Mythology
Delahoyde & Hughes

HOMER'S ILIAD:

BOOK XXII: The Death of Hector

Questions for Book XXII:

Is Hector heroic in this book? Or a chicken?

Comment on Book 22, lines 174-190. What is happening and who is involved? Now read lines 399-417 in the same book. What is the connection between these lines and the lines 174-190? How do these two passages illustrate the Homeric outlook on life and the personal character of the men involved?

Is the encounter between Achilles and Hector a symbolic one? Do these two warriors represent different principles?

At what stage is Achilles emotionally now that he has killed his enemy?

Apollo chides Achilles for chasing him, an indication that Achilles is being reckless in his battle-wrath. Priam laments the loss of so many sons to Achilles. He cannot currently see two others, Lycaon and Polydorus, and the pathos of the scene is that we know these guys are dead now too. King Priam mentions the riches of Troy (22.59f), which got Schliemann excited in the 19th century. Priam also laments his old age, expressing the philosophy that one should die young, in glory, and leave a good-looking corpse.
Hecuba, Priam's queen, yanks out a breast and makes a melodramatic speech. (Hector should be thinking, "Good Lord, Mother, put that back!")

Unlike almost all previous characters, Hector, facing the showdown, ponders his options. He has a real case against the gods if he wanted to give himself over to complaining, but he doesn't. He logically considers negotiating, surrendering, etc. But he knows the futility of these alternatives. Hector runs -- a surprising event, but a very human weak moment. He passes by "double wellsprings" of the river Scamander (22.178ff), another clue that proved key for Schliemann in the archaeological discovery of Troy. Hector circles Troy, chased by Achilles, and this mythological image of the circle crops up repeatedly now for a while. The scales of Fate go against Hector, and with Athena disguising herself as his brother Deiphobus, he is tricked into his last hopes. Hector proposes a pact of honor with Achilles regarding whichever of them ends as a corpse, no doubt him, but Achilles refuses. The spear volley is rigged by Athena, but Hector, even when he realizes he's been duped, accepts his fate rather than bitches about being cheated out of life.

Achilles is excessive in brutality: "Would to god my rage, my fury would drive me now / to hack your flesh away and eat you raw" (22.408-409). In The Odyssey, cannibalism is the most savage of human acts. Homer is clear on this; only the worst of human savages (who have no sense of xenia) devour human flesh. This statement is coupled with Achilles' previous refusal to eat with the other warriors, especially when Odysseus makes the argument that an army travels on its stomach. Aristotle said that a man who is incapable of working in common, or who in his self-sufficiency has no need of others, is no part of the community, like a beast or a god. The communal act of feasting has already been shown in Book IX to be the ethics of camaraderie and community. Achilles' murderous promise to devour Hector raw marks his own isolation from the human community and places him, as Aristotle suggests, either with the gods or beasts.

Hector goes down to the House of Death.

The Greeks gather like jackals over Hector's corpse. Achilles strings Hector's ankles together with rawhide, ties him to his chariot, and drags his corpse around Troy. The Trojans' grief is drastic.

Andromache: "her voice rang out in tears and the women wailed in answer." (22. 606)