Real Hero in The Iliad
A hero refers to
characters who, in the face of danger and adversity, display courage and the
will for self-sacrifice that is, heroism for some greater good of all humanity.
In the epic ‘Iliad’ Achilles, King of the Myrmidons, and Hector, prince of
Troy, struck me as the most sharply contrasted characters. I found that Hector
had more bravery than Achilles. Hector
displayed more courage and he was the better man all around. In my opinion,
Hector is the real hero of the epic.
While Achilles and Hector are both leaders of
their people, Hector seems to lead with more maturity. His men respect him
because he, in turn, is respectful of them. Hector is a man of action, he leads
by doing. His men are inspired to fight because they see their captain doing
the same. Hector has more self control, while at times Achilles behaves like a
two year old who flies into a rage at the drop of a hat. Achilles appears
respected and revered only through the fear that he instils. People are
terrified of his incredible tantrums and therefore allow him to do as he
pleases.
Killing seems associated with being similar to a
god. Hector is referred to as "godlike" only when he is triumphing
over the corpse of a fallen Greek soldier. I found it interesting that the gods
assist both Achilles and Hector in their respective battles. I would think that
the gods would help Hector more, because he was a just man, but Hector is
handed victory by Zeus only for a short time, while Achilles always appears to
have divine intervention. This seems unfair, as Hector is the more "god fearing"
of the two. Achilles seems to appeal to the gods only when he needs something.
As leaders of their armies, Achilles and Hector
have huge responsibilities. Achilles is the deciding factor in the war. Hector
is "the lone defense of
Troy" and he has every Trojan depending on him. How both men handle
their responsibilities reveals a lot about their moral character and maturity
level. Achilles' refusal to join the battle until the very end is due mainly to
his squabble with Agamemnon. An underlying reason may be the fact that he knows
he will die. Hector, too, knows that his death is a possibility, yet his
loyalty and sense of duty will not allow him to stay home. An indicator of
Hector's selflessness is that he is fighting for his brother in a war that his
brother began!
One of the most powerful moments in the book is
when Hector returns home to see his family. In the midst of all the carnage, we
see another side to the brave Trojan warrior. He smiles and laughs, he speaks
lovingly to his wife and admires his infant son. Homer may have revealed this
"softer" side of Hector as a way of making Achilles more appealing to
his Greek audience. After all, a "real man" or "real hero"
would never leave the battlefield just to see his family! However, when reading
the book in modern times, Hector comes across as the more valiant, well-rounded
and noble of the two men.
Hector's courage is even more admirable when one
considers the culture from which he came. Troy was a peaceful civilization and
the people were not war-faring by nature. Hector remains steadfast in his beliefs and decisions, never
wavering. Achilles, coming from a more violent culture, does not possess the
"people skills" or rationality of Hector. He acts on impulse,
violence is his native element. He is inconsistent and contradicts himself.
To sum up we can say that Hector
was the only character whose death truly had an impact on me. The introduction
points out that the name Hector means "holder'. Hector was the holder of
Troy’s well being and that is why he deserves to be called the true hero of the
Iliad.
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