Reading Notes: The Iliad Part B

    The section of the Iliad that most stood out to me today was The Slaying of Hector. Contrary to my favorite part of part A, this section is full of action and suspense. Who is going to survive? How will they manage to kill their opponent? Which god will intervene next? It was great fun to read.

Plot

    The plot for this sections is fairly simple. The Greeks are winning the battle thanks to Achilles reentering the field. The Trojans are retreating into the city. The Greeks would have won the battle at this time if it were not for some divine intervention on Apollo's part. In order to give the Trojans time to escape, Apollo instills great courage into Agenor and gives him a spear. Agenor stands his ground at the gate and spears Achilles when he approaches but the spear just bounces off Achilles' armor. Achilles charges Agenor. Apollo lifts Agenor to safety and then takes his form. Apollo, now Agenor, leads Achilles on a chase long enough to get the Trojans to safety and then mocks him for being so dumb.
    Everyone has gotten inside the city gates except for Hector, son of Priam, who stands outside the gate waiting for Achilles. His parents beg him to come inside to safety. Hector refuses. Achilles arrives back at Troy's gates and rushes towards Hector. Realizing how screwed he is, Hector runs. Achilles chases Hector around the city walls three times. Hector is only able to keep the pace because of some more divine intervention from Apollo. However, Achilles gets some help of his own. After the third lap, Athena tells Achilles to stop and rest. She will bring him Hector. Athena turns into Hector's brother and convinces him to stand and fight. Hector agrees.
    Achilles waits for Hector. He throws a spear at Hector and misses but Athena slyly gives it back to him. Hector throws a spear and it bounces off Achilles' armor. He asks for another spear from his brother to find him missing. Hector draws his sword and charges Achilles, but all he finds is a spear through his neck. Hector begs Achilles to sell his corpse to Priam for a ransom. Achilles says nope you don't deserve it. Achilles tied Hector's body to his chariot and dragged behind him to the Greek ships.
    Andromache hears the wailing and commotion at the wall and rushes out to see what's up. She gets to the wall and sees Achilles dragging Hector away. She passes out.
        Hector's body being dragged by Achilles (Archive.org

 

Characters

    Achilles really isn't much different from earlier in the story. His main change is being reinvigorated for battle because of the death of Patroclus.
    Hector isn't particularly interesting. He's a headstrong warrior that wants to prove himself to the people around him. So, he's just like every other mythology hero. He at least has the common sense to sort of question his motives and actions while he is standing guard at the gate. However, he still does it just because it's more honorable to die than be made fun of by his countrymen. Ultimately, that honor goes out the window once Achilles is actually present. Hector isn't completely stupid. Not until a god convinces him he's good at least.
    The gods are the gods as usual. They use the humans as play things that please them. They only "favor" one over the other because that one happens to feed their ego more.

Thoughts

    This section is just pure, fun action. It really feels like the big penultimate fight of an action movie and I love it. I have no idea how I would rewrite this in a modern or creative fashion. I am really not sure what I could write a story about that would take inspiration from this. I want to, though.

Bibliography. The Slaying of Hector from The Iliad for Boys and Girls by Alfred J. Church (1907) Part 1 Part 2 Part 3

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