167). By killing Hector in this manner it highlights his dexterity as a fighter, being quick and able to pierce all the way through a neck. Being a great warrior also takes wisdom which he shows by not cutting the windpipe leaving Hector open so that his breathing would not be cut off, ensuring that he could respond as well as have a slow death. These things collectively make Achilles a great …show more content…
He shows this through his dedication to his friend Patroclus. “Achilles with wild fury in his heart/ pulled in upon his chest his beautiful shield” (Homer 149-150). Achilles shows courage when he tries to avenge his friend’s death by going after Hector. The love he felt for Patroclus gave him the courage to get justice. Achilles also showed courage when going to kill Hector. “‘You’ll be/ swift to meet your end, child, as you say:/ your dome comes close on the heels of Hector’s own.’/ ...Achilles… said:/ ‘May it come quickly.’” (Homer 32-36). The prophecy states Achilles will die shortly after Hector, however, he still goes after him, using his courage in order to face him. Even with this knowledge, Achilles faces his death so that Hector can be
A hero is defined as "someone admired for his bravery, great deeds or noble qualities". There are three categories to which all heroes can be classified into, one of which is the anti-hero genre.
His mother, Thetis, portends "that [Achilles] is destined for both an early death and misery beyond compare." (Homer, Book I, 438-439) Achilles fights to achieve eternal glory and to be remembered in history for his warrior efforts. Achilles knows that "If I stay here and fight, I 'll never return home, but my glory will be undying forever. If I return home to my dear fatherland my glory is lost but my life will be long and death that ends all will not catch me soon." (Homer Book IX 425-429) This is reflective of the Greek motivation; making it a personal quest. Fueled by his own desire to kill Hector and avenge the death of Patroclus, Achilles tells Hector that" [t]here are no binding oaths between men and lions- wolves and lambs can enjoy no meeting of the minds- they are all bent on hating each other to the death. So with you and me. No love between us. No truce till one or the other falls and gluts with blood." (Homer Book XXII, 309-314) This type of hero would more appeal to the Greeks hearing or reading the
To take it back ten steps, let's first discuss Achilles' treatment of Hector, before Hector was just a body to be discarded. In Homer's The Iliad, Hector, the son of King Priam and the heir to the Trojan throne, is faced in battle with Achilles, a Greek man made invulnerable to harm (and known for his number of killings), except for a bit of his heel that was not dipped (as he was, as a baby) in the river Styx. Their dual follows the wrongful death of Achilles' close friend Patroclus (who had dressed in Achilles' armor and entered battle) at the hands of Hector. Though Hector was mistaken, and Patroclus' death was arguably unnecessary, Achilles holds Hector accountable, and therefore they meet for battle outside the walls of Troy when Achilles comes seeking Hector, and Hector only.
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.
A hero is a man who is distinguished by exceptional courage, nobility. and strength to carry out tasks that involve great risks. A hero can also be a person who fights for other people to help or save them. from their fears and fears. He opposes the villain - a person who does wicked or intentionally harm others in some way, emotionally or otherwise.
Hector’ willingness to switch up his fighting strategy, something warriors pride themselves on, demonstrates once again how he is a selfless leader, setting aside his pride to benefit his army. In comparison, when Agamemnon hurts Achilles’ pride after he steals Achilles’ girlfriend Briseis, Achilles responds by saying, “ j chb31dcbli3bci3bco1b” Achilles’ decision to leave his army, deeply hurts their chances in battle as he is considered to be the greatest warrior. It’s Achilles’ clear lack of care for his army, that exposes his selfishness. A second example of how Achilles lets his pride detriment his Achaean army, is when Odysseus, Phoinix and Aias visit Achilles, and ask him if he would be willing to return to battle, as the Achaeans were
On the other hand, Hector is an ordinary man. Achilles is sort of portrayed as less mannered and very selfish. He only seems to only be caring about his own pride and selfish purposes. Achilles is very impulsive. He chose to grouch and grumble when, his wife Brisies gets taken away from him by Agamemnon. Therefore, because of this Achilles withdraws from the war. He wished that his people would suffer during the war without his help. On the contrary side Hector is seems more composed and quiet and the love he has for his people and family. Achilles was raised to be a great warrior. Achilles fought for death while Hector fought for peace. Achilles fought for Greece to own Troy and add it to the Greek
...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.
We can see by his ways that he was different that Hector nevertheless he was still a very good warrior. He was known as “The Swift Runner”. Hector was mentioned as the “Long Defense of Troy”, this was very fitting for him because he was someone people looked up too. Having a wife and seeming to be more mature than Achilles, Hector was looked up too by more people and respected because he also respected other. Achilles was full of Arrogance and pride. He would become jealous of his comrades when they would receive better prizes for battles won, Achilles complains “I never get a prize equal to yours when the army captures one of the Trojans strong holds. No, I do all the dirty work with my own hands, and when the battle’s are over and we divide the lot you get the lion’s share and I go back to the ships with some pitiful little things, so worn out from fighting I don’t even have the strength to complain”
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
Zeus is his grandfather of Achilles and also Apollo is his uncle which angers him because he is not a god. When Achilles was a baby, his mother dipped him in the River Styx making him immortal but missed his heel making him not a full god even though he has many noble gods in his family. In the same way, Hector travels to vast settings, Achilles also does but he travels with the Greek Army and not the Trojans and also visits Olympus. He has beyond human speed and also is immortal everywhere except his heel. In the Iliad he is referred to as “godlike Achilles” (Homer I, 8) Achilles shows pride because his is loyal to his friend Agamemnon even though they fight often. Throughout the book, they fight and one fight Achilles said to Agamemnon “You bloated drunk, with a dog’s eyes and a rabbit’s heart,” yet he still stays faithful to him. (Homer I 236-237) He is an excellent warrior because he outruns everyone and wins mostly every fight he is in. Finally, he shows humility and pride when his best friend, Patroclus, dies. Achilles may be hard to be viewed as one because he often withdrawals from battle as Hector states,“You’ve chased them back into their town, but now you’ve veered off here,” but since he fits into these characteristics, he is an epic hero. (Homer XXII
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. Within the first book of the poem, we read that Achilles is considered by many to be "god-like". (King Agamemnon, Book 1, line 154)
...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.
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.
In the poem, Iliad, Achilles and Hector both show relative heroism in their own different ways. Achilles may have been the more popular hero, but Hector had great heroism as well. Each of these characters possess their own different strengths and weaknesses. These two characters both have pride as being one of their main weaknesses. Hector seems as if he would suit best in the modern world, but there are a few different reasons as to why the ancients may have chose Achilles. Hector and Achilles both lost a lot by letting their pride get in the way of their heroism. Both of these characters were their country’s best warrior. Achilles and Hector have very different personalities, and very different ways of approaching situations.