Classics - Iliad - Who is the better hero, Achilles or Hektor?

Who is the Better Hero, Achilles or Hektor?

  The Iliad focuses on the 10^th and final year of the Trojan war, in particular focusing on the several months up until Hektor’s death. Homer portrays his idea of a hero through the two main characters of the Iliad, Achilles and Hektor. Both share some clear characteristics of what it means to be a typical Greek hero as well as both having some clear flaws. Although the two characters appear to be complete contrasts of each other, the do share some similarities in their personalities and their actions.

  The Iliad begins with the argument between Achilles and Agamemnon over Achilles telling Agamemnon to give back Chryseis to her father which Agamemnon sees as Achilles insulting him as a leader. From this argument we get a clear understanding of Achilles’ character and how he will behave throughout the remainder of the Iliad. At first we would agree with what he is saying: “You now let the girl go at the God’s will: and we Achaians will recompense you three or four times over.” This seems to be a highly rational and fair bargain to make and shows Achilles’ good leadership skills which are good characteristics for a hero to have. However, things start going more awry when pride gets in the way for both Achilles and Agamemnon. As soon as Agamemnon refuses Achilles’ offer, Achilles becomes rather insulted and starts throwing insults at Agamemnon such as “dog face” and “shameless creature”. These sudden outbursts of anger make Achilles seem rather childish and disrespectful to his leader. Despite this being something we would see as a bad trait in modern heroes, arrogance (of which Achilles has plenty) in a Greek hero is seem as completely normal so in this sense he shows clear signs of being a stereotypical Greek hero.

  However, there comes a point in this scene where we start to lose our respect for Achilles; he refuses to fight, essentially allowing for many of his men to die simply because of this argument. “I swear now there will come a time when the loss of Achilleus will be felt by the whole number of the sons of the Achaians.” This sheer disregard for the well fare of his men is unforgivable as a Greek hero and leader especially over something so petty. It is because of his actions that Patroklos dies as well as many others and it is only at this point that Achilles begins to feel regret. In contrast, Hektor would never abandon his men even in the face of death. “Nor is that what my own heart urges, because I have learnt always to be brave and to fight in the forefront of the Trojans, winning great glory for my father and myself.” He puts his people first which is a very heroic thing to do despite knowing in his heart that Troy will fall. In this sense, Hektor is the better hero as he is the one that cares about and looks after his people whereas Achilles is a very selfish man who only decides to fight because he wants revenge on Hektor for killing his friend.

  In battle, both are renown for being extremely good at fighting. Achilles is feared among most men when it comes to his fighting abilities. There are many epic similes for Achilles for example, “as he rushed on over the plain like the star that comes in late summer… it is the brightest of stars, yet a sign of evil, bringing much fever on poor mortals.” There is a lot of foreboding in the way Achilles is presented as this terrifyingly ruthless man and in this sense he is a powerful hero as he has such a high reputation as to demand this kind of kleos. There are a lot of comparisons drawn between Achilles and Hektor when it comes to their strength. Although both are highly praised, Achilles without a doubt is the greater in strength and fighting ability. “Hektor, please, my dear child, do not face this man alone… because he is far stronger than you.” Even Priam doesn’t believe that Hektor will survive fighting Achilles and tries to persuade him to do otherwise. We see full confirmation at how frightening Achilles really is when Hektor loses his nerve and runs away despite himself being one of the great warriors. “Now he no longer had the courage to stand his ground where he was, but he left the gates behind him and ran in terror: and the son of Peleus leapt after him, confident in the speed of his legs.” The fact Hektor runs away is such a blow to his heroic persona and makes Achilles the better hero in this scene.

  Hektor is the more respectful hero. He understands the importance of burial rights and attempts to make a deal with Achilles that they will respect each other’s bodies after one of them dies. Despite the fact that they are enemies, he is still willing to put aside all the hate and do what is morally right. Achilles however is not so compassionate. “Do not talk to me of agreements, you madman. There can be no treaties of trust between lions and men; wolves and lambs share no unity of heart, but are fixed in hatred of each other for all time.” Achilles is slightly insulting to Hektor here in the way he compares the two of them to wolves and lambs. Wolves are the more vicious and dangerous animal that hunt the useless lamb that has to be taken care of by a shepherd and its only real purpose is to be eaten. Achilles then goes to completely disrespect the body of Hektor after his death by dragging it on the ground around Troy. This act would be seen as unacceptable and loses Achilles a lot of respect from the audience.  Because of this, we would say that Hektor is the better hero as he is a lot more respectful.

