Short Paper On Hector: Homer's Illiad

Hector was a Trojan prince born to King Priam and Queen Hecuba and was the finest fighter known in Troy. His death was famously depicted in paintings and films, in the scene where Achilles drags his body around the city of Troy. Their epic duel was very symbolic of the Trojan War. In Homer's Iliad, Hector is described as a loving, peaceful man who is a pacifist, and also a good husband and father. He is unwilling to fight with Achilles and take part in the Greek-Trojan war. Eventually, he consents for the sake of his people, his wife, Andromache and son Scramandius. His wife urges him not to leave the safe confines of the castle, for her sake and their infant son's. His baby son is frightened by the bronze helmet his father wears, which is painfully bright and glistening. 

Hector takes the helmet off and embraces his wife and son, doing his best to console them in their grief. As he leaves, armed with his weapons, his subjects weep and mourn knowing the duel will be his demise. He is killed after an intense fight with Achilles and then this violent, wrathful warrior flaunts his success. Achilles proudly drags the lifeless body of Hector around in the dust, pulled by his golden chariot, abusing it for 12 days. Hector's father, Priam comes out of the castle and begs Achilles to have mercy, for the sake of an aging man. 

In spite of himself, Achilles is moved to compassion and agrees to return Hector's body to his father, where 12 days of mourning ensues. This is a beautiful moment of humanity, to see Achilles's cold heart softened. In spite of his untimely death, Hector goes down in history as a hero, bold, brave and a man and warrior worth admiring by the Greeks.