Hector

Defender of Troy

Hector was everything a Trojan prince should be: brave, dutiful, loving. Where Achilles fought for personal glory, Hector fought for his city, his family, his people. He is the Iliad's most sympathetic warrior — the man who fights knowing he will lose.

He killed Patroclus when Achilles' companion entered battle wearing Achilles' own armor. This sealed Hector's fate: Achilles would return to war with only one purpose — Hector's death.

The Farewell

Homer's most tender scene belongs to Hector. In Book 6 of the Iliad, he returns briefly to Troy and meets his wife Andromache at the Scaean Gate. Their infant son Astyanax screams in terror at his father's plumed helmet. Hector removes it, laughs, and prays that his son may one day surpass him.

Every reader knows what Hector does not yet fully accept: he will die, Troy will burn, Andromache will be enslaved, and Astyanax will be hurled from the walls. The scene is beautiful because it is doomed.

The Death

Achilles chased Hector three times around Troy's walls. Athena tricked Hector into standing his ground by appearing as his brother Deiphobus. When Hector turned to fight, he realized the deception — but faced his death with courage.

Achilles killed him and dragged his body behind his chariot. Only when Priam came to beg for the body — an old man kneeling before the man who killed his son — did Achilles relent. The Iliad ends with Hector's funeral.