Hector as an ideal Homeric man in Homer's Iliad Homer's Iliad fascinates readers with its valiant heroes fighting for the glory of Greece. The Iliad, however, is not just a war story; it is also a story of individuals. Through the words and actions of characters, Homer paints portraits of the petulant Achilles and the vain Agamemnon, the doomed Paris and Helen, the faithful Patroclus, the tragic Priam, the versatile Odysseus, and the entire cast of gods. Ironically, the most complete character in the epic is Hector, enemy hero and prince of Troy. Hector is in many ways the ideal Homeric man: he is a compassionate and devoted man, a man of integrity and courage, a man who loves his family and, above all, a man who understands and fulfills his social obligations according to the strict rules of heroic code. Hector, returning to the city from a series of ferocious defeats at the hands of the Achaeans, is presented as a compassionate and merciful man. His behavior as a hero and as a son is markedly different from the behavior exhibited by Agamemnon and Achilles. When he enters the Scaean Gates, he is immediately surrounded by "the wives and daughters of Troy... who ask for their sons, brothers, friends and husbands" (VI, 150-151). The very fact that the women approach Hector, intimidating as he must be in his blood-stained armor, is telling. Up until this point, women in history have been silent victims of the violent moods of the men around them. In contrast, the Trojan women show trust in Hector's character by approaching him without fear. Although he himself is exhausted and despondent, Hector patiently responds to the distressed women, demonstrating the compassion he feels for his fighters and their families. So many…paper ties…serve as a foil against the cruelty, arrogance, and self-indulgence that cripple some of the Iliad's other heroes. To the Greeks of Homer's time, Hector stands out as a symbol of what might have been... and a model of what could be. Works cited and consulted: Clarke, Howard. Homer's Readers: A Historical Introduction to the Iliad and the Odyssey. Newark, Del.: University of Delaware Press, 1981. Goodrich, Norma. Hero myths. New York: Orion Press, 1962. Homer: Iliad. Trans. Robert Fagles. New York: Penguin Books, 1990. Nagy, Gregory. Greek hero concepts. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1979.Richardson, Nicholas. The Iliad: a commentary. vol. VI: books 21-24. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. 1993.Segal, Charles. Heroes and Gods in the Odyssey. Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 1994.