FREE ESSAY ON HECTOR VS ACHILLES

HECTOR VS ACHILLES

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.