Hector
The chief hero of the Trojans in their war with the Greeks, was the eldest son of Priam by Hecabe, the husband of Andromache, and father of Scamandrius. (The Iliad of Homer; Apollodorus Library Book 3) Some traditions describe him as a son of Apollo (Tzetzes, Scholiast on Lycophron's Alexandra), and speak of him as the father of two sons by Andromache, viz. Scamandrius and Laodamas, or Amphineus.
According to the most common account, Protesilaus, who was the first of the Greeks that jumped upon the Trojan coast, was slain by Hector. (Lucian, Apollodorus) This, however, is not mentioned in the Iliad; and his first act described in that poem is his censure of Alexander (Paris) who, after having gone out to fight Menelaus in single combat, took to flight. (II. iii. 39, etc.) He himself then challenged Menelaus.
During the battle he was accompanied by Ares, with whom he rushed forward to protect his friend Sarpedon, and slew many Greeks (v. 590, etc.) When Diomedes had wounded Ares, and was pressing the Trojans very hard, Hector hastened to the city to request Hecabe to pray to Athena for assistance. (vi. 110.) Hereupon he went to Paris and had a conversation with him and Helena, reproaching the former for his cowardice. He then went to his own house to seek Andromache, but she was absent; and he afterwards found her with her child Scamandrius at the Scaean gate. The scene which there took place is one of the most delicate and beautiful scenes in the Iliad (vi. 406, etc.).
After having taken leave of his wife and child, he returned to battle, and challenged the bravest of the Greeks to single combat. No one ventured to come forward except Menelaus, who, however, was dissuaded from it by his friends. The lot then fell upon the Telamonian Ajax. Hector was wounded, and at nightfall the battle ceased, and the two heroes honoured each other with presents.
After this he again distinguished himself by various feats (viii. 307, etc., x. 299, etc.,xi. etc.)
In the fierce battle in the camp of the Greeks, he was struck with a stone by Ajax, and carried away from the field of battle (xiv. 402). Apollo cured his wound, and then led him back to battle. He there repelled Ajax, and fire was set to the ships of the Greeks (xv. 253, etc. xvi. 114, etc.). In the encounter with Patroclus, he at first gave way, but, encouraged by Apollo, he returned, fought with Patroclus, slew him, took off his armour, and put it on himself (xvi. 654, etc., xvii. 192). Thereupon a vehement contest took place about the body of Patroclus, which Hector refused to give up. Polydamas advised him to withdraw to the city before the arrival of Achilles, but the Trojan hero refused (xviii. 160, etc.).
Apollo forbade Hector to enter upon a contest with Achilles; but when the two heroes met, they were protected by Apollo and Athena (xx. 375, etc.). The Trojans fled, but Hector, although called back by his parents in the most imploring terms, remained and awaited Achilles. When, however, the latter made his appearance, Hector took to flight, and was chased thrice around the city (xxii. 90, etc.). His fall was now determined on by Zeus and Athena; and assuming the appearance of Deiphobus, Athena urged him to make his stand against the pursuer. Hector was conquered, and fell pierced bjr the spear of Achilles. Achilles tied his body to his own chariot, and thus dragged him into the camp of the Greeks; but later traditions relate that he first dragged the body thrice around the walls of Ilium. (Aeneid by Virgil i)
In the camp the body was thrown into the dust, that it might be devoured by the dogs. But Aphrodite embalmed it with ambrosia, and Apollo protected it by a cloud. At the command of Zeus, however, Achilles surrendered the body to the prayers of Priam (Aeneid by Virgil). When the body arrived at Ilium, it was placed on a bier; and while Andromache held the head of her beloved Hector on her knees, the lamentations began, whereupon the body was burned, and solemnly buried (xxiv. 718, etc.). Funeral games were celebrated on his tomb (Aeneid by Virgil), and on the throne of Apollo at Amyclae, the Trojans were seen offering sacrifices to him. (Pausanias iii. 18. § 9.)
In pursuance of an oracle, the remains of Hector were said to have been conveyed to the Boeotian Thebes, where his tomb was shown in later times. (Pausanias ix; Tzetzes, Scholiast on Lycophron's Alexandra)
Hector is one of the noblest conceptions of the poet of the Iliad. He is the great bulwark of Troy, and even Achilles trembles when he approaches him. He has a presentiment of the fall of his country, but he perseveres in his heroic resistance, preferring death to slavery and disgrace. But besides these virtues of a warrior, he is distinguished also, and perhaps more so than Achilles, by those of a man: his heart is open to the gentle feelings of a son, a husband, and a father. He was represented-in the Lesche at Delphi by Polygriotus (Pausanias x); and on the chest of Cypselus, and he is frequently seen in vase paintings.
From Smith's Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and MythologyFrom Trips to the Moon, by Lucian.
I will now acquaint you with some things I lately picked up in Ionia and Achaia, from several historians, who gave accounts of this war. By the graces I beseech you to give me credit for what I am going to tell you, as I could swear to the truth of it, if it were polite to swear in a dissertation. One of these gentlemen begins by invoking the Muses, and entreats the goddesses to assist him in the performance. What an excellent setting out and how properly is this form of speech adapted to history! A little farther on, he compares our emperor to Achilles, and the Persian king to Thersites; not considering that his Achilles would have been a much greater man if he had killed Hector rather than Thersites; if the brave should fly, he who pursues must be braver.
[3.30] Of the Greeks the first to land from his ship was Protesilaus, and having slain not a few of the barbarians, he fell by the hand of Hector. His wife Laodamia loved him even after his death, and she made an image of him and consorted with it. The gods had pity on her, and Hermes brought up Protesilaus from Hades. On seeing him, Laodamia thought it was himself returned from Troy, and she was glad; but when he was carried back to Hades, she stabbed herself to death.
From The Vision Of Hell, Part 2. By Dante Alighieri,
Electra there I saw accompanied
By many, among whom Hector I knew,
Anchises' pious son, and with hawk's eye
Caesar all arm'd, and by Camilla there
Penthesilea. On the other side
Old King Latinus, seated by his child
Lavinia, and that Brutus I beheld,
Who Tarquin chas'd, Lucretia, Cato's wife
Marcia, with Julia and Cornelia there;
And sole apart retir'd, the Soldan fierce.
"Hector," says Zeus to Hera, "was dearest to the gods of all mortals that are in Ilios. So was he to me at least, for nowise failed he in the gifts I loved. Never did my altar lack seemly feast, drink-offering and the steam of sacrifice, even the honour that falleth to our due." [Iliad xxiv. 66.--Translated by Lang, Leaf and Myers.] And he concludes that he must intervene to secure the restoration of the body of Hector to his father.
From Works, Volume Two by Lucian of Samosata
If it ever happens that they want to test the actual impact on a target, they set up one of stout wood, or a shield of raw hide; piercing that, they reckon that their shafts will go through armour too. So, Lycinus, tell Hermotimus from us that his teachers fierce straw targets, and then say they have disposed of armed men; or paint up figures of us, spar at them, and, after a not surprising success, think they have beaten us. But we shall severally quote against them Achilles's words against Hector:
They dare not face the nodding of my plume.
