Comparison of Achilles and Hector in The Iliad

The Homers poem, The Iliad, is the epic poem describing the majorly of the wars that occurred between Trojan and Greek. The poem focuses on two characters considered the same yet they differ in various contexts: the Greek fighter is Achilles, while the Prince of Troy is Hector. Both the characters were the greatest warriors in their respective armies. The paper aims to compare Achilles and Hector, the main protagonists in the poem and to note what the characters reveal about the Greek values.

Comparison and Contrasting the Characters  

            Achilles is the most active fighter on the Greek side while Hector is the strongest among the Trojans. Both the fighters are considered as heroes in their respective societies. Nonetheless, it is evident that the soldiers present extremely complex characters with different roles in their nations, families, and gods. The two worriers lead their armies against each other. Assisted by the supernatural powers, they are the savers of their communities during the battle between the Trojans and Myrmidons. The worriers do not fear to fight for their communities by facing their components. Both the fighters are driven to fight their enemies by anger. On realizing the death of Patroclus, Achilles becomes mad with grief and swears to take revenge on Hector. In Greece, Achilles has a role of an aggressive soldier. From the Book I, Achilles is introduced as a murderous rage.

            Relentless and bold in a fight, the skills of Achilles and Hector make them possess similar features related with men of famous valor including worth, bravely, and honor. Even though they exhibit certain supernatural powers in battle, both warriors are ruled by fare through the mercies of the gods. Despite their similarities, the two differ immensely in their aspirations as seen in their motivations to fight. Also, the warriors have different reasons to join battle: Achilles is passionate about battle while Hector views war as a duty. The most apparent similarity between the to fighters lies in the position they retain in the communities. They are the greatest worriers. As with most Greek epics, both men tend to exhibit human flows. Hector possess impetuous and cowardly behaviors at times despite being the strongest among the Trojans. Pride is among Hector’s flaws that eventually contributed to his death. On the other hand, Achilles has been presented as an angry and stubborn character from the onset of the story. Rage and vengeance determined the actions of Achilles through to the end of the epic, as seen while mutilating Hector’s body.

            Despite their similarities, the two characters differed in various ways. Hector was purely mortal, the son of human king and queen. On the other hand, Achilles had some divine characters considering that the mother (Thetis) was the daughter of the sea god. While a young child, the mother tried feeding Achilles ambrosia, the food that belonged to the gods, to be immortal. In the battle, Achilles received significant assistance in the form of divine intervention trough goddess Athena. Achilles was full of pride and fought for glory. However, considering how Achilles treated Hector after his death, it could be derived that he had no decency. In the first line of the poem, “Sing, O goddess, the anger of Achilles son of Peleus, that brought countless ills upon the Achaeans (1:1) the author describes human emotions that contribute to destruction and doom in the poetic tale of the Trojan War. Achilles’ rage is the main catalyst in the Iliad, which makes him withdraw and later rejoins war with great fury. Based on the poem, Achilles’ rage has several facets: the anger is associated with personal choices and sometimes created by the gods.

            Critics differ in their opinion to the question on who should be considered as the hero in the epic. From the analysis, both Achilles and Hector possess vital qualities to be the heroes of the poem. Both worriers are strong and significant. Nonetheless, they have diverging values and family lives. Hector has a family while Achilles does not. Hector has been presented to be sympathetic because he has a family and fights against all the odds. When it comes to family, Hector puts war aside and devotes full attention and love to his family. Therefore, Hector is highly responsible when it comes to family issues. On the other hand, the only family that Achilles has is his mother, Thetis, and the only close friend is Patroclus whom Hector killed. With rage, Achilles seeks revenge on Hector. When it comes to being close to the family, Achilles only goes to the mother while experiencing bad situations for assistance. Troy suffered the great tragedy due to Achilles’ anger. Hector is viewed to be more honorable than Achilles. Hector understands his role as the defender of Troy. Even though he is devoted to love his family, he never abided by the wish of his wife to remain at home and not go for war. Hector loves his family but must protect the country.

            When Hector faced Achilles with his last breath, he needed an honorable burial from the Trojans. Nonetheless, Achilles denied such requests and resorted to torturing the dead Hector’s body on his chariot, which portrayed disrespect and dishonor. The incident involved the intervention and persuasion from the gods to return the body to Priam. Achilles did not know how to control his anger, and in some cases, he refused to fight together with the Greek comrades but instead commanded them to fall back. Thus, he is more independent and self-centered. On the other hand, Hector understands that success comes in teamwork. He is symbolized as a civilized hero while Achilles as the personification of primitive brutality with great wrath. Based on the comparison, Achilles lacks soft and noble qualities portrayed in the characters of Hector. Also, Hector is kind to Helen who caused the devasting conflict between Greek and Trojan, ”therefore let none make haste to go till he has first lain with the wife of some Trojan, and avenged the toil and sorrow that he has suffered for the sake of Helen” (2:24).

Greek Values Based on the Characters of Achilles and Hector

            Usually, fame is won while honor must never be lost. In Greek tradition, the heroes struggled for fame and honor and to achieve such factors, there is a need to be successful in the battlefield. For Greek, honor is significant in the lives of the worriers who struggle to remain focused to the code of honor. In the poem, Hector starts as the model of a Homeric hero with great dedication and strict belief to the code of honor illustrated in the poem. For example, Hector reprimanded Paris for failing to fight. Hector said to Paris, ”Will, not the Achaeans mock at us and say that we have sent one to champion us who is fair to see but who has neither wit nor courage? (3:5).” According to Hector, it is against the heroic code to fail to fight when others are on the battlefield. Consequently, Hector is faced with moral dilemma considering that he is Paris’ brother; he is required to protect and honor his decisions although he believes that Paris’ actions are wrong and feels that it is essential for him to understand.

            Among the Greek’s values, the social status of a person was acquired in the battlefield. As a tragic figure, Achilles believes significantly in the social order. However, he questions the idea of fighting for glory. Agamemnon sent Aias and Odysseus to Achilles to request him to fight for the Greeks, but he denied citing that there is no gratitude in fighting incessantly forever against the enemies. Fate is similar for men holding back and same when fighting back. Based on the statement, Achille is an individual who does not conform to the ideas of others. The poem presents Achilles as a fatalist who believes that there is no need to fight since the end of the war is the same everyone. Despite admitting that he was wrong and offered gifts, Achilles still refused to join Agamemnon in the battle since he did not consider the rewards as a reconciliatory token, but an an insult. Achilles further cited that the offerings were boastful and selfish and denied them to show Agamemnon that his loyalty could not be bought.

Conclusion

            Character development in Homer was profound. Thus there is much to discuss Achilles and Hector. Although the two characters are presented in similar ways, they are different in various aspects including love, family, honor, and divinity relationship. Both are the greatest worriers who led their people to battle: Achilles fought for the Achaeans (the Greeks) while Hector fought for the Trojans.

Work Cited

Butler, Samuel. ”The Internet Classics Archive | The Iliad by Homer.“ The Internet Classics Archive: 441 Searchable Works of Classical Literature, 2009, classics.mit.edu/Homer/iliad.html. Accessed 5 Dec. 2018.