Hector And Achilles Essay, Research Paper

In The Iliad, many of the male characters display heroic characteristics

consistent with the heroic warrior code of ancient Greece. They try to win glory

in battle, yet are often characterized as having a distinctly human side. They

each have certain strengths and weaknesses, which are evident at many times

throughout the conflicts described in The Iliad. Prime examples of such

characters are Achilles and Hector. These two characters have obvious

differences in their approaches to fitting the heroic mold to which they both

try to conform. However, despite their differences and the fact that they are

fighting for opposing armies and meet each other with hatred in battle, they

also have numerous similar traits that logically lend themselves to a comparison

between the two men. They both display behavior that could be described as

heroism. The first way in which Achilles, who fights for the Greeks, and Hector,

who fights for the Trojans, act differently is how they approach war and the

inevitable violence and death that accompany it. Although Achilles knows that he

is fated to be killed in battle, when his faithful and devoted friend Patroclus

is mercilessly and dishonorably cut down in combat, he puts aside his pride and

chooses to temporarily forget about his previous feuds with Agamemnon that have,

up until now, prevented him from participating in the war. He joins the fighting

with a deadly and vengeful mindset that will likely play a major factor in the

outcome of the war. Today, this lust for revenge might be considered a glaring

character flaw. However, this passion for retribution undoubtedly conforms to

the heroic code of Greek society. Meanwhile, Hector is full of indecision and

reluctance about whether to take part in the war. He too believes that fate has

dictated that he will be killed in battle. He spends much time with his pleading

wife Andromache, who begs him not to go to war, both for his sake and for his

family?s. He does not want to die and thus widow Andromache, leaving her

"at the loom of another man." Indeed, when he bids farewell to his

young son Astyanax, clothed in his shining war gear with gleaming helmet

complete with plume crest (the quintessential picture of a bold Greek soldier

going off to battle, which today is a symbol of courage, bravery, and true

heroism), Astyanax cries with fright, showing that bravery and heroism in war

cannot coexist with the care and love that a father shows to his son. Thus,

while Hector is indeed heroic is his departure for the war, his human side is

overshadowed by this. Another situation in which Hector and Achilles use

different approaches to behave as heroes is in Book Twenty-Two, the main section

in which Hector and Achilles and their separate personalities and character

traits interact. Hector, now courageous as ever and boldly confronting his fate,

decides to remain outside the ramparts of the fortified city, within which the

rest of his supporters that might defend him are safely secure. Priam,

Hector?s father, upon seeing the advancing Achilles, implores Hector to

retreat behind the safety of the walls, but to no avail. Pride and honor play a

role in preventing Hector from backing down. Hector?s fearless confrontation

of his destiny is an extremely heroic action. However, then Hector flees from

Achilles, behavior quite unlike that of a hero. One might infer that now

Hector?s human instinct of survival is playing a role. This illustrates a

seemingly-common conflict among characters who might be considered heroes: the

internal contest between the heroic code within the character and the human

emotions and instincts that sometimes present contradictory impulses to the

heroic code. Each hero responds in a different manner to this conflict. Hector,

in this case, decides to react upon his human impulses and flees from Achilles,

who instantly gives chase. After a cunning trick by Athena which causes Hector

to decide to stand his ground and fight, perhaps the most conspicuous

contradiction between a warrior?s heroic code and the warrior?s human side

is evident. Achilles, vengeful and bloodthirsty, kills Hector in a manner,

which, by today?s standards, would be unnecessarily cruel and barbaric. He

allows Hector to die a slow and agonizing death, after which he shamelessly

desecrates the body, without caring in the least about the feelings of

Hector?s family and supporters. These actions are undeniably consistent with

the heroic warrior code of the Greeks, which puts tremendous value on valiance

in battle and merciless retribution. Nevertheless, even the most valiant and

stonehearted soldier must have a human side, which definitely must object to the

savage and brutal killing that is ubiquitous in war. On the other hand, when

Achilles and his soldiers get some type of obscene pleasure and glee from

repeatedly and grotesquely stabbing Hector?s lifeless and bloody corpse,

another kind of human emotion is being displayed. This is the pent-up anger and

hostility that builds up during one?s quest for revenge or simply battle,

being directed towards the most apparent figure or symbol that represents the

source of this hatred. So, it might be concluded that the heroic code and the

human emotions might not conflict with each other after all. When Achilles

decides to return Hector?s body to his father, Priam, so that it might be

honorably buried, he is violating the unfeeling and uncompassionate heroic code

to which he earlier tried so hard to conform. He has decided to act upon the

nobler human quality of pity and sympathy and another?s loss, even when the

loss is that of a hated enemy. Truly, in this scenario, Priam had to simply draw

on the common bond through which all humans feel linked, for no amount of

rational thought would have swayed Achilles to make this compromise of

principle. Ultimately, this is an excellent way to end the narrative of The

Iliad, for it shows that Achilles, the character with which the reader most

often identifies, has exhibited his independence from the heroic code and that

he is capable of making decisions that have no basis in precedence, and that he

is able to choose his own destiny and live his own philosophy, and one who

accomplishes this is truly a hero by anyone?s standards. A careful comparison

of the actions and thoughts of the two characters provides the reader with a

perhaps unexpected insight. It seems that while Hector is indeed possessive of a

human side, in that he is afraid of dying in war, he loves his wife and family,

and does not at first want to accept his fate, Achilles is, in fact, the more

human one. He uses both his human emotions and the warrior code that he learned

since childhood appropriately and in proportion, so that there is the least

friction between the two and so that the resulting actions are indeed admirable

and praiseworthy. He is able to construct a perfect formula containing both the

heroic code and the human mind that presents the most ideal result. Achilles

seems to have successfully navigated his way through the heroic progression in

this manner. Thus, both Hector and Achilles behave as heroes throughout The

Iliad. While they both try to win glory in war for their families, their

country, and themselves, they both have certain strengths and weaknesses in

their character that dictate their very different courses of action and their

thoughts. They are both presented with conflicts and dilemmas throughout the

story, the resolutions of which must be made using both their intuitive human

side and their aggressive heroic side, and it appears as if Achilles meets with

the most success in this difficult task. Therefore, the heroic warrior code and

the human conscience present certain contradictions to which the characters must

respond in order to survive and in order to achieve their goals.