The Death of Hector
1. Achilles insults Hector by refusing to give his body back to the Trojans if Hector dies; Achilles refuses to give Hector an honorable funeral.
2. Hector's character in this excerpt shows his flaws. He runs away from Achilles, he shows fear, a natural human emotion. On the other hand Hector also stays out of the city walls and faces Achilles, which shows either his bravery or insanity. He is also persuaded and deceived by Athena, who was disguised as one of Hector's allies, to stop running and fight Achilles. He is tricked; this is very human like.
3. The gods can completely control human life, they can even possibly change fate if they desire. In the excerpt Zeus was pondering whether or not he should save Hector's life, changing his fate. Athena convinces her father, Zeus, not to change fate for whatever reason. Her words in the end change Hector's life, he dies basically because of her. Apollo on the other hand helps Hector; he helps Hector to run away from Achilles, trying to save Hector's life.
4. No I definitely do not think the ways Achilles treated Hector's corpse was justified at all. Hector promised to treat Achilles corpse with respect and return it to the Greeks, the least Achilles could do would be the same and respect Hector. Achilles had no reason to tie up and drag Hector's corpse across town.
5. I believe that Homer (as much as I dislike him right now) included Priam's and Hecuba's reactions to Achilles' treatment of their son's body to show how much Hector's parents cared about him and to add more sorrow to the poem.
Excellent analysis, Angela.
ReplyDeleteMs. R