Source Analysis: The Death Of Hector Essay, Research Paper

The Death of Hector is actually just one part of a

larger work. The Iliad was written during the Dark

Ages of Greece by a blind poet named Homer. It

was mainly entertainment, but today has turned into

a significant, though unrealistic History of the Dark

ages of Greece.

The Iliad was written and performed for a bunch of

drunk, barbaric nobles who were the soldiers of the

time. That?s the reason Homer put so much

descriptive battle scenes and gory details. This is

what they wanted; lots of blood, to go with the

drinking and war. It is through this we get our first

accurate picture of the times of ancient Greece: A

backwards, warlike, perpetually drunk society

whose only real interest was to gain respect and

honor by killing everyone else. This makes no

sense, since if you kill everybody for glory, who is

left to honor you? Anyway, this was the main reason

Homer wrote the Iliad. The specific story of the

Death of Hector shows tells the story of Hector, who

wants to fight Achilles outside the city gates. He

refuses his father?s request to come inside and be

protected. In the end he is killed. This entire

episode shows the way one should act. Even if

scared, it is better to die in battle than to live a

coward. This was one of the basic tenants of the

Greek code of conduct. So, not only did the stories

entertain, but they also were the early Greeks code

of conduct. If they were to be a "good Greek", they

were to strive to be like someone in the pantheon of

heroes. This honor code was needed to keep the

people under one standard of honor and loyalty, and

what is good, right, and acceptable. This honor

code existed for many years, until Classical Greece

came around.

From this old piece of literature we can learn about

the ancient Greek way of life. It (supposedly)

accurately shows the ways Greek warriors fought,

and historically, it also tells us some about the

weapons. We can also learn about the code of

conduct that the nobility of the Greeks was expected

to live, and if necessary, die by. This makes the Iliad

the most important, and only, ancient Greek writing

we have.