  One thing both of the two characters have is the help from the Gods. Athena is a consistent help for Achilles and intervenes a lot. One example of this is when she disguises herself as one of Hektor’s brothers and convinces him to stop running and face Achilles. Equally, Hektor also gets help from the Gods such as from Apollo who breathed his glory into Hektor so that he could lead his men to reach the Greek ships. Hektor was also favoured by Zeus however he tried to stay neutral throughout the war. Having the Gods on your side was a highly heroic thing for the Greeks as it meant you were to some extent on their level or at least deserved to be recognised and therefore both Hektor and Achilles can be seen as equally heroic in this way. However, there are times when Achilles commits hubris which is an awful thing for a hero to do and can often by their fatal flaw. One example is Achilles attempting to fight the river god after it calls for help to stop Achilles throwing Trojan bodies into the river (which in itself is a very bad thing to do). These acts of hubris would cast a bad light on Achilles for a Greek audience and so he is less heroic for this as disrespecting the gods is one of the worst things a hero can do.

  One typical thing we find in Greek heroes is that their character develops more throughout the story which happens with Achilles. He starts the poem angry and irrational, making silly decisions that result in disadvantaging those around him. However, we see his character develop into one that is able to regret his bad decisions which is a major thing as many Greek heroes are not able to do this. When Achilles hears about the death of Patroklos in book 18 he laments on his actions. “Since I was not a saving light to Patroklos or my many other companions who have been brought down by godlike Hektor, but sit here by the ships, a useless burden on the earth.” We cannot help but feel quite sorry for Achilles as he truly regrets his decisions. This is in a way heroic as he is learning from his mistakes and becoming a better developed character.

  Overall, both characters have a lot of heroic qualities and equally they lack in other heroic qualities. They are almost like opposites of each other and come from completely different ends of the heroic spectrum. Achilles is the more typical arrogant, brutish hero that’s greatest success is their strength in fighting whereas Hektor is more what we would expect from a modern hero as he is compassionate, thoughtful (much like Odysseus), respectful and generally a nicer person. Hektor is still strong and respected for his successes in the battlefield however he is not as strong or as feared as Achilles. Both characters have flaws like all heroes do: Achilles lets his pride and anger cloud his judgement whereas Hektor can succumb to fear and make foolish decisions for example, when he makes the disastrous battle plan of not retreating to the city which proves foolhardy. Although Achilles has a lot more flaws than Hektor, he has more qualities that signify a typical Greek hero. He beats Hektor, he has the stereotypical arrogance, he develops as a character, has the support of some of the greater Gods such as Athena and he is the stronger and more feared of the two. For these reasons, he is the better hero.

This question scored 46/50 giving me a grade of A*

To improve my teacher suggests I make my introduction stronger by discussing different criteria for being a hero and giving an indication of what you will argue. 

Classics - Aeneid passage questions

OCR F390 Jun12 - Passage Questions

a) Using passage 2 as a starting point, discuss who you think was most responsible for the downfall and death of Dido?

b) Whose death do you consider to be the more tragic, Dido’s or Hektor’s? You should use these passages as a starting point and include discussion of both Book 4 of the Aeneid and Book 22 of the Iliad.

   

a.      There are many parties involved in who potentially was responsible for the downfall of Dido and, to a degree, everyone involved is at fault, however it is debatable as to who was most responsible for her death. All had some involvement with her death however some are definitely more responsible than others.

