The Traits of Hector and Achilles Supreme Warriors of Their Armies - Essay Example

? The Traits of Hector and Achilles Introduction Hector and Achilles are both supreme warriors of their respective armies. They both have similar traits, but discrepancies in their value systems are obvious. Achilles is considered a lone warrior, and exhibits characteristics of arrogance and pride similar to those seen in Hector. The differences arise in the following. He has no family to live up to or care for and most of his fights are efforts to strive for glory and historic presence; “His guiding star is not love of country but honor” (Bassett 42). He pertains to values of warfare and his pride promulgates his self-interest above all others. This was especially evident in the position he was put in at the instance of the war prizes of Chryseis and Briseis which were obtained by the Greek army after the fall of the city of Chryse. Agamemnon, who claimed Chryseis, subsequently had his army cursed by Apollo, and had to give her up. As compensation, he laid title to Briseis, who was Achilles’ prize. Achilles was extremely displeased with this and retreated to his tent stating his intention not to be part of the war any more. It is this emotional reaction that impeded his performance as a warrior and for most of the Iliad, he remained absent from the battlefield until the death of Patroclus. Indeed, his warrior code is all but exemplary and is in sync with that of his commander’s Agamemnon. Achilles The war heroes of the society never succumbed much to pressure or insult. Thus, it was all but expected of Achilles, a man who had a close relation with the gods, an only son and a spoiled battlefield champion, to react in the way he did against the king of his land: “You bloated drunk, With a dog's eyes and a rabbit's heart! You've never had the guts to buckle on armor in battle Or come out with the best fighting Greeks On any campaign! Afraid to look Death in the eye, Agamemnon? It's far more profitable To hang back in the army's rear—isn't it?— Confiscating prizes from any Greek who talks back And bleeding your people dry.” (Book 1. 235). These statements of Achilles present a clear picture of the heroic code he lived by. He took immense pride in his skills as a warrior and strove for unadulterated glory so that no man regardless of social position would be allowed to present a chink in his armor. He commanded his own battalion, and thus took no time to react in a seemingly extreme but logical manner: “By this scepter I swear: When every last Greek desperately misses Achilles, Your remorse won't do any good then, When Hector the man-killer swats you down like flies. And you will eat your heart out Because you failed to honor the best Greek of all." (Book 1. 253). This reaction illustrates that Achilles was clear in his perception of what the warrior code stood for, a passionate belief in one’s own significance on the battlefield. Others may look upon it as a misplaced god complex, and perhaps place it in a pool of cynical self-righteous beliefs which Achilles was mistaken to have exercised as it put the lives of his countrymen at risk. This is not true, as a silent acceptance of Agamemnon’s insult would have been an impediment in his glory more than anything. Indeed, Achilles goes one step further and inflicts a curse upon Agamemnon’s army, summoning his mother, the sea-nymph Thetis, to beckon Zeus to demolish the same. This episode is also evidence of a barrage of emotions transpiring at the hands of the great warrior Achilles, which not only demonstrated the superfluous warrior’s spite for the king, insulting him to his face, but also became the advent of a unique emotional spiral that would plague the great man in the future. Homer’s depiction of Achilles’ words are evident of an emotional upheaval: “By this scepter, which will never sprout leaf Or branch again since it was cut from its stock In the mountains, which will bloom no more Now that bronze has pared off leaf and bark, And which now the sons of the Greeks hold in their hands At council, upholding Zeus' laws” (Book 1. 246) This oath also brings to light the code Achilles lives by. It is the most solemn vow a warrior can abide by, and represents Achilles’ anger perfectly for those spectating, a natural reaction carefully clothed in a statement of intentions illustrated by Homer. Achilles sits in isolation for a while and is adamant on continuing the same way regarding Agamemnon’s generous offers to reconcile amidst the losses suffered by the Greek army at the hands of the Trojans and Hector. His hate towards the king seems to have surmounted into an inalienable belief of his rightfulness, so much so that he purports to be guided by Zeus himself: “I don't need that kind of honor, Phoenix. My honor comes from Zeus” (Book 9. 624), suggesting in very simple terms that his position is right and nothing else, “Hate him because I hate him. It's as simple as that.” (Book 9. 632). This hate no doubt is disproportional to the original wrong Agamemnon committed, as Sale points out in his analysis of the Iliad (87), but it does satisfy the code of the warrior with regards to a warrior’s conviction. His resolve is shattered by the death of Patroclus, Achilles’ dear friend and who some even suggest to be more than just a friend, an erotic accomplice perhaps (Ockman), as a result of which he quickly changes his stance and vows to join battle once again. “Yes, the warlord Agamemnon angered me. But we'll let that be, no matter how it hurts, And conquer our pride, because we must. But I'm going now to find the man who destroyed My beloved—Hector.” (Book 18. 