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.
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
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.
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 world that Homer shows in the Iliad is a violent one, where war is not only a means of gaining wealth, but also the arena in which a man demonstrates his worth. The Greek army gathered in front of the walls of Troy exhibits the weaknesses and strengths of the Homeric world. Greece is not one nation, and the army of Greeks mirrors this. It is a collection of small city-states with a common culture and a common language, capable of coming together for a great enterprise, but also capable of being driven apart by petty squabbling. The common culture is based on acceptance of characteristics seen as virtuous: xeineia, or hospitality; agathos, the successful warrior; oikos, which means from noble birth; keleos, glory; pine, honor, which is a central motif throughout the Iliad; and finally, the ultimate virtue of arête, which stands for goodness or excellence and encompasses the other virtues. For Homer, a good man must be of noble family, strong, brave in battle, and wealthy. Earthly possessions show that a man has initiative and has the esteem of others. But the most important qualification to be considered a good man is honor, because honor is gained, not born into.
Throughout the Iliad, heroic characters make decisions based on a specific set of principles, which are referred to as the “code of honor.” The heroic code that Homer presents to readers is easy to recognize because the heroic code is the cause for many of the events that take place, but many of the characters have different perceptions of how highly the code should be regarded. Hector, the greatest of the Trojan warriors, begins the poem as a model for a hero. His dedication and firm belief in the code of honor is described many times throughout the course of the Iliad. As a reward for heroic traits in battle, prizes were sometimes awarded to victors of war. In Book 1 Achilles receives Chryseis as a prize and a symbol of honor. Heroism had its rewards and its setbacks which ultimately was the backbone of the Illiad in the case of Achilles prize. Hector, arguably the greatest Trojan warrior or even the bravest of the Homeric heroes is very fierce and fights for what he believes is his destiny. In book VI Hector expresses his bravery when Andromache pleads with Hector not to fight when Hector says, “But I would die of shame to face the men of Troy and the Trojan woman trailing their long robes if I would shrink from battle now, a coward. Nor does the sprit urge me on that way. I’ve learned it all too well. To stand up bravely, always to fight in the front ranks of Trojan soldiers, winning my father great glory, glory for myself” (VI, 387).
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
... 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.
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...
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 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
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.
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