The obvious offender that the passage suggests is responsible is the Trojans for landing in Carthage in the first place. “If only Trojan keels had never grounded on our shores.” It is made clear from the passage that Dido herself primary blames Aeneas for her downfall as she says “I would have been happy, more than happy…” This is true to some extent that if the Trojan had never arrived in Carthage that Dido would not have fallen in love with Aeneas and therefore would not have killed herself. However you could argue this is not Aeneas or the Trojans fault as Juno persuades Aeolus (King of winds) to send a storm upon the fleet of ships and once the storm stops the Trojans sail towards the nearest land which happens to be Libya. If Juno had not interfered with the Trojan ships in the first place then Dido would not have been effected in any way.

Although you may argue that Aeneas was not responsible for that aspect of Dido’s downfall he is undoubtedly responsible in other ways.  The secretive way in which Aeneas decides to leave casts Aeneas in a very negative light for the reader. “You traitor, did you imagine you could do this and keep it a secret?” There is a strong sense of betrayal that Dido feels from Aeneas trying to run away without consulting her first which contributes to her downfall. Being left in the first place would have caused enough anguish for Dido however the fact that Aeneas, unsuccessfully, tries to run away in secret makes Dido all the more pitiable. Despite this, Aeneas simply leaving even if he had told her is likely to have caused a similar response; he had to leave as it is what the fates had decided. In this sense, although secretly leaving is obviously a very bad thing for Aeneas to do, it holds little responsibility for Dido’s downfall as ultimately Aeneas’ actions are dictated by fate.

The fates have a very strong connection with the downfall and death of Dido. Ultimately they dictate Aeneas’ actions and therefore if it was not fated that Aeneas would have to leave to continue onto Italy, he could have stayed in Carthage with Dido and therefore she would not have killed herself, although this is unlikely as we are aware of how much Aeneas and his men long for their own land. “They were delighted to receive their orders and carried them out immediately.” Virgil makes the point later in the book that it was not Dido’s fate to die therefore there has to be some other factor that has intervened with what was meant to be. “For since she was dying not by the decree of Fate.”  If certain things had been done differently then Dido would not have died, for example if Venus had not ordered Cupid to shoot Dido with an arrow and make her fall madly in love with Aeneas, there would be no downfall. Much of the blame for Dido’s downfall has to be taken by Venus as she wrongly assumes the Carthaginians will be hostile towards the Trojans and decides to intervene; causing a terrible situation that could easily have been avoided.

Venus is not the only God who appears to have contributed to Dido’s death by intervening with the situation of Dido and Aeneas. Juno already interfered with the Trojans sailing by sending a storm, causing them to land in Libya. She later also interferes by starting another storm causing Aeneas and Dido to take refuge in a cave and decides they will be married. “I shall join them in lasting marriage and make her his. This will be their wedding.” Arguably, the marriage is very open to interpretation as Aeneas was unaware what they did count as a marriage whereas Dido obviously believed it was marriage. The way Virgil describes the scene does make it sound like a genuine marriage however if Aeneas is unaware of this it cannot be fully his fault.

Another person that the passage suggests could hold some responsibility is Anna for persuading Dido to accept her love for Aeneas as well as helping her build the pyre that Dido kills herself on. “To think it was my hands that built the pyre, and my voice that called upon the gods of our fathers, so that you could be so cruel as to lay yourself down here to die without me.” Although this has some influence over Dido’s death, it is impossible for us to say that Anna is fully responsible for her sister’s death as Dido would probably have come to the same end whether or not Anna had any influence at all. Anna herself did not know any of the things that she was doing would have any negative effect for her sister, particularly in respect to her building the pyre, so arguably she is not morally responsible.

Overall, although everyone plays a part in the downfall of Dido, some are undoubtedly more responsible than others. The fates control everything in all situations however it is made clear by Virgil that it was not decreed in the fates that Dido was to fall. In this case, there must have been some other factor that influenced her death. The most responsible, in my opinion, is the gods for their interfering in a situation that was going well until the gods got involved. Examples of this are Juno starting up the storm sending them to Libya, Venus making Dido madly in love with Aeneas and Juno creating a scene where Aeneas and Dido supposedly get married. If any of these situations had not happened then Dido would not have died or had her downfall.

