Homer and the Illiad

Katy Jaber
Miss Knox
English 10
29 March 2013
Epic Heroes in the Iliad: Achilles and Hektor The Iliad, an epic poem by Homer, takes place in the last month of the tenth year of the Trojan War. It is about two warriors, Hektor and Achilles, fighting in the war which was started by Paris, a Trojan prince who kidnapped a Greek princess named Helen. The protagonists of an epic are called epic heroes, and all epic heroes share four traits. First, as World Masterpieces explains, an epic hero is usually part-god or from a royal family. “The epic hero possesses […] a driving desire to immortalize himself through [brave] deeds. All heroes desire eternal glory and fame”(345). In addition, epic heroes often receive help from the gods. Finally, epic heroes experience heroic conflict, which is a choice between duty and desire. “[An epic hero] is faithful to his family, his country, and his god. […] he knows he has responsibilities” (Allen 2). Achilles and Hektor are good examples of epic heroes because they have high birth, desire good reputations, receive divine help, and experience heroic conflict. As epic heroes, Achilles and Hektor both have high birth. Achilles meets the requirement of having high birth because he is a demi-god and from a royal family. Ovid explains that his mother is a sea goddess and shape shifter. This gives Achilles divine blood. Achilles has even more divine blood though his father, Peleus, who is Zeus’ grandson (XI. 235, 250-252, 235). Peleus also gives Achilles royal blood since he is a king. Like Achilles, Hektor is from a royal family. Hektor’s father is King Priam of Troy, which makes Hektor a prince (World Masterpieces 332-333). However, he is not descended from the gods. Bespaloff explains, “Neither superman, nor demigod, nor godlike, he is a man, and among men a prince” (127). Therefore, both warriors have noble backgrounds. All heroes experience heroic conflict – the choice between duty and desire – and Achilles must make many choices about whether to do the right thing or what will make him happy. First, Achilles must decide to either fight or leave the war. Achilles has a responsibility to the other Greeks: because he is their best fighter, they really need him. However, Achilles would rather leave the battle to hurt Agamemnon. He tells Agamemnon, “[…] I am returning [home], since […] / […] I am minded no longer / to stay here […] and pile up your wealth and your luxury” (Homer I. 165-167). The fact that Achilles leaves the war because he is angry with Agamemnon shows how selfish Achilles’ decision is. In fact, Achilles is so selfish that as soon as he leaves the war, “[Achilles] convinces Thetis to persuade Zeus to help the Trojans defeat the [Greeks]” (World Masterpieces 343). Eventually, Achilles does decide to fight again. As noted before, it is especially important for Achilles to fight because without him, “the Greeks / [are] hurled in their multitude to the house of Hades […]” (Homer I. 1-3). Although Achilles is doing his duty, he is still acting selfishly because he fights only to gain honor. As World Masterpieces explains, “without exploits, he can only sing glory and eternal fame instead of achieving it by killing or being killed in battle” (332). The third and final time Achilles must choose between duty and desire is when he kills Hektor. At first Achilles gives orders to see if the Trojans will surrender once Hektor is dead, but then he chooses to bury Patroklos instead (XXII. 282-295). Thus, Achilles put his friendship above the lives of his whole army. In every situation, Achilles chooses desire instead of duty. Unlike Achilles, Hektor always puts duty above desire. The first time Hektor has to make such a choice is when Helen asks him to sit with her (VI. 30-34). Griffin says that in Homer people would rather not fight (92). So it is probably tempting to stay with Helen however, Hektor tells Helen, “[…] you will not persuade me [to rest here with you]. / already my heart […] is hastening me to defend / the Trojans, who when I am away long greatly to have me” (VI. 36-38). He makes the choice to not sit with the most beautiful woman in the world, which shows he chooses duty. Hektor also has to choose between duty and desire when it comes to his family. Hektor says he is going to see his family because this will be his last chance if he is killed in battle (VI. 41-44). Bespaloff explains that Andromache, who is Hektor’s wife, does not want him to go back and fight, but as a prince it is his duty to fight (127). Hektor tells Andromache, “[…] the men must see to the fighting, / […] but I beyond others” (VI. 168-169). Thus, in every situation Hektor chooses duty instead of desire unlike Achilles. As epic heroes, Achilles and Hektor both desire lasting reputations. “[Achilles] strives to achieve a reputation that will survive his death” (World Masterpieces 345). To do this, he needs booty, which is money and different treasures. “Honor was expressed tangibly by the prizes distributed to a warrior according to his rank and valor. A warrior’s share of booty was thus a visible symbol of his merit” (World Masterpieces 334). Achilles leaves the war because he feels like he is not getting enough booty and Agamemnon is getting it all (I. 159-163). Also Briseis is one of the reasons why he wants to leave because Agamemnon wants to take his slave from him. Before Achilles leaves he tells Agamemnon,” […] I am minded no longer / to stay here dishonored and pile up your wealth and your luxury” (I. 167-168). Achilles also comes back to the war for his reputation. “Withdrawing from the battle