Achilles and Hector, Epic Heroes
An epic hero is a main character who is larger-than-life and whose deeds reflect the
values admired by the society that crested the epic. They usually undertake a dangerous
journey or quest to supernatural realms. They are often endowed with superior strength,
knowledge, and courage, but they can also possess human weaknesses. The Greeks
admired that Achilles was a fast being and they also saw him was god-like. The Greeks
found Hector as loved by his mother and very courageous about wanting to face Achilles.
Achilles and Hector are two epic heroes from the epic written by Homer, The Iliad.
While reading book 22 from the Iliad, a closer look is meant to be taken at the line
where Homer starts to compare and describe Achilles. Without that, the way Homer talks
about him might be thought of as negative by first instinct. Looking a little harder, there
are some positive things to be said about him. Stated in line 26 to 27 “toward the town
with might he ran like a chariot horse.” In those lines Achilles is being as a fast being as
he is approaching Hector at the city gates of Troy. The Greeks as also viewed him as godlike. In lines 162-163 Homer had said “Bronze light played around him, like the glare of
a great fire or the great sun rising.”
Hector can be seen as a lot of things. When his mother was trying to convince him not
to fight Achilles, she shows how much she loves him and how much she doesn’t want
him to fight. She shows a symbol of her motherhood to Hector, by holding her beast in
one hand and says in lines 104-105 “I shall no longer be allowed to mourn you laid out
your bed.” This had shown that Hector was a greatly beloved by his mother and his
father. The great amount of pride that Hector possessed, was what leads him to the great
amount of courage to go against Achilles even thought he knew what had lied ahead.
Knowing what lied ahead for him he still stood outside the city gates. In line 5 “as for
Hector, fatal destiny pinned him where he stood before the Scaean Gates, outside the
city.”
The Greeks favored the good in people and the respect they had for the gods and the
honor for others dead or alive. They did not favor the arrogance and disrespect that
Achilles had possessed in the story. Achilles was found as a fast person and god-like, and
Hector was found as beloved and courageous.