Hector in the Ancient Sources: 141 Passages in Greek & English

Homer (84)

Homer, Iliad 15.592–746Hector seizes Protesilaus' ship; Ajax with his pikeZeus stirs up Hector, planning that he will have a short life and that Achilles will then rise against him. The Achaeans stand like a wall, but Hector falls on them like a wave on a ship, and Ajax, leaping from deck to deck with his long ship-fighting pike, holds the Trojans off. Hector lays hold of the stern of Protesilaus' ship and calls for fire.
Homer, Iliad 22.273–375The death of HectorAchilles' spear is turned aside by Athena, and Hector's spear strikes the shield and rebounds. Hector calls for another from Deiphobus, but finds no one there and knows that Athena has tricked him. He draws his sword and rushes in, and Achilles drives his spear through the gap at the throat, and Hector, dying, begs for burial and is told that dogs will eat him.
Homer, Iliad 17.543–655Athena rouses Menelaus; Ajax prays for lightAthena comes down in the likeness of Phoenix and puts strength into Menelaus, who kills Podes, a friend of Hector. Apollo, in the likeness of Phaenops, rouses Hector, and Zeus shakes the aegis and gives the Trojans the upper hand. Ajax prays that Zeus lift the mist from his men, asking only to die in the light of day, and Zeus scatters the mist, whereupon Menelaus is told to look for Antilochus and send him to Achilles.
Homer, Iliad 22.376–515Achilles drags Hector's body; the lament in TroyThe Achaeans gather round and wound the body, and Achilles pierces the tendons of the feet, threads thongs through them and ties the body to his chariot. He drives off, dragging Hector's head in the dust, while Priam and Hecuba cry out from the wall. Andromache, who has been weaving, hears the lament, runs to the wall and faints at the sight, and then mourns for Hector and for her fatherless son.
Homer, Iliad 8.253–349Teucer's arrowsDiomedes leads the Danaans out, and Teucer, sheltering behind the shield of Ajax, shoots down Trojan after Trojan while Agamemnon praises him. Twice he aims at Hector and misses, killing Gorgythion and then Hector's charioteer Archeptolemus. Hector hurls a stone that breaks Teucer's collar-bone and Ajax covers him, but Zeus gives Hector the upper hand and the Achaeans are driven back.
Homer, Iliad 11.284–400Hector's advance; Diomedes is woundedHector takes up the fight and kills many Danaans, until Odysseus and Diomedes stand against him. Diomedes' spear strikes Hector's helmet and Hector falls to his knees, but Paris, standing behind a pillar, shoots Diomedes through the foot with an arrow. Diomedes goes off to the ships and Odysseus is left alone.
Homer, Iliad 24.1–76Achilles' grief; the gods pity HectorThe games end, and the army scatters to supper and sleep, while Achilles weeps for Patroclus and drags Hector's body three times round the tomb each dawn. Apollo keeps the body from decay, and the gods pity Hector, and Hermes proposes to steal it, but Hera, Poseidon and Athena refuse, since they still hate Troy. Apollo rebukes the gods for their favour to Achilles, and Zeus decides that Hector shall be given back.
Homer, Iliad 24.677–804Hermes wakes Priam; Hector's funeralIn the night Hermes wakes Priam and warns him to leave before the Achaeans find him, and guides the wagon back across the river. Cassandra, from the citadel, is first to see them and cries to the city to come out and see Hector. The body is laid on a bed in the hall and Andromache, Hecuba and Helen each take up the lament. After nine days of gathering wood Hector is burned, the bones are put in a golden chest and a mound is raised, and the poem ends with a feast in Priam's house.
Homer, Iliad 7.206–312The duel of Hector and AjaxAjax advances behind his huge shield of sevenfold bull's hide and tells Hector that he will learn that the Achaeans have other champions. Hector's spear pierces the shield through six layers, and Ajax's spear pierces Hector's shield and grazes his neck. They fight on with stones until the heralds part them at nightfall, and the two champions exchange gifts, Hector giving a sword and Ajax a purple belt.
Homer, Iliad 8.78–171Diomedes rescues Nestor; Zeus' thunderboltOnly Nestor stays when the Achaeans take fright, since an arrow of Paris has struck one of his horses. Hector bears down on him, and Diomedes rescues Nestor and takes him into his own car, while Odysseus runs past. Diomedes kills Hector's charioteer, but Zeus' thunderbolt falls before his horses, and he turns back on Nestor's advice while Hector taunts him as a woman.
Homer, Iliad 13.126–205Hector rolls on; Imbrius and AmphimachusThe Achaeans close their ranks round the two Ajaxes, and Hector comes on like a boulder bounding down a cliff until he is stopped by their line. Teucer kills Imbrius, and Hector's spear, aimed at Teucer, kills Amphimachus instead. The two Ajaxes carry off the body of Imbrius, and the son of Oileus cuts off the head and sends it rolling before Hector's feet.
Homer, Iliad 20.353–454Achilles' fury; Apollo saves HectorAchilles' fury is unchecked and he calls to the Achaeans to rouse themselves for the fight, while Hector is warned by Apollo not to meet him in the throng. When Achilles kills Iphition, Hippodamas and Demoleon, and then Polydorus, Priam's son, Hector can bear it no longer and comes against him. Athena turns his spear aside with a breath, and Apollo hides Hector in thick mist.