117). A change such as this is attributable to a warrior’s companionship to his fellow comrades. Indeed, Achilles felt a tremendous amount of guilt, rendering himself as useless for he could not safeguard his beloved Patroclus (Arieti 198), but why? After all, death is all but common in war, and for someone to feel much more remorse, it would have to be the result of a highly intimate link (Ockman). Consequently, he pursues Hector in battle and slays him, but what he does to the body is evidence of his deep rooted attachment to Patroclus, exemplified by the killing of Trojan youths at his funeral. Clearly, this was unbecoming of a true warrior. Achilles is changing, and his sudden urge to avenge the death of his close comrades represents an emotional displacement in his life. When Priam, father of Hector, comes to claim the body from him, this change becomes further evident. Achilles displays a softer understanding persona and while handing over Hector, remembers Patroclus: “Don't be angry with me, dear friend, if somehow You find out, even in Hades, that I have released Hector to his father. He paid a handsome price, And I will share it with you, as much as is right." (Book 24, 640). This is an awakening for Achilles. His remorse over his close friend has presented him with a new view on life and its importance. Indeed, it is for this very realization that he allowed Priam to take away his son, while rejecting the treasures Priam brought forth in exchange. Hector Contrast this with the personality of Hector, who from the very start is perceived to be a warrior, aptly termed man-killing Hector by Achilles himself. Where Hector differs is in that he has a family, so that he has to maintain a careful divide between his role as a warrior and leader of the Trojan army and his role as a family man. Thus, his value systems of warfare and domesticity are carefully distinct from each other and he exhibits them both throughout the Iliad. Hector for the most part is also a celebrated warrior who abides by the heroic code in a much more textbook friendly fashion. His army of Trojans represents him and follows his strategies without question. His pride and arrogance are similar in ranks to Achilles and he makes ill-advised tactical plans on the battlefield, such as when he pertained to restrict the Trojan army on the battlefield, instead of retracting them into the walls. When eventually Achilles returned to challenge Hector to a duel, Hector, considered several times whether he should make Achilles an offer, beg for mercy, or evade the battle completely. It is this confusion that leads the observer to believe that Hector was not as staunch a disciple of the warrior code as his counterpart. “But what if I lay down all my weapons, Bossed shield, heavy helmet, prop my spear Against the wall, and go meet Achilles, Promise him we'll surrender Helen And everything Paris brought back with her In his ships' holds to Troy” (Book 22, 126). Indeed, when it came time to battle, Hector tried to evade Achilles, running around the city of Troy three times. This dubious nature of his actions could be the result of his familial obligations, or more so to prevent his comrades from succumbing to the Greeks, who may be disheartened were he to die at the hands of Achilles, causing Troy to fall. However, dismissing all of the above, Hector chose to stick by the warrior code, and prepare for battle with Achilles: “But why am I talking to myself like this? I can't go out there unarmed. Achilles Will cut me down in cold blood if I take off My armor and go out to meet him Naked like a woman. This is no time For talking.” (Book 22. 138). In facing Achilles after a myriad of deliberations, he has risen to the occasion and stood parallel to the likes of Achilles, as a Trojan General striving for glory. He raises sympathy by dying at the hands of the more powerful and athletically superior Achilles while his family awaits his return, but in doing so, he dies preserving his military honor. The Tragic Hero in light of Aristotle’s definition Aristotle described a tragic hero as one exhibiting the qualities of virtue and justice, appropriateness, life-likeness and consistency, all of which could be seen in the character of Oedipus Tyrannus (Mullens). It is immediately apparently that Achilles, a successful warrior of his time, was a man of ordinary virtue for that of a warrior. He had a special inclination towards his comrades, and exhibited feelings of goodness when he routinely expressed that the war prizes must be equally shared by the entire battalion. His tragedy culminated in the death of Patroclus, which gave his original traits a new awakening as the legendary Greek warrior, thereby fulfilling the consistency requirement as well. This is why Achilles can more rightly fit the description of a Tragic Hero than Hector, who simply lived by the community code and when placed in battle with Achilles, almost fell into disunity within himself. Works Cited Ockman, Carol (1993). “Profiling Homoeroticism: Ingres's Achilles Receiving the Ambassadors of Agamemnon.” The Art Bulletin. Vol. 75, No. 2 (Jun., 1993), pp. 259-274. Published by: College Art Association. Sale, William. “Achilles and Heroic Values.” Arion. Vol. 2, No. 3 (Autumn, 1963), pp. 86-100. Arieti, James.A. “Achilles' Guilt.” The Classical Journal. Vol. 80, No. 3 (Feb. - Mar., 1985), pp. 193-203. Mullens, H. G. “Oedipus and the Tragic Spirit.” Greece & Rome. Vol. 7, No. 21, pp. 149-155. Bassett, Samuel E. “Achilles' Treatment of Hector's Body.” Transactions and Proceedings of the American Philological Association. Vol. 64, (1933), pp. 41-65. Published by: The Johns Hopkins University Press. Article Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/283156 Read More