LAPC The Iliad Comparing and Contrasting Achilles and Hector Essay

User Generated

1213cungr

Humanities

Los Angeles Pierce College

Description

Choose one of the questions below for your essay response, or discuss another topic of interest based on our class’ literary readings. You are not required to include outside research for this essay. Your paper should be 5 –6 typed, double-spaced pages. Please see the (attached) English Department's rubric for the grading criteria. I have sample essay outlines for questions #1 - 6 and will post these detailed outlines throughout the next few weeks.

  1. Achilles set the model for a kind of heroism still immensely influential in the imagination of the West. His rage, egotism, and the motives that drive his tragic, obsessive behavior are compelling. Who is the true hero of the Iliad – Achilles or Hector?
  2. Both Achilles and Hector are heroic, courageous, and vulnerable. Both realize that they are fated to die, although they are helped by the gods. The proud runner and the Trojan warrior have strengths of character and possess positive characteristics as well as flaws. Compare and contrast these two Homeric heroes.
  3. Consider the presentation of the gods in Homer's epic poem. What is the gods' role? Do they control humans? Do humans have free will? Are the gods simply fickle, or do they support some essential order?
  4. Although Medea is a woman, Euripides has presented her as a figure previously thought of as exclusively male - a hero. Analyze her character in the play as a combination of the salient qualities of Achilles.
  5. Sophocles' Antigone is both admirable and troubling as a heroine, and despite characters' statements to the contrary, she reveals the power and influence that women in the Greek culture held. She defies Creon, the guard, and the law of Thebes, and through her actions, she gains the sympathy of of the populace, her sister, Tiresias, and Haimon. While her determination and independence are admirable, Antigone's apparently self-destructive resignation (she does not try to escape her punishment or to deny the charges that are made against her) lends a complexity to her character that is troubling. Are you sympathetic to her character?
  6. Despite their marked differences, Sophocles' Antigone and Creon also share similarities as both are stubbornly loyal to their values, both are powerful figures, and both characters are outsiders. Compare and contrast these two characters from Sophocles' Antigone.
  7. Compare the chorus in the two Greek tragedies.

Readings:

The Iliad, Homer

Medea, Euripides

Antigone, Sophocles


Feel free to pick which ever prompt is easiest for you to respond to. Please write in MLA format. Feel free to ask me any questions. Thanks

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Explanation & Answer

Attached. Please let me know if you have any questions or need revisions.

OUTLINE, Comparing and Contrasting Achilles and Hector


From The Iliad, both Achilles and Hector are great heroes. According to literature, nearly
all central characters are known for the heroic trait due to their desire for honor, fame,
and their need to be remembered over generations.



Achilles and Hector were warriors in the Trojan War who had significant leadership traits
by leading their armies into war. Achilles led the Greek army while Hector governed the
Trojan army. Both worriers were unstoppable in war as they were quite courageous.
Achilles feared nothing, including king Agamemnon since he had the plot to assassinate
him. He was a swift, accurate, and energetic individual who made noble victories seem
an easy task



Unlike Achilles, who was born an immortal warrior ready for battle, Hector was an
ordinary human being and had to learn how to overcome fear by being ruthless and bold
while fighting; this made him brave over time, and he was recognized as a great warrior
by Trojans. Hector wasn't a naturally fierce warrior since he was quite friendly and
loving.



The leadership skills of both characters are also different in that Achilles led in a more
dictatorial way since he was a loner; he made decisions only considering his thoughts as
of right; this made him be a very unreliable leader who let his anger take control over him
when his plans went against him, for instance, he exits the war when he is most needed
due to his interests causing the death of his friend. On the other hand, Hector is perceived
as a team player who had good leading and military skills.



Even though Hector considered war as a vice, his people were his greatest treasure since
he was the Prince and his primary role was to protect his people in all ways from

attackers. His statue made him train as a warrior while Achilles was born to be a hero as
he was a warrior of divine power who was partly immortal and could only be killed by a
strike on his heels. Achilles was destined to be a warrior and fought for death instead of
living a long life filled with uncertainty. Achilles was more brutal and cruel than hector
since he had fixed reasoning, and due to his immortality, he believed that he could not be
won in battle.


At the end of the Iliad, Hector is seen as a coward trying to show how brave he was, but
deep down, he knew Achilles was more powerful than him. On seeing Achilles, he tries
to escape by running around the city walls. Hector only faced up with Achilles after he
got an assurance from god Athena who showed himself in the shape of Deiphobus.



From this paper, it's quite evident that both characters possessed unique traits, some of
which were similar; for instance, both are greatest warriors that their nations had and
fearless warriors, but these similar traits a...


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