72 more passages of Homer that name Hector

Apollodorus (1)

Apollodorus, The Library (Bibliotheca), with the Epitome E.4.1–7The Iliad in brief: Achilles' anger, Patroclus and HectorThe Epitome gives a short account of the events of the Iliad: Achilles withdraws from the fighting because of the quarrel over Briseis, Paris and Menelaus fight a single combat, and Hector drives the Greeks back to the ships. Patroclus, wearing Achilles' armour, is killed by Hector. Achilles takes up Hephaestus's new armour, kills Hector and drags his body, holds games for Patroclus, and Priam ransoms Hector's body.

Pindar (2)

Pindar, Nemean Odes 2.1–25Nemean 2: for Timodemus — the Homeridae and AjaxPindar compares the Homeridae, who begin their songs with Zeus, to Timodemus of Acharnae, who has begun his victories at Nemea in the pancratium and may hope for the Isthmian and Pythian crowns. He recalls how Hector heard of Ajax at Troy, notes that Acharnae is famous for its heroes, and that the sons of Timodemus are pre-eminent in contests.
Pindar, Isthmian Odes 5.1–63Isthmian 5: for Phylacidas — the Aeacidae at TroyPindar addresses Theia, mother of the Sun, and praises Phylacidas of Aegina, pancratium victor, and his brother Pytheas, and says that the Isthmus and Nemea have given them two-fold fame. He asks who it was that fought Hector, Memnon and Telephus, and answers that they were the Aeacidae of Aegina. The ode ends with the praise of Pytheas and a garland for him.

Sophocles (4)

Sophocles, Ajax 974–1039Teucer arrives and mourns AjaxTeucer arrives and learns from the Chorus that Ajax is dead, and asks for his son to be brought so that no enemy can seize him. He grieves over the body, says that he fears what his father Telamon will say, and tells how Ajax and Hector exchanged gifts, the sword and the belt, which proved fatal to each of them.
Sophocles, Ajax 1223–1315Fifth episode: Agamemnon and Teucer quarrelTeucer returns when he sees Agamemnon coming, and Agamemnon calls him a captive's son and asks how he dares to speak so boldly. Teucer tells him how Ajax saved the Greek ships from Hector's fire, and how much the army owes him. He answers with the ancestry of Agamemnon and says that he will protect the body with his own life.
Sophocles, Ajax 646–692Third episode: Ajax's speech of apparent yieldingAjax comes out and says that all things change in time, and that he has been softened and now pities his wife and son. He says that he will go to the shore to wash away his stain and bury the sword, the gift of Hector, where no one will see it, and that from now on he will yield to the gods and to the Atreidae. He asks Tecmessa to go in and pray, and tells the Chorus that they will soon hear that he has found peace.
Sophocles, Ajax 815–865Ajax's farewell speech on the shoreAlone on the shore, Ajax inspects the sword, Hector's gift, which he has fixed in the ground. He prays to Zeus that Teucer may be the first to find him, to Hermes for a quick death and to the Erinyes to destroy the Greek army, and he says farewell to the light, to Salamis, to Athens and to the plains of Troy. He ends by saying that the rest he will tell to the shades.