is devastating to Achilles’ […] sense of worth; without exploits [in battle], he can only [dream] of eternal fame instead of achieving it” (World Masterpieces 332). Thus, Achilles realizes that he either not fight and win no booty, or he can fight and at least win some and the reputation that goes with it. Whether fighting or not, reputation is always Achilles top priority. Much like Achilles, Hektor wants a good reputation, but not all for the same reasons. First, Hektor does want a good reputation for himself. Griffin explains, certain reasons motivate the warrior to put himself in danger: concern for the public opinion and respect for himself (92). Hektor says, […] I would feel deep shame before the Trojans, and the Trojan women with trailing garments, if like a coward I were to shrink aside from the fighting; and the spirit will not let me, since I have learned to be valiant and to fight always among the foremost ranks of the Trojans, winning for my own self great glory, and for my father. (IV. 117-122)
Not only does he want a good reputation for himself but also for his wife and son. Hektor tells Andromache that if something bad happens to her at least she and the Greeks who have enslaved her can remember who her husband was (VI. 135-137). When Hektor dies he wants his son to grow up and have the Trojans be proud of who is father was (VI. 150-157). Hektor knows that after he gets killed in battle that Andromache will become a slave after the war and his son will be taken away from her. Therefore not only does Hektor care about a reputation for himself but also for his family that he will leave. Achilles and Hektor both being epic heroes, have divine help. Achilles uses his divine help to his advantage with his mother Thetis, who is a shape shifter. When he leaves the war “[Achilles] convinces Thetis to persuade Zeus to help the Trojans to defeat the [Greeks]” (World Masterpieces 343). Later when he returns to war his mother obtains new armor for him from Hephasitos who makes Zeus’s lightning bolt. When Achilles and Hektor come face to face they start running around the walls of Troy. Athena pretends to be Hektor’s brother to make him stop running. “[…] come on, then; let us stand fast against him and beat him back from us” (XXII. 129-134). Athena also helps Achilles when he is fighting Hektor. Athena gives Achilles a spear to kill Hektor with, but he misses and then she turns it around and it hits him (XXII 180-190). Thus Achilles uses his divine help to his advantage. Unlike Achilles, Hektor does not ask for help. Zeus helps him because he is one of his favorites. Zeus asks the other gods if he can help Hektor: “Come then, you immortals take thought and take counsel, whether / to rescue this man or whether to make him, for all his valor / go down under the hands of Achilles […]” (XXII. 72-78). Athena tells Zeus that it is Hektor’s fate to die and he cannot change that. To make sure that Athena is correct about the gods’ not being able to help Hektor, he weighs the fate of Hektor and Achilles to see who will die first, and it is Hektor (). Bespaloff says, “Despite the gods, despite necessity there is enough freedom here to leave both the reader and Zeus, the divine watcher, in a state of suspense” (130). The gods’ affection does not guard warriors from death and loss, even though they admire extraordinary soldiers (87).Hektor also gets help when running from Achilles. Homer explains Hektor has been out running Achilles because Apollo has been helping him (XXII. 105-107). Therefore Hektor also gets divine help like Achilles but does not know it. Achilles and Hektor are good examples of epic heroes because they have high birth, desire good reputations, receive divine help, and experience heroic conflict. These traits also make them interesting to readers. Achilles and Hektor are both appealing because of the help they get from the different gods. Although both are interesting, Hektor is the better hero. Unlike Achilles, Hektor is a better epic hero because he does not only look after himself but also his family and his soldiers. For example he is worried about what is going to happen to his wife and son after he is gone and how he wants them to remember him. Also even though his wife does not want him to fight he does it anyway, because it is his duty as a man of high birth to fight. Overall Hektor is someone who readers should respect.
Works Cited
Allen, Victoria. A Teacher’s Guide to the Signet Classic Edition of Homer’s the Odyssey. Penguin Group, n.d. Web. 10 Dec. 2012.
Bespaloff, Rachel. “Hector.” Critical Essays on Homer. Kenneth Atchity, Ron Hogart, and Doug Price, eds. Boston: G. K. Hall, 1987. 127-131. Print.
Griffin, Jasper. Homer on Life and Death .Oxford, NY: Clarendon-Oxford UP, 1983. Print.
Homer. “From the Iliad.” World Masterpieces 335-378.
Ovid. Metamorphoses. Trans. Rolfe Humphries. Bloomington, IN: Indiana UP, 1983. Print.
World Masterpieces. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall-Pearson, 2003.Print.

Cited: Allen, Victoria. A Teacher’s Guide to the Signet Classic Edition of Homer’s the Odyssey. Penguin Group, n.d. Web. 10 Dec. 2012. Bespaloff, Rachel. “Hector.” Critical Essays on Homer. Kenneth Atchity, Ron Hogart, and Doug Price, eds. Boston: G. K. Hall, 1987. 127-131. Print. Griffin, Jasper. Homer on Life and Death .Oxford, NY: Clarendon-Oxford UP, 1983. Print. Homer. “From the Iliad.” World Masterpieces 335-378. Ovid. Metamorphoses. Trans. Rolfe Humphries. Bloomington, IN: Indiana UP, 1983. Print. World Masterpieces. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall-Pearson, 2003.Print.