Editing Hector (section)

===Trojan counter-attack===
Zeus [[Weighing of souls|weighs the fates]] of the two armies in the balance, and that of the Greeks sinks. The Trojans press the Greeks into their camp over the ditch and wall and would have laid hands on the ships, but [[Agamemnon]] personally rallies the Greeks. The Trojans are driven off, night falls, and Hector resolves to take the camp and burn the ships the next day. The Trojans [[Bivouac shelter|bivouac]] in the field.
{{blockquote|A thousand camp-fires gleamed upon the plain ....<ref>Homer, ''Iliad'', 8.542ff.</ref>}}

The next day Agamemnon rallies the Greeks and drives the Trojans
{{Blockquote|like a herd of cows maddened with fright when a lion has attacked them ...<ref>Homer, ''Iliad'', 11.171ff.</ref>}}
Hector refrains from battle until Agamemnon leaves the field, wounded in the arm by a spear. Then Hector rallies the Trojans:
{{Blockquote|... like some fierce tempest that swoops down upon the sea ...|sign=|source=}}
[[Diomedes]] and [[Odysseus]] hinder Hector and win the Greeks some time to retreat, but the Trojans sweep down upon the wall and rain blows upon it. The Greeks in the camp contest the gates to secure entrance for their fleeing warriors. The Trojans try to pull down the ramparts while the Greeks rain arrows upon them. Hector smashes open a gate with a large stone, clears the gate, and calls on the Trojans to scale the wall, which they do, and
{{blockquote|... all was uproar and confusion.<ref>Homer, ''Iliad'', Book 12.</ref>}}

[[File:THAM-Battle at the ships sarcophagus.jpg|thumb|upright=1.5|Battle at the ships, on a [[Roman Empire|Roman-era]] [[sarcophagus]], 225–250 AD]]

The battle rages inside the camp. Hector goes down, hit by a stone thrown by Ajax, but [[Apollo]] arrives from Olympus and infuses strength into "the shepherd of the people", who orders a chariot attack, with Apollo clearing the way. After much war across several books of the ''Iliad'', Hector lays hold of [[Protesilaus]]' ship and calls for fire. The Trojans cannot bring it to him, as Ajax kills everyone who tries. Eventually, Hector breaks Ajax's spear with his sword, forcing him to give ground, and he sets the ship afire.<ref>Homer, ''Iliad'' Book 15, end.</ref>

These events are all according to the will of the gods, who have decreed the fall of Troy, and therefore intend to tempt Achilles back into the war. [[Patroclus]], Achilles' closest companion, disguised in Achilles' armor, enters the combat leading the [[Myrmidons]] and the rest of the [[Achaeans (Homer)|Achaeans]] to force a Trojan withdrawal. After Patroclus has routed the Trojan army, Hector, with the aid of [[Apollo]] and [[Euphorbus]], kills Patroclus, vaunting over him:
{{blockquote|"Wretch! Achilleus, great as he was, could do nothing to help you."<ref name="The Iliad, book XVI">Homer, ''Iliad'' Book 16.</ref>}}
The dying Patroclus foretells Hector's death:
{{blockquote|"You yourself are not one who shall live long, but now already death and powerful destiny are standing beside you, to go down under the hands of Aiakos' great son, Achilleus"<ref name="The Iliad, book XVI" />}}