Animus Classics Journal: Vol. 1, Issue 1

48
ANIMUS VOL. 1
Hector the Achaean:
The “Invasion” of Troy in
Iliad VI
Written By DIDO WANG
College of Letters and Science, University of California, Los Angeles
Book VI of the Iliad diverts the attention of the audience from the
battlefield with an interlude, in which Hector visits the city of Troy and meets
with his family. However, what may appear to be a respite from the bloodshed
is revealed to be another host of inferred terrors, as Hector’s appearance
and actions in the city resemble an enemy rather than a friend. Throughout
his stay, Hector causes disturbances all over the city in his warlike guise and
foreshadows the doom that will eventually befall both the Trojans and himself.
When he meets the grieving Andromache by the city walls, this identification
with an Achaean invader illustrates that a warrior like Hector is just
like an enemy to his city, since it is his own stubborn adherence to the heroic
code that will bring death and devastation to all those dependent on him. The
superficial identification of Hector with an Achaean invader achieves deeper
significance in the encounter of Hector and Andromache, which turns the
confrontation of husband and wife into a clash between the masculine world
of battlefield glory and the feminine world of familial bonds, and shows that
the warrior who adheres stubbornly to the pursuit of glory brings death and
devastation to all those dependent on him just like an enemy.
Hector goes into Troy straight from the battlefield, looking every
inch like a terrifying warrior, and interrupts the calm order of everyday
life within the walls with his strange and threatening presence. During his
visit, he is described six times with his typical epithet κορυθαίολος “of the
gleaming helmet”, with at least one use in each interaction with one of his
family members. In his encounter with Andromache, his name also appears
twice with the epithet φαίδιμος “shining”, which conveys the same type of
cold, metallic brilliance of a bronze-clad warrior as κορυθαίολος. There are
also two instances of κορυθαίολος being coupled with μέγας “great, tall” to
magnify his already imposing and highly visible presence. The fearsome
battlefield appearance of a warrior expressed through these typical heroic
epithets is further articulated by actual physical descriptions of Hector. While
refusing the offer of wine from Hecuba, he claims to be αἵματι καὶ λύθρῳ
πεπαλαγμένον “spattered with blood and gore”. 1 The disharmony between his