assignment

Comment critically on hectors encounter with Andromache

Name: Cheshta Arora Roll no: 0443

The Iliad is the first work of western literature, a 15000 line epic poem composed c. 700 BC, so called because it tells of an incident that occurred during the Greek siege of Ilium, a town in the region of Troy(modern north -west turkey). The Iliad (sometimes referred to as the Song of Ilion or Song of Ilium) is an epic poem in dactylic hexameters, traditionally attributed to Homer. Set during the Trojan War, the ten-year siege of the city of Troy (Ilium) by a coalition of Greek states, it tells of the battles and events during the weeks of a quarrel between King Agamemnon and the warrior Achilles. Although the story covers only a few weeks in the final year of the war, The Iliad mentions or alludes to many of the Greek legends making the poem tell a more or less complete tale of the Trojan War. The meeting of Andromache and Hector occurs in book 6 Hector and Andromache. In book 6, the brutal fighting continues, with more blow-by-blow description of the battle. Menelaus kills Adrestus, and Nestor calls out to the men to waste no time on plunder: they shall kill now, and loot the bodies later at their leisure. Helenus, son of Priam and a skilled seer, tells Hector and Aeneas that they must rally the troops lest the soldiers are driven back through the gates. He orders Hector to return to Troy and gather all the elder noblewomen together to make a special sacrifice at the temple of Athena. They must pray to the goddess to hold back Diomedes. Hector does as his brother asks. Hector goes back into the city, where all of the women come running around him to ask about their fathers, sons, husbands, brothers, and friends. His only response is to tell them to pray. He enters the palace of Priam, the layout of which is described here briefly, and he meets his mother Hecuba and his sister Laodice. His mother wants him to rest and offer prayer, but Hector brushes aside her requests and gives her the instructions of Helenus. The old noblewomen make the offering as instructed, but when the priestess prays that Diomedes might be defeated and Troy saved, Athena turns her head away. The women then pray to Zeus himself. After this scene, comes the meeting of Hector and Andromache, which will also be their last meeting with each other. The farewell scene between Andromache and Hector (Iliad, vi. 323) is very famous and has been adapted for representation in many ancient as well as modern works of art. The Hector-Andromache scene in book 6 puts the Trojan hero Hector and his wife Andromache in perspective. Hector is the son of Priam and Hecabe. He is married to Andromache and has a son with her called Astynax. He is also the leader of the Trojan and allied armies, and Troys greatest fighter. He is always scathing of his elder brother Paris. Hector is the last hope for Troy. He is the Trojans best fighter, and rallies the Trojan army many times. Hector is known not only for his courage but also for his noble and courtly nature. Indeed Homer places Hector as the very noblest of all the heroes in The Iliad. He is both peace loving and brave, thoughtful as well as bold, a good son, husband, and father, and without darker motives. According to The Iliad, Hector did not approve of war between the Greeks and the Trojans.

