Hector vs Achilles

Achilles

Motivation

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• Fighting for personal honor

Knows that his fate leads him to death so he is willing to sacrifice his life so his name will be remembered Cared little about anything except for his own desire”...but this man’s ambition, remember, is to lead, to lord it over everyone, give orders to the rest of us!” (lines 337-340) ”Well, this time I make sail for home. Better to take now to my ships.

Why linger, cheated of winnings, to make wealth for you?” (lines 197-199). ”And let them both bear witness before the gods who living bliss, as before men who die, including this harsh king, if ever hereafter a need for me arises to keep the rest from black defeat and ruin” (lines 394-398). ”Thetis left her son still burning for the softly belted girl whom they had wrestled from him...” (lines 494-496) Loss of girl=loss of honor

”He tells the delegates that he has decided to return to his kingdom and live out his life in comfort, forgoing the honor of dying a hero’s death in battle” (246).

Vengeance

• Hector killed his best friend

”On hearing of Patroclus’s death, Achilles is overcome with grief and rage. Vowing to avenge his friend, he finally returns to the battle” (246) ”Hector, had you thought that you could kill Patroclus and be safe? Nothing to dread from me; I was not there. All childishness...The dogs and kites will rip your body. Hiss will lie in honor when the Achaeans give him funeral” (lines 392-400) ”Down by the ships Patroclus’s body lies unwept, unburied. I shall not forget him while I keep my feet among the living” (lines 458-460).

Actions Taken

• Strong temper/rage

“A pain like grief weighed on the son of Peleus, and in his shaggy chest this way and that the passion of his heart ran; should he draw longsword from hip, stand off the rest, and kill in single combat the great son of Atreus, or hold his rage in check and give it time?” (lines 220-225) “But now the son of Peleus turned on Agamemnon and lashed out at him, letting his anger ride in execration...” (lines 263-265) “On hearing of Patroclus’s death, Achilles is overcome with grief and rage. Vowing to avenge his friend, he finally returns to the battle, mercilessly slaying the Trojan forces”

Accuses Agamemnon of being a glory hound and trying to take more than his fair share “I have seen more action hand to hand in those assaults than you have, but when the time for sharing comes, the greater share is always yours” (lines 192-195).

• Sensitive when his pride is in jeopardy

“Eyes wet with tears, he spoke” (lines 412-414)
“Thetis left her son still burning for the softly belted girl whom they had wrestled from him...” (Lines 494-496)

Selfish/prideful

• puts his own needs above his army’s lives.

“Without Achilles’ help, the Greeks are at a serious disadvantage against the Trojans” (246) “Achilles’ immense pride is revealed as he stubbornly refuses to accept Agamemnon’s gifts” (246). “...he has decided to return to his kingdom and live out his life in comfort, forgoing the honor of dying a hero’s death in battle” (246) Torture’s Hector’s dead body

• disrespect/dishonor

Role/ Reaction of others

• Only his mom grieves for him

“Her eyes filled, an a tear fell as she answered” (line 476) His army respected him when he was in battle but he did not seem to have a close relationship to anyone but his mother and possibly his bet friend Patroclus Role of gods

• Hera favored the Greeks in general
• Athena was constantly by his side

“Then Athena, gray-eyed, to the son of Peleus, falling in with him, and near him, saying swiftly:‘Now at last I think the two of us, Achilles loved by Zeus, shall bring Achaeans triumph at the ships by killing Hector...” (lines 253-259) “As his tumult swayed him, as he slid the big blade slowly from the sheath, Athena came to him from the sky” (Lines 226-228) Apollo did not favor him

“Archer of heaven, deadliest of immortal gods, you put me off the track, turning me from the wall this way...you saved my enemies with ease and stole my glory, having no punishment to fear” (lines 18-24) Obeys the gods

“Die, make an end. I shall accept my own whenever Zeus and the other gods desire” (lines 435-436) “Nothing for it, goddess, but when you two immortals speak, a man complies...” (lines 253-255).

Hector

Motivation

• Duty and honor
• Protector of the people

“Hector returns to battle, fighting fiercely for the Trojans” (246) “...here you may fight on to save our Trojan men and women” (lines 66-67) Not motivated by what was best for him, but what was best for his country and his people

Actions Taken

• Selfless
• Would die for his people

“Now my soul would have me stand and fight, whether I kill you or am killed” (lines 298-299) Tried to make a pact of honor with Achilles
“So come, we’ll summon gods here as our witnesses, none higher, arbiters of a pact: I swear that, terrible you are, I’ll not insult your corpse should Zeus allow me victory in the end, your life as a prize . Once I have your gear, I’ll give your body back to Achaeans. Grant me,too, this grace” (lines 300-306). Examines ways to get out of conflict fear?

“Suppose, though, that I lay my shield and helm aside...and go to meet the noble Prince Achilles, promising Helen, promising with her all the treasures that Alexandros brought home by ship to Troy... Then I might add, apart from these, a portion of all the secret wealth the city owns” (lines 134-142) “ “These were his shifts of mood” (line 157)

• Runs away

“...and Hector, as he watched, began to tremble. Then he could hold his ground no more. He ran, leaving the gate behind him...” (Lines 164-165) cowardly not to fight

Role of Others/ Reaction of Others

• Everyone loves and cares for him

“If he brings you down, I shall no longer be allowed to mourn you laid out on your bed, dear branch in flower, born of me” (lines 103-106) “With tears and cries the two implored their son, and made their prayers again” (lines 109-110) “Child, I am lost now. can I bear my life after the death of suffering your death? You were my pride in all my nights and days, pride of the city, pillar to the Trojans and Trojan women” (lines 507-511). Role of the gods

• Apollo was on his side

“How could he run so long from death, had not Apollo for the last time, the very last, come near to give him stamina and speed” (lines 239-242) Zeus felt sympathetic towards him
“How sad that this beloved man is hunted around the wall before my eyes! My heart is touched for Hector;” (lines 200-203)

• Athena was against him

“Now at last I think the two of us, Achilles loved by Zeus, shall bring Achaeans triumph at the ships by killing Hector...” (lines 256-259)

• The gods choose his death

“This the end. The gods are calling deathward... Long ago this hour must have been to Zeus’s liking and to the liking of his archer son” (lines 351-358)

Similarities

• Both are driven by stubbornness

“Achilles’ immense pride is revealed as he stubbornly refuses to accept Agamemnon’s gifts” (246) “With tears and cries the two implored their son, and made their prayers again, but could not shake him. Hector stood firm...” (lines 109-111) Neither listen when a wise figure tells them who they are up against is more powerful “ ...don’t try to hold your ground against this man, or soon you will meet the shock of doom, borne down by the son of Peleus.

He is more powerful by far than you, and pitiless” (lines 45-48) “Achilles, for your part, do not defy your King and Captain. No ones vies in honor with him who holds authority from Zeus. You have more prowess, for a goddess bore you; his power over men surpasses yours” (lines 327-332) Both are heroes in the eyes of their peers at one point

• Both have some pride in them

“Book 6 reveals to us Hector’s pride, for we learn that although he believes Troy is doomed, honor will not allow him to surrender” (246) “Now troops have perished for my foolish pride... He kept his pride and ost his men, this Hector” (lines 126-129” “Agamemnon, humiliated me! he has my prize by his own whim, for himself” (lines 411-413) Both are ruled by fate through the gods

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