Is Achilles Treatment Of Hector's Body Conduct Unbecoming A Knight?

Based on the text, I find it undeniable that Achilles' treatment of Hector's body was despicable. But the argument can be furthered with the question of Achilles' role in the story. Was Achilles a knight at all? Or was he simply a killer with an army? If Achilles can only be considered a knight technically, then can his actions really be measured by something he isn't truly? If it is assumed Achilles was a "knight" the argument will go one way. But if Achilles is viewed as a killer, all assumptions of proper action are dismissed, and therefore, his treatment of Hector's need find an alternative gauge.

To take it back ten steps, let's first discuss Achilles' treatment of Hector, before Hector was just a body to be discarded. In Homer's The Iliad, Hector, the son of King Priam and the heir to the Trojan throne, is faced in battle with Achilles, a Greek man made invulnerable to harm (and known for his number of killings), except for a bit of his heel that was not dipped (as he was, as a baby) in the river Styx. Their dual follows the wrongful death of Achilles' close friend Patroclus (who had dressed in Achilles' armor and entered battle) at the hands of Hector. Though Hector was mistaken, and Patroclus' death was arguably unnecessary, Achilles holds Hector accountable, and therefore they meet for battle outside the walls of Troy when Achilles comes seeking Hector, and Hector only.

It is important, still, to give clear impressions of these men, before their battle, and the aftermath of it, is analyzed. These are two men who represent very different backgrounds, coming together to fight in a battle that will test the strength of their fighting skills, and morality. Hector is the son of a king, and acts so. He expresses not only his fear of the fight with Achilles, but also of what will happen if he does not fight. "So now, better by far for me/To stand up to Achilles, kill him, come home alive/Or die at his hands in glory out before the walls. (Book XXII 124-131)" Hector embodies a sense of nobility that Achilles does not share. He fights for not only himself, but for the cause of protecting his country and its pride. Achilles fights Hector for revenge. Therefore, Hector enters the confrontation pursuing an obligation, and Achilles enters it hoping to pacify his pain in the loss of Patroclus. This difference in their motivation has everything to do with the nature of the fight, and what occurs in its wake.

Because Hector's drive is more political than personal, his mindset is that of a noble fighter, and not as an assassin, the nature of which, it could be argued, is embodied by Achilles. Hector, to put it plainly, is there to fight, while Achilles' only objective is to kill. While it is true, they both have honest intent to kill the other, Hector does not have the vengeance Achilles does, and it is possible this harms his ability to gather courage enough to fight to his fullest potential. Hector begins this battle on the defense, and though they are pitted against only each other, and therefore it can be said they are equals in the fight, Hector lacks the anger Achilles feels... and, in Hector's case, the anger necessary to conjure the motivating drive to win is replaced with fear. Hector is scared. And so, when Achilles comes for him, his instinct is to run. "...so Achilles flew at him, breakneck in a fury/with hector fleeting along the walls of Troy,/fast as his legs would go. (Book XXII 171-173)" One might say that Hector's running away is unbecoming a knight, but then again, knights are human, and so was Hector. Priam is forced to watch his son get hunted down by a killer, outside walls he built to protect his people. "Unbearable--a man I love, hunted round his own city walls/and right before my eyes (Book XXII 201-202)" cries Priam. If anything, this is foreshadowing of the lack of respect Achilles will show Hector's body, as he has no qualms of extinguishing Hector right before his own city's walls, and under the watchful eye of his father.

When Hector stops running, and finally turns to face Achilles, it is clear that Hector's psyche has instilled a great fear in him for his life. It seems, when he stops running from Achilles, that he gives up his life there. To Achilles, Hector makes a plea, making him the first to vocally acknowledge the fact that one of them will die. He tries to appease Achilles by promising him the respect of proper burial, should he be the one to die. "I swear/I will never mutilate you--merciless as you are--/If Zeus allows me to last it out and tear your life away./But once I've stripped your glorious armor, Achilles,/I will give your body back to the loyal comrades./Swear you will do the same. (Book XXII302-307)" It is clear that Hector fears for his own life, and is simply trying to gain sympathy from Achilles.

Although Hector's pleas may have appealed to a side of Achilles that craved power, Achilles' motivation to kill Hector was that of pure revenge for the life taken by Hector's hand. Because of the slaughter, which Achilles views as murder, he does not see Hector as a man. If anything, he sees him as a killer, and the two are as different as man and beast. "There are no binding oaths between men and lions--/wolves and lambs can enjoy no meeting of the minds--/they are all bent on hating each other to the death.

So with you

...