This question scored 23/25. To improve, my teacher wrote I could sum up Juno’s involvement in paragraph 5 and say what her intentions were.

    b.    Both Hektor and Dido are characters that are renowned for having tragic deaths however some would argue that Dido is the more tragic of the two. This is because of the nature of her death; suicide is much more pitiable than dying with honour such as Hektor does when he dies fighting his enemy. Dido certainly has a greater fall from grace as she was the queen of Carthage however is reduced to being literally mad with love and alienates herself from her people and her sister as well as being abandoned by her lover causing her to kill herself. Hektor however dies a hero in the eyes of his family and followers as he dies trying to protect his city. Therefore, Dido is undoubtedly more tragic as she has lost a lost more than Hektor has, particularly her reputation.

Although the way Dido dies is more tragic, the treatment of her body is not nearly as bad as the treatment Hektor receives from Achilles. “As Hektor was dragged behind, a cloud of dust arose from him, his dark hair streamed out around him, and all that one handsome head was sunk in the dust.” The way Achilles defiles Hektor’s body creates a lot of pathos for Hektor as to be shown such disrespect is something that is highly looked down upon. To be denied burial rights and for the body to be defiled in such a horrific way adds to the fact that his death is tragic. It also creates more sympathy for his family seeing as they cannot bury their son and adds to his tragic loss. “How I wish he could have died in my arms! Then we could have satisfied our desire for weeping and mourning, I and his mother who bore him in cruel fate.” Dido on the other hand tricks her sister into helping to build a funeral pyre for her. “It was all to deceive your sister! This was the purpose of the pyre and the flames and the altars!” It is unnecessarily cruel of Dido to trick her sister in such a way and makes the audience feel less sympathetic towards her. Because of this Hektor is the more tragic of the two.

Despite this, it is clear from the reactions of both Dido’s and Hektor’s family that their deaths were equally devastating. Virgil describes Anna as being “beside herself” and that she rushes to her sister to hold her whilst she is dying. This is very emotive and creates a lot of pathos for Anna especially as she believes she is at fault for Dido’s death. Dido’ death also invokes pity from the Gods such as Juno who sends down Iris to take a lock of Dido’s hair to prepare her for death. The fact she has the pity of a God shows she is a worthy character and therefore more tragic as she has fallen so far. On the other hand, Hektor also gains pity from the Gods, in particular Zeus. This shows just how respectable and how much of a hero Hektor was to be able to get sympathy from the most powerful God. Homer also uses much more emotive language than Virgil by describing the reactions of their families. “And now his mother tore her hair, and flung the shining mantle away from her head, and raised a great wail when she saw her son.” The language that homer uses is much more emotive for the audience and creates a more shocking reaction to the death of Hektor. In comparison, both texts are similar in their description of people’s reactions: the Aeneid states “the palace rang with lamentation and groaning and the wailing of women and the heavens gave back the sound of mourning.” Similarly the Iliad says “around them and all through the city the people were overcome with wailing and groans of lamentation.” Both reactions to their deaths are equally emotive making both characters equally tragic.

One reason why we might consider Dido to be the more traffic hero because none of what happens to her is through fault of her own actions. She is treated as a pawn for the Gods to use and because of this she is subjected to love, something that she has avoided and has made a vow of chastity against in respect of her dead husband. We feel pity for Dido when she breaks the vow as we see that she does try to fight the maddening love that is overtaking her as she questions whether this is the right thing for her to do. Hektor however chooses to go to war even when Andromache tries to persuade him not to go. On some level you could argue that Hektor deserved to die because he killed Patrokolus as well as ignoring the good advice of Polydamus which causes the Trojans to be in a bad position in the war. Dido, through no fault of her own, is caught up in some dispute between the Gods and comes out the lesser from it. In this sense, she is the more tragic as she does not deserve what happens to her.

Overall, Dido has the more tragic death out of the two characters as she suffers this fate through no wrong doing of her own and is simply being used by the Gods for their own petty feud. The reactions of their families for both characters are very distressing and despite Homer arguably using ore emotive language, the idea of her sister running over to the pyre to hold her during her death is in itself tragic, particularly as Anna had helped her to build the pyre.

This question scored 24/25

Overall I scored 47/50 giving me a grade of A*