In the epic movie "Troy," directed by Wolfgang Petersen, Hector serves as a significant foil to the main character, Achilles. Hector and Achilles represent two very different perspectives on the nature of war, leadership, and honor. While Achilles represents the individualistic and egoistic values of ancient Greek society, Hector embodies the collective and altruistic values that emphasize the greater good of society. This essay will explore the ways in which Hector serves as Achilles's foil in the movie "Troy."
Firstly, Hector's values of community and honor contrast with Achilles's individualistic and selfish outlook. Achilles is a skilled warrior and fighter, but he fights for his own personal glory and fame, rather than for the well-being of his people or community. On the other hand, Hector is a leader who prioritizes the safety and prosperity of his people over his own individual glory. When Hector is forced to fight Achilles in a one-on-one battle, he pleads with Achilles to spare the lives of his people and end the war. In contrast, Achilles cares only for his own ego and desire for glory, and ultimately kills Hector in front of his people, thereby causing more suffering and destruction.
…show more content…
Hector is portrayed as a wise and compassionate leader who is genuinely concerned for his people's welfare. He is the prince of Troy and takes his role seriously, which is evident when he decides to lead his army into battle to protect his city, even though he knows the risks involved. In contrast, Achilles is portrayed as a reckless warrior who is only concerned with his own glory and pleasure. He is shown to be selfish and impulsive, as seen in his decision to kill Hector and drag his body behind his
Which do you like better? Why? I like Hector more because he was selfless and showed respect to the enemy. Achilles was selfish and showed disrespect to hectors body. morally hector was a much better person
Achilles is brave and courageous enough to go off and kill Hector for his best friend, whom Hector murdered. Achilles does not and will not back down until he is dead himself which is why he says, “I
In the Trojan War two opposing leaders, Achilles on the side of the Greeks and Hector from Troy, are described to the reader in full detail. Hamilton clearly depicts her favored war hero by the stories and actions that the two men go through. Hamilton, through tone and diction, clearly shows the Trojan hero, Hector, is favored more than Achilles. When Hector is introduced, Hamilton uses a prideful tone, “no man anywhere was nobler or more brave…” than him [260].
Achilles is so enraged that he does not care for glory or honor instead it is all about revenge. He goes to try and destroys everything in his path and kills Hector. Hector asks him for a proper burial, but Achilles does not care and instead drags him through the dust. Achilles finally relents, when Priam asks for Hector’s body. Achilles reenters society with Priam by giving hospitality to Priam.
But Achilles kills Hector in front of his people. In these stories taking a risk was part of the characters lives they wanted to live up to a challenge in their life. Where there was no boundaries, They want to prove to themselves that they were not afraid to taking a risk, to get what they
In The Iliad Achilles kills Hector only because Hector killed his best friend. Unlike Beowulf, Achilles does not go looking for battles. But once Achilles finds a reason to fight, he won’t back down. When Achilles is talking to Thetis about Patroclus’s death he says “you cannot make me listen” (Homer 5) no one can stop him from avenging Patroclus. This shows Achilles has to be driven by a personal
After killing Hector, he denied him the right to be properly buried, and allowed his fellow warriors to deface and stab the lifeless corpse. Finally, he lashed his body to his chariot and paraded around his vanquished foe. It is described that Hector’s “whole head was blackened. Looking down, his mother tore her braids, threw off her veil, and wailed, heartbroken to behold her son” (Homer 260). This shows that Achilles' animalistic wrath makes him devolve into a depraved warrior that is less than human, despite the fact that he is more than human.
Throughout Book 22, Achilles tries again and again to chase down and kill Hector, and is finally able to do so. Before he actually kills Hector, he tells him “I wish my stomach would let me cut off you flesh in strips and eat it raw for what you’ve done to me” (Iliad, Book 22, 384-86). Shortly after Achilles allows the Greeks to stand around and continually stab the corpse of Hector. However, not even this brutality satisfied Achilles. Eventually, he ended up completely disgracing Hector’s dead body in front of all of Troy, tying him up to a chariot and dragging him around, being “defiled in his own native land” (Iliad, Book 22, 449).
The Iliad ends without a total victory for the Greeks because when it is recited the reader already knows the beginning and the end. 11. Hector was a more righteous man with a set of morals, he fought for his land, and help his family dear. Achilles fought for personal glory, a legendary story, and thought only of himself. I admire Hector for the heroic man he was without the legendary story.
In the epic poem, the Iliad written by Homer, several characters taking part in the warfare between the Achaeans and the Trojans are portrayed as embodying the heroic code of courage, physical strength, leadership, arete of value of honour, and the acceptance of fate. The heroic code is illustrated by the actions of the Trojan prince, Hector and the Achaeans strongest warrior, Achilles. Both of these characters display the Greek’s image of a hero, and can also let the reader discern what the society admires, looks up to and aspires to in its heroes. There are also characters who fail to be heroic, such as the Trojan “vivid and beautiful” prince, Paris. These characters in the Iliad illustrate the qualities that Ancient Greek society values.
These abilities are important as a warrior because both his men and the hero reflect and are influenced by them. Some of the abilities are excellence in war, courage, leadership and fighting qualities. These qualities are seen through the heroic characters Hector and Achilles. When Achilles is not present with his men, the Greeks are well defeated by the Trojans with no motivation or support. Achilles is also described by his men as a power figure when the poem says “These were his words,/ and all Achaeans gave a roar of joy/ to hear the Prince abjure his rage.”
In grief Achilles wants to fight Hector for what he did. Hector has two choices, either to fight Achilles or hide behind the walls of Troy. Hector exclainms doubtedly “What shall I do? If I retreat behind these walls, … And now that I have ruined them all by my rashness, I am ashamed to face the men and women of Troy, or some base fellows may say-Hector thought too much of his own strength, and ruined us all!”
With his pride; Achilles back out from the war and spend his time on a beach with bitter, praying that the Achaean will be kill by the Trojan and by Thetis help Zeus answer his prayer. Achilles’s pride and anger had leaded him to a conflict with his friend, his oath and the gods. At the end he seeks revenge against Hector, who defeats Patroclus. Later on in the epic; Zeus is the one who makes Achilles surrender and gave Hector’s body back to Priam. In both epic we can see that Zeus always trying to do what’s right although, the other gods is taking side whether their mortals are in a right or
Iliad is recognized as one of the most famous ancient monuments of literature. The full understanding of this epic poem is hardly possible without thorough analysis of its main characters. Among all the episodes of the Trojan War, Homer chooses the moment of Achilles’ wrath and thus creates a poem in which he becomes the central figure. From the Ancient Greeks’ point of view, Achilles represents the ideal of manliness and pure heroism, for he is brave and fights for heroics, not profits. Today, one can agree with this interpretation, yet Achilles is probably the most controversial character because he combines various personality traits and acts in accordance with his ambiguous nature.
Compare and contrast essay Hector and spartacus were alike and many ways they were different spartacus he rebellious Thracian Spartacus, born and raised a slave, is sold to Gladiator trainer Batiatus. After weeks of being trained to kill for the arena, Spartacus turns on his owners and leads the other slaves in rebellion. As the rebels move from town to town, their numbers swell as escaped slaves join their ranks. Under the leadership of Spartacus, they make their way to southern Italy, where they will cross the sea and return to their homes. But hector was a trojan prince and the greatest fighter for Troy in the trojan war.