ANDROMACHE, in Greek legend, is the daughter of Eetion, prince of Thebe in Mysia, and wife of Hector. Andromache is one of the finest characters in Homer, distinguished by her affection for her husband and child, her misfortunes and the resignation with which she endures them. Book 6 specifically highlights her affection towards her husband Hector. The love between Andromache and Hector is very strong, but eventually she cannot keep Hector from his destiny. In book six, Hector goes to see his wife and son. He cannot find them in the house, but a servant informs him that his wife Andromache has gone to watch the fighting from atop the city walls. Andromache is attended by a nurse who carries Hector's infant son. Hector goes back to the Scaean Gates, searching for her, and Andromache rushes to meet him there. She weeps for fear that Hector's status, as the greatest Trojan warrior will mean his death. The themes of war and peace in The Iliad are very much reflected in the meeting of Hector and Andromache. It explores the destructive and creative aspects of human nature and the glory of battle vs. the horror of war. Hector on one hand is shown as a family man who wants to stay at home and enjoy the pleasures of his wife and son while on the other hand his ideas of heroics and glory influence his decisions. She wants Hector to stay away from the front lines and set up a defensive force for blocking a weak point in the city walls. He refuses, and tells her that he must not be called a coward; he must win glory for himself and his line. Despite knowing the fact that the day is coming when sacred Ilium will be destroyed and Andromache will be hauled away and made captive in a Greek man's house, he goes back to join the battle. Felson and Slatkin state that yet as much as The Iliad locates its origin on the violation of domestic sphere it devotes many lives to the representation of a loving marriage put under the war. This whole question of glory is very important in homers Iliad and is brought into the perspective many times. The pursuit of glory is a consuming occupation for Homeric heroes. A Homeric hero wins glory by performing great deeds, the memory of which will outlive him. There is no comforting afterlife in Homer. Shades go down to the gloomy world of Hades. Emphasis is on the deeds of this life for the sake of this life, and a hero must win glory that will be remembered always by the living even after he is gone. Andromache narrates how Achilles killed her father and seven brothers in previous campaigns. Her narration is paradoxical enough as Achilles also kills Hector. The scene ironically predicts the upcoming fate of Hector. The persuasion of Andromache points out towards the condition of women at that time. The scene of being taken as a slave is horrifying to Andromache. It shows how the death of the husband could directly affect the women. Andromache considers Hector as her father and mother and brotherand a strong husband. Women play important roles in motivating action and shaping the future. Helen is the immediate cause of the Trojan War. Chryseis is the cause of the rift between Agamemnon and Apollo's priest, Chryseis. Briseis is the cause of the rift between Agamemnon and Achilles. Athena, Aphrodite, Hera, and the sea-nymph mother of AchillesThetisall affect the action of The Iliad significantly. Sometimes these goddesses get the better of their male counterparts. However, Andromache fails to persuade Hector from going into the battle.

The meeting also introduces the father-son motif central to the warrior court and importance of a father in a family. During that time, sons always had to follow the footsteps of their fathers. A son had to inherit the titles, positions, and glories of his father. Therefore, Hector holding his infant son, prays for the child to one day rule and be greater than his father.

this boy of mine becomes, like me, pre-eminent among the Trojans; as strong and brave from as I; a mighty ruler of Ilium.
Hectors son is alarmed by his fathers appearance, and is terrified by his bronze helmet with its horsehair plume which is ironical as Hector is known for his armor and blazing helmet. He is the great Hector of flashing helmet. Hectors death will make his son an orphan. According to the critic, Muiller this act of removing the helmet is seen as prophetic. It is a denial of heroic glory that his father wishes from him. It is abandonment of heroic role and identity. Hectors words may people say, when he comes back from battle, here is a man much better than his father indicate that he doesnt want his family line to go away. The question of destiny and freewill, another important theme of Iliad, is reflected in the farewell speech of Hector.

no one is going to send me down to Hades before my time, though death itself, is something that no man can escape, once he has come into this world.
Hector here gives more importance to the destiny of a man and less importance to the individual choices. It seems that Hector is moving towards his impending doom knowingly and almost helplessly. He cannot do anything to prevent his death if he is destined to die. Interaction between fate and free will is present in every book of The Iliad. At times, it seems that men have no real freedom. The gods intercede repeatedly, altering events as they please. However, Homer was no determinist, and there is a place in The Iliad for human agency. At key points, Homer makes it clear that mortals make important choices, and a few times mortals nearly overturn the dictates of fate itself. Zeus's will determines much of fate, but even he is sometimes subject to a higher necessity that is never personalized in The Iliad. After Hector leaves for the battle Andromache goes back into their house, where she and the handmaidens mourn for Hector, because they do not expect to see him alive again. They lament even before his death. Hector is often contrasted with Achilles and the book 6 brings out one striking difference between both of them. Hector is shown in book 6, to be a loving family man, whereas Achilles has no wife or children. He seeks only one thing: battlefield glory. He is drunk with glory and is not concerned about anything else. Human vices in hector show what war does to family. In the end, Achilles brutally kills Hector. Through the portrayal of destroying Hector, poet demonstrates the cause of larger cultural system of which hector is at the same time a champion and a victim. Thus, the meeting between Hector and Andromache is important as it clearly strikes a contrast between domesticity and war. It clearly expresses the futility of war, what it does to the family and the irony behind the glorification of dying in a war. *****