Editing Hector (section)

===Hector's last fight===
{{blockquote|Alas! the gods have lured me on to my destruction. ... death is now indeed exceedingly near at hand and there is no way out of it – for so [[Zeus]] and his son [[Apollo]] the far-darter have willed it, though heretofore they have been ever ready to protect me. My doom has come upon me; let me not then die ingloriously and without a struggle, but let me first do some great thing that shall be told among men hereafter.|cite=Spoken by Hector facing [[Achilles]], after a missed spear-throw; ''Iliad'', Book XXII, lines 299–305}}

Hector strips the armor of Achilles off the fallen Patroclus and gives it to his men to take back to the city. Glaucus accuses Hector of cowardice for not challenging Ajax. Stung, Hector calls for the armor, puts it on, and uses it to rally the Trojans. [[Zeus]] regards the donning of a hero's armor as an act of insolence by a fool about to die, but it makes Hector strong for now.<ref>Homer, ''Iliad'' Book 17.</ref>

The next day, the enraged Achilles renounces the wrath that kept him out of action and routs the Trojans, forcing them back to the city. Hector chooses to remain outside the gates of Troy to face Achilles, partly because had he listened to Polydamas and retreated with his troops the previous night, Achilles would not have killed so many Trojans. When he sees Achilles, however, Hector is seized by fear and turns to flee. Achilles chases him around the city three times before Hector masters his fear and turns to face Achilles. But Athena, in the disguise of Hector's brother [[Deiphobus]], has deluded Hector. He requests from Achilles that the victor should return the other's body after the duel (though Hector himself made it clear he planned to throw the body of Patroclus to the dogs), but Achilles refuses. Achilles hurls his spear at Hector, who dodges it, but Athena brings it back to Achilles' hands without Hector noticing. Hector then throws his own spear at Achilles; it hits his shield and does no injury. When Hector turns to face his supposed brother to retrieve another spear, he sees no one there. At that moment he realizes that he is doomed. Hector decides that he will go down fighting and that men will talk about his bravery in years to come.

[[File:Triumph of Achilles in Corfu Achilleion.jpg|thumb|upright=1.5|left|Triumphant Achilles dragging Hector's lifeless body in [[Troy]]. (A [[fresco]] in the [[Achilleion (Corfu)|Achilleion]], [[Corfu]])]]
Hector pulls out his sword, now his only weapon, and charges. But Achilles grabs his thrown spears that were delivered to him by the unseen Athena. Achilles then aims his spear and strikes Hector around the collar bone, the only part of the stolen armor of Achilles that did not protect Hector. The wound is fatal yet allowed Hector to speak to Achilles. In his final moments, Hector begs Achilles for an honorable funeral, but Achilles replies that he will let the dogs and vultures devour Hector's flesh. Hector dies, prophesying that Achilles' death will follow soon:

<blockquote>Be careful now; for I might be made into the gods' curse upon you, on that day when Paris and [[Phoibos]] Apollo destroy you in the Skaian gates, for all your valor.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Homer |first= |author-link= |title=The Iliad of Homer |publisher=University of Chicago Press |others=Translated by [[Richmond Lattimore]]; introduction and notes by Richard P. Martin |year=2011 |isbn=978-0-226-47049-8 |page=467 |orig-date=Reprint of 1951 translation |ref={{sfnref|Lattimore|1951}}}}</ref></blockquote>

After his death, Achilles slits Hector's heels and passes the girdle that Ajax had given Hector through the slits. He then fastens the girdle to his chariot and drives his fallen enemy through the dust to the [[Danaan]] camp. For the next twelve days, Achilles mistreats the body, but it remains preserved from all injury by [[Apollo]] and [[Aphrodite]]. After these twelve days, the gods can no longer stand watching it and send down two messengers: [[Iris (mythology)|Iris]], another messenger god, and [[Thetis]], the mother of Achilles. Thetis has told Achilles to allow King Priam to come and take the body for ransom. Once King Priam has been notified that Achilles will allow him to claim the body, he goes to his strongroom to withdraw the ransom. The ransom King Priam offers includes twelve fine robes, twelve white mantles, several richly embroidered tunics, ten bars of yellow gold, a very beautiful cup, and several cauldrons. Priam himself goes to claim his son's body, and Hermes grants him safe passage by casting a charm that will make anyone who looks at him fall asleep.

[[File:Hector brought back to Troy.jpg|thumb|upright=1.15|Hector's body is brought back to Troy, from a Roman sarcophagus ca. 180–200 AD.]]

{{blockquote|<poem>
Think of thy father, and this helpless face behold
See him in me, as helpless and as old!
Though not so wretched: there he yields to me,
The first of men in sovereign misery!
Thus forced to kneel, thus groveling to embrace
The scourge and ruin of my realm and race;
Suppliant my children’s murderer to implore,
And kiss those hands yet reeking with their gore!
</poem>
|cite=Spoken by [[Priam]] to [[Achilles]]; (Iliad, Book XXIV), [[Alexander Pope|Pope's]] translation}}

Achilles is moved by Priam's actions and, following his mother's orders sent by Zeus, returns Hector's body to Priam and promises him a truce of twelve days to allow the Trojans to perform funeral rites for Hector. Priam returns to Troy with the body of his son, and it is given full funeral honors. Even Helen mourns Hector, for he had always been kind to her and protected her from spite. The last lines of the ''Iliad'' are dedicated to Hector's funeral. Homer concludes by referring to the Trojan prince as the "Breaker of Horses."<ref>{{cite book |author=Pseudo-Apollodorus |title=[[Bibliotheca (Pseudo-Apollodorus)|Bibliotheca]] |at=III, xii, 5–6; "Epitome" IV, 2}}</ref>

In [[Virgil]]'s ''[[Aeneid]]'', the dead Hector appears to Aeneas in a dream urging him to flee Troy.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Diepenbrock |first=George |date=1 June 2015 |title=Were some dreams in ancient Roman poetry the precursor to film? |url=https://news.ku.edu/2015/05/22/were-some-dreams-ancient-roman-poetry-precursor-film |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240603103611/https://news.ku.edu/news/article/2015/05/22/were-some-dreams-ancient-roman-poetry-precursor-film |archive-date=3 June 2024 |website=KU News}}</ref>