A Lesson of Heroic Conduct in The Iliad

The epic of The Iliad primarily focuses on the glory-seeking heroes within the Trojan and Akkhaian ranks, describing their varied attempts to immortalize themselves through gaining honor. Interestingly, while the heroes all possess this same aspiration for glory, there are quite obvious differences in the ways the heroes carry themselves, as well as in the motivations for seeking acclaim. While one is driven by self interest, another throws himself in battle to protect his family; Homer makes it clear to the reader that each hero seeks honor in a different way for unique reasons. The large variance between heroes ultimately causes a question to be raised: does Homer believe that there are objectively superior ways of being a hero? This paper argues, based on discussion of Hector and Agamemnon’s actions, that Homer demonstrates there are indeed specific heroic traits, such as selflessness, that heroes should aspire to possess in order to receive the greatest glory possible.

To begin, a hero’s life is centralized around one aspect: achieving and maintaining glory. Homer’s heroes live constantly shadowed by the threat of disgrace, meaning that the heroes must always be prepared to avoid being dishonored, including through painful death in battle. In order to avoid being scorned by those around them, heroes are expected to push aside their own personal feelings on matters, following those around them’s wishes rather than their own to safeguard their fragile reputations. For example, Hektor respects this principle when he visits his beloved wife and child in book 6, remaining unwavering in regards to returning to battle because of honor. As Hektor’s wife, Andromache, tearfully laments her husband’s impending doom that will arrive if he enters into battle again, Hektor “...caresses...” (Iliad, VI, 564) her and instructs her to “...not be too distressed with thoughts of Hektor” (Iliad, VI, 566-567), as “...no mortal… can escape his fate, coward or brave man, once he comes to be” (Iliad, VI, 568-569).

Hektor clearly loves his wife and child very much, but regardless of the fact that he would likely rather live out a long life with the two peacefully, Hektor understands that his duty as a hero calls him to endanger himself on the battlefield. No matter his personal feelings on the idea of parting from his family, Hektor must follow his community’s demand, which is that he stands alongside the other men of Troy to defend their walled city with their lives. Hektor once again leaves his fate in the hands of the Gods when he agrees to fight the “greatest of Akhaians” (Iliad, VII, 57) to the death, potentially endangering himself for the sake of gaining “honor… that will never pass away” (Iliad, VII, 104-105). While it remains true that Hektor was told that he would not die in the fight, Hektor still endangered himself for honor, ignoring any personal fears of harm or death for the sake of glory.

Agamenon also demonstrates the idea of making one’s personal feelings secondary when he is confronted by Nestor in book 9, who plainly tells Agamemnon of his mistake in “...dishonoring Achilles” (Iliad, IX, 130), advising Agamemnon to “make peace with him by friendly gifts, and by affectionate words” (Iliad, IX, 134-135). Agamemnon, despite likely harboring feelings of anger towards Achilles, consents to Nestor’s wise idea, thus placing the will of the community before his own. In another instance, upon hearing about the battle going poorly for the Akkhaians, Agamemnon suggests retreating, which would cause the Trojans to achieve victory (Iliad, XIV, 73-91).

Odysseus is disgusted by Agammenon’s spinelessness, reprimanding the cowardly idea, causing Agamenon to retract it (Iliad, XIV, 101-119). Agammenon absolutely does not wish to stay for what may be a slaughter for him and his men, but does so, submitting to the commands of the other Akkhaian leaders. Within these four examples, Homer asserts the idea that a hero’s personal desires and emotions must defer to the wishes of the community, as disobedience leads to dishonor. A hero must not live for himself; he is central to a cause much greater than that.

As opposed to Agammemnon and Odysseus, one could argue that Achilles does not conform to this aforementioned heroic quality, as Achilles is emotionally driven with no regard for others throughout the story. It is true that his wrath does greatly influence his actions; however, the outcome of his actions still align with the common goal of his peers, which is to defeat the Trojans. No single warrior is opposed to Achilles’s return to battle, despite the fact the return is driven by vengeance for the death of Patrolocus. As well, Achilles does present a certain degree of selflessness with his reappearance, as he knows that in avenging Patrolocus’s death and combating the Trojans, he is doomed.

However, as God-like as heroes are depicted as, they are ultimately only human, thus susceptible to error. Errors arise when a hero chooses to make his feelings and opinions the primary arbiter of his actions, directly disobeying the trait discussed in paragraph one: the idea that heroes are expected to place their community’s desires over their own. Chaos always stems from this disordered action, and Homer clearly demonstrates that glory cannot be obtained until the wrong is corrected. An example of this is when Agamemnon, blinded by pride, insults Achilles by stealing Achilles’s war spoil, Breisis, whom Achilles cares for.

He is advised against this decision twice, once by Nestor, and once by Achilles: “Just let the girl go, in God’s name, now; we’ll make it up to you… (Iliad, I, 150-151), but Agamemnon, in his pride, refuses to retract his claim on Achilles’s girl. Achilles even threatens to leave, which only causes Agamenon to sneer at him “Desert, if that’s the way the wind blows… others will honor me” (Iliad, 1, 201-203), despite knowing that Achilles is essential to the success of the Akkhaians. In trampling upon Achilles’s honor, Agamemnon subjects the Akkhaian army to more death than was ever necessary, seemingly almost losing the war in the later books of the epic.

Hektor acts similarly to Agamemnon later in the story, allowing his pride to get the best of him when he commands the Trojans to camp outside of the walls, directly ignoring the wiser Poulydamas’s plea to scrap that plan. In this case, Hektor solely acts on his own desires, demonstrated when he harshly tells Polydamas that “what you propose no longer serves my turn” (Iliad, XVIII, 330-331). Hektor’s ignorance is what leads him to almost lose his honor, disgraced by his community for leading the Trojans to a bloody defeat. With these examples, Homer exemplifies the idea that heroes cannot act on their own accords, for the honor of the hero will be threatened, and lives will be unnecessarily lost.

When heroes do make mistakes, Homer makes it clear that glory can once again be restored under one condition: acceptance of the fault and a realization that the hero must make amends, righting the wrongdoing. Prolonging the repentance leads only to continued failure for the hero; the heroes must accept responsibility. Correlating to the final example in the prior paragraph, Hektor is only able to maintain his honor after he recognizes the glaring mistake that he made when he had led his men to dismal slaughter in front of the gates of Troy. Solemnly, Hektor states “... troops have perished for my foolish pride” (Iliad, XXII, 125), deciding at once to stay outside of the walls and fight the mightier Achilles so that his honor may remain intact. Hektor realizes that he likely will offer the ultimate sacrifice in reparation for his pride: his life; however, he understands that staying outside of the walls is the only option.

Because of this awareness, Homer portrays Hektor very positively, being a man who nobly dies defending his city and his honor. Hektor not only retains his glory, but he earns even more prestige through his doomed showdown with Achilles, eventually being lauded as a heroic martyr within the epic. Homer saves Hektor from too much judgment for his prior error, instead showing that Hektor’s selflessness has more than made up for the fault.

The Iliad, being a tale of violence, fate, and heroism, was created in order to entertain an audience. Anyone listening to the epic would have been enraptured, clinging on to the minstrel’s every word in order to discover how doom came to most of the characters. However, The Iliad goes deeper than simply being war story, as the heroic attributes that Homer purposefully details teach a lesson on morality to the audience. With the described heroic attributes, listeners would learn of selflessness, of being a part of something larger than oneself, of admitting one’s faults. Thus, with the descriptions of proper heroic conduct, Homer influences his audience to imitate the heroes, making heroic traits into something to be aspired to.