Who wants to help me with my Achilles-Hector essay?

S

ShartShooter

Veteran XX
So I put off taking Western Civ. till' the end of my college career.. this was probably a mistake because I should have taken it while the whole thing was fresh in my mind after getting out of highschool. I don't pay that great of attention in class because it just seems so god damned boring to me. Anyway.. here is the question I must answer:

Who is the greater hero, Achilles or Hector? Be sure to include what you mean by the word hero. Include also a character sketch of both men, including the roles they play in their respective cultures.

I've yet to look any of this stuff up on google but I figure there is a lot of stuff out there. I thought I'd see what any of the TWians would say before I start researching my answer. It has to be 4 pages.. and thats about it.
 
SharpShooter said:
Who is the greater hero, Achilles or Hector? Be sure to include what you mean by the word hero. Include also a character sketch of both men, including the roles they play in their respective cultures.

I've yet to look any of this stuff up on google but I figure there is a lot of stuff out there. I thought I'd see what any of the TWians would say before I start researching my answer. It has to be 4 pages.. and thats about it.
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There's no wrong answer here. Just pick one and find all of the things that are great about that person.
 
Achilles was completely invunerable. He was only vunerable when Bruce Banner was around. Something about his gamma radiation thing. I dunno.

Hector was gay.

I'm pretty sure Achilles could have beaten Hector to a pulp if Banner wasn't around.

The pantheon rocked.
 
040514_troy.jpg


brad does
 
Come on.. some of you have to have taken this stuff and remembered a fair amount of it. Just throw a thought or two my way and I'll love you long time.
 
I don't remember any of this very well. Since I've left high school, it's all been forgotten or mixed up with the Odyssey and other myths we had to read. Maybe you could write about Odysseus. That's a little more clear in my mind.
 
Hector is the true hero. He is an exemplum brother, son, father, husband, and prince of Ilium. Furthermore, he faces his fate (death) with dignity. Achilles, however, sulks for the bulk of the war, allowing his comrades to be ravaged by his enemies. Only when Patroclus is killed does Achilles return to battle. And when he does so, he enters into a murderous rage, refusing to take hostages, as it was a common practice to ransom. Furthermore, he violates Hector's corpse by dragging it around the walls of Troy. Only when Prium essentially shames Hector does Achilles act properly (returning the body and allowing a cessation for funeral rites).
 
I majored in classic civ, but I'm going to bed.

Human vs the divine; what constitutes a hero? BS question for a 4 page essay; this is way more a philosophy question than history :|.

You should also suck it up and read the greatest war story ever written.
 
paramount said:
Hector is the true hero. He is an exemplum brother, son, father, husband, and prince of Ilium. Furthermore, he faces his fate (death) with dignity. Achilles, however, sulks for the bulk of the war, allowing his comrades to be ravaged by his enemies. Only when Patroclus is killed does Achilles return to battle. And when he does so, he enters into a murderous rage, refusing to take hostages, as it was a common practice to ransom. Furthermore, he violates Hector's corpse by dragging it around the walls of Troy. Only when Prium essentially shames Hector does Achilles act properly (returning the body and allowing a cessation for funeral rites).
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Sulked for about 2 weeks out of 9 years. Priam. You ignore the importance of the warrior in ancient Greek society.
 
Tycho said:
I majored in classic civ, but I'm going to bed.

Human vs the divine; what constitutes a hero? BS question for a 4 page essay; this is way more a philosophy question than history :|.

You should also suck it up and read the greatest war story ever written.
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no, i imagine the professor is asking this with thought of Achilles being nothing more than man.

But its Hector, easily. and if it is not obvious as to why. u deserve to fail
 
Tycho said:
Sulked for about 2 weeks out of 9 years. Priam. You ignore the importance of the warrior in ancient Greek society.
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No, I'm not ignoring the importance of the warrior. The problem is that while Achilles is the most skilled warrior, he is not the greatest. There is a reason the first word of the Iliad is rage.

Edit: The reason I also refer to 'bulk' is because for the majority of the war the Greek raided surrounding villages, hoping the Trojans would leave their walls.
 
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uno said:
no, i imagine the professor is asking this with thought of Achilles being nothing more than man.

But its Hector, easily. and if it is not obvious as to why. u deserve to fail
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But Achilles IS more than man...that's like saying who's tougher - robocop or woody allen, but ignore all of robocops robo parts.

edit: I'm not getting into this now; if the thread is still here tomorrow I'll reply.
 
check pm. It could be either. Achilleus (diff translation of his name) didn't battle because Agamemnon basically was an ass. He stole Achilleus's prize and didn't offer sufficient goods to make up for it. Achilleus would have killed Agamemnon in order to defend his honor but was stopped by Athena. He didn't fight to punish Agamemnon.
 
Tycho said:
But Achilles IS more than man...that's like saying who's tougher - robocop or woody allen, but ignore all of robocops robo parts.

edit: I'm not getting into this now; if the thread is still here tomorrow I'll reply.
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according to legend/myth he is. remember this is a history class not a philosophy class.
 
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