Euripides (26)

Euripides, Trojan Women 1156–1206Fourth episode: Hecuba mourns AstyanaxHecuba asks that the shield of Hector be laid on the ground, and says that the Achaeans have more reason to fear weapons than to fear a child. She speaks to the body, saying that he would have grown to be as brave as his father and that he will never see the day on which he would have ruled, and that the gods have never been the friends of Troy.
Euripides, Rhesus 627–674Fourth episode: Athena, as Aphrodite, deceives ParisAthena sees Paris coming toward them, and tells them that it is not decreed that he should fall by Diomedes' hand. She takes the likeness of Cypris and tells Paris that all is quiet and that Hector has gone to assign Rhesus' army a sleeping place, so that he goes off free from fear. She then tells Odysseus to sheathe his swords, since Rhesus is dead and the enemy is coming, and to flee to the ships.
Euripides, Trojan Women 634–685Second episode: Andromache's speech on slaveryAndromache says that it is the same never to have been born as to be dead, and that she has tried to live blamelessly as Hector's wife and has been given to the son of Achilles, his murderer's heir. She says that she must hate the house where she is to serve, or else be hated by the one she serves, and Hecuba tells her to live for her son.
Euripides, Rhesus 1–51Prologue: the sentries wake Hector with news of the Greek firesThe Chorus of Trojan sentries comes to Hector's couch to rouse him, saying that they have news from the night watch. Hector wakes and demands the password, and asks why they have deserted their posts. They tell him that the Argive army has been kindling fires and that torches are blazing all along its ships.
Euripides, Rhesus 595–626Fourth episode: Athena sends them against RhesusAthena appears and tells them that Rhesus has come to aid Troy and must be killed before dawn, saying that Hector will find death at another hand. Odysseus recognizes her voice, and she tells them that Rhesus lies close by, outside the ranks, with his white horses tethered near. They agree that Diomedes will do the killing and Odysseus will master the horses.
Euripides, Rhesus 804–855Exodos: the charioteer accuses HectorThe Chorus Leader tells the charioteer not to suspect the sentries, and Hector, angered, asks how spies could have come into the camp without his knowledge, and threatens the scourge or the axe. The Chorus protests that it kept sleepless watch and had warned him of the Argive fires. The charioteer says that Hector himself killed Rhesus to get his horses, since no enemy could have found Rhesus' bed unless a god guided him.
Euripides, Andromache 1–55Prologue: Andromache tells of her slavery at the shrine of ThetisAndromache, who has come from Thebes as the wife of Hector, recalls the fall of Troy and the death of her husband and tells how she became the slave of Neoptolemus and bore him a son. She says that his wife Hermione, who is childless, accuses her of using drugs and charms to make her barren, and that she has taken refuge at the shrine of Thetis while Neoptolemus is away at Delphi.
Euripides, Trojan Women 568–602bSecond episode: Andromache arrives with AstyanaxThe Chorus sees Andromache coming on a foreign chariot, with her child, Astyanax, Hector's son, at her breast, and the weapons of Troy piled beside her. Andromache says that her Achaean masters are leading her away, and tells Hecuba of the destruction of Troy and of the dead who lie by the shrine of Pallas for vultures to carry off.
Euripides, Trojan Women 686–739Second episode: Talthybius announces the death sentence on AstyanaxHecuba says that she has never set foot on a ship, and sees a Greek herald coming again. Talthybius, who says that he is unwilling, tells Andromache that the Greeks have decided that her son must die. He says that it has been decided that the boy is to be thrown from the battlements of Troy, and tells her to bear it bravely and not to curse the Greeks, or his body will be left unburied.
Euripides, Trojan Women 1118–1155Fourth episode: the body of Astyanax is brought on Hector's shieldThe Chorus sees the corpse of Astyanax, whom the Danaids have cruelly thrown from the battlements. Talthybius tells Hecuba that Neoptolemus, who sails for Phthia, has left Hector's shield to be used as a bier, that Andