Corey Tomlinson 10/12/10 Dietrich Achilles vs.

Hector

Achilles vs. Hector

There were many great and mighty heroes in Greek Mythology. There was Hercules, the strongest of all heroes. There was Theseus, the wisest of them all. There was Odysseus, the most clever and brilliant hero in Greek Mythology. However, there were two particular heroes between whom it is controversial as to who was the better man. Who were these heroes? None other than Achilles and Hector. Achilles was the nobler of the two, for various reasons. The first and most basic reason that Achilles is the greater man is simply because he was nearly invincible. He was invincible everywhere but his heel, where his mother forgot to dip him completely in the River Styx. This made Achilles almost completely untouchable, as well as an amazing warrior. In a line directly from Edith Hamiltons Mythology, it says that Zeus knew that the Greeks without Achilles were inferior to the Trojans. Indeed, Achilles is the one that kills the legendary Hector. Achilles is the greater hero for another reason because he had moral principles. This is shown when Agamemnon takes his prize of honor from him. Agamemnon is angry that he must give away his prize of honor if they are to appease Apollo, and so takes Achilless prize as compensation. By doing this, Agamemnon shows himself as a thoughtless and cruel person. This is because he was the cause of Apollos plague in the first place, and then when he had rectified the situation, he took what Achilles had rightfully earned, as if it was his right to do so, even after Achilles had given Agamemnon his share of Achilless spoils. This was a great insult to Achilles, when among the Greeks material possessions and glory were extremely important. In response, Achilles rightfully and justly says, I will not fight for men who have disgraced me. This means that Achilles is not going to fight for Agamemnon after how Agamemnon treated him, taking what was Achilless as if it was his right to do so. Achilles also says that he will fight to defend his ships. This does not contradict what he said earlier because Agamemnon would not benefit from Achilless saving his own ships. As soon as Agamemnon wronged Achilles, he lost any right he had to Achilless help. This was Achilless moral principle. Yet another reason, and perhaps the greatest one of all, of why Achilles is the greater hero than Hector is because Achilles has a strong sense of friendship. When Patroclus dies, Achilles swears that he will avenge Patroclus by killing Hector. Achilles also states that he will no longer live unless he kills Hector, meaning possibly that he will kill himself if he does not succeed, or perhaps that if he can't kill Hector, he will die trying. This shows how ready Achilles is to give his life to avenge a friends death, which Achilles believes he was partly the cause of. Many people may say that Hector is the greater man. They reason that while Achilles refused to fight for those who had wronged him, he was pouting. They think that Achilles, in direct conflict with everything else that has been said about him, is a snobby, pouting baby. For some reason, after reading the passage where it describes why Achilles refuses to fight, they

seem to think, he was pouting. They forget that he was the crown jewel of the Greek Army. They forget that he later goes on to avenge his friends death. And they forget that while perhaps nine out of ten people will know who Achilles is if you randomly ask them, almost nobody will know who Hector is. Nobody seems to think that there might be a reason for that. The thought that Achilles was pouting is what seems to be the only one that those who prefer Hector seem to be able to come up with. And as was stated earlier, Achilles was not in fact pouting, but he was abiding by his principles, and refusing to help those who wronged him. If Achilles had not done this, he would have been, in his mind, a coward, someone who let people take advantage of them without doing anything about it. By refusing to fight, he avoided this, and was able to keep his dignity. However, those who vie for Hector cannot seem to come up with any solid reason why there is anything particularly remarkable about Hector that Achilles cannot stand up to. I heard one person quote a line from Mythology that told of how great a warrior Hector was, and yet, Achilles kills Hector. Defeats him. This makes Achilles the greater warrior by default, and so that single, almost decent argument falls. And there it is. Why Achilles greater than Hector. A greater warrior. A greater hero. A greater man. Achilles was a spectacular fighter, nigh invincible. Achilles had morals and principles that meant something to him, morals and principles that he lived and abided by. Achilles was a good friend. What was Hector? An above average warrior. How can anybody, after seeing the comparison between Achilles and Hector, possibly contest that Hector was greater than Achilles? The answer is simple: they cannot.