Hektors Decision

Kym Malone
7 Arts of Language
Professor Crider
25 October 2011
Hektor’s Dilemma
In the heat of war, Hektor has to tell his wife he can’t sit out and watch the fall of Troy. Throughout book VI of The Iliad by Homer Hektor has been put in a tough situation. The city is in the midst of falling to the Achaeans, and he has a new born son who will never get to know his dad. Hektor already knows that this is the end of his life, but wants to make the best for his family. “But I'd be disgraced, dreadfully shamed among Trojan men, and Trojan women in their trailing gowns, if I should, like a coward, slink away from war. My heart will never prompt me to do that, for I have learned always to be brave, to fight alongside Trojans at the front, striving to win fame for father and myself. “( The Iliad Book VI 540-547 )
Hektor demonstrates the art of Rhetoric by persuading his wife that fighting is the best thing for him. He uses his appeal of logos by stating the disgrace and pain he would endure if he ran from war. Not only being look at by his people as a coward, but also ruining the name of his father. His father brought him up as a warrior and to always fight for what he believed in. Hektor knows that Troy is going to fall soon, and still is devoted to the city, but wants his son and father to know that he always loved Troy and would do anything for it.
In his appeal to ethos, Hektor tells Andromache (his wife) that he was born and raised in Troy, and learned always to be brave. He is known as the guardian of troy, it is his duty to protect them until the walls fall. He puts his wife in a better position to prepare for the worst by telling her what is going to happen. In this time frame all that mattered to a man was his pride, and loyalty to his city. Hektor was not the average warrior, because he cared for his family and did not put himself first when it came to decision. He would look at how it would affect everyone around him. A true hero, someone who...