The Hero 41
on during the Trojan onslaught, before Achilles retook the fi eld,
would mock him. So he decides to try to stand his ground against
the deadly Achilles.
Virtually all the Trojans seem to be massed along the walls of
their city looking down at the action. The Greeks too have come to-
gether, as if in assembly, to watch the fi ght. Achilles has surely
made it clear to them that they are not to inter vene, for this moment
is his. The gods too are pre sent, looking down from Olympus.
Staring from the parapet, Priam puts aside his massive dignity
and begs Hector to relent and come back into the city. The king con-
jures up a terrible image of Troy falling in defeat after Hector is
gone. He himself will be murdered, cut down by a Greek sword or
run through with a spear, and his own dogs will lap his blood from
the fl oor. They’ll gorge on his aged body, tearing at his gray head
and at his genitals. “Yes, the very dogs / I bred in my own halls to
share my table, guard my gates— / mad, rabid at heart they’ll lap
their master’s blood / and loll before my doors” (XXII, 80–83).
Hecuba, mo ther of Hector, stands forward on the wall and ex-
poses her withered breasts, reminding Hector that she has given
him life, and telling him that he must preserve himself for the sake
of all of Troy. “Pity your mo ther too, if I ever gave you the breast /
to soothe your troubles, remember it now, dear boy” (XXII, 98–99).
Priam and Hecuba are genuinely horrifi ed, but there is also a
sense in which they seem to be playing a part in a terrible dramatic
ritual.
Three times Achilles chases Hector around the walls of Troy,
with all the spectators looking on, feeling the full force of Hector’s
humiliation. He is a warrior. He is not supposed to run. Zeus
watching from Olympus is distressed. He remembers all the thigh-
bones that Hector has burnt in his honor, he recalls the man’s piety
and courage. And the king of the gods nearly relents and reverses