<u>Courageous actions of Achilles, Hector and Priam:</u>
Achilles, Hector and Priam are characters of Homer’s Iliad. Achilles was the son of Peleus, a King and Thetis, a sea nymph. Achilles is remembered as the greatest Greek Hero. One of the non-Homeric tales says that after his birth, his mother, in order to make him immortal, dipped him in the River Styx.
However, his left heel remained vulnerable. It turned out to be his weakness and led to his death when an arrow was shot at his heel by Paris, Priam’s son. The Iliad makes no mention of his death but Odyssey mentions his funeral.
His courage in the Trojan War has been iconic. He butchers many soldiers of the opposing army. He is the dreaded one and his armor is the envy of friend and foe alike. In fact, Iliad is the story of Achilles’ fury.
His most impressive feat was that he killed Hector, another fine warrior, leading the Trojans. His cleverness in dragging Hector out of the gates of Troy and then killing him was no small feat. Apart from that, he also killed many a man of the Trojan army. He ravaged the country around Troy for nine years, taking over 12 cities. When he left Agamemnon’s army on differences with Agamemnon, the Greeks were battered by Hector.
Hector was a prince of Troy, the eldest son of Priam - the Trojan King. He leads the Trojans in the war standing up for his family and Troy.
Quite courageous, he defends his side with a true warrior’s wisdom and almost succeeds in driving the Greeks back to their ships and almost burning the ships after Achilles leaves the Greeks. He also kills Patroclus, Achilles’ friend, who comes to help the Greeks disguised as Achilles.
Hector, however, is killed by Achilles who returns to war to avenge the death of Patroclus.
Priam was the last king of Troy. A father of fifty sons and many daughters , he emerges as being quite courageous when he refuses to blame Helen , the cause of the Trojan War and the wife of Paris , his son for all his personal and material losses in the Trojan War. Paris and Hector were his favorites among his sons. He loses thirteen of his sons besides Hector. The death of Hector shatters him but he still, as another act of courage, faces the wrath of the enraged Achilles to get back the corpse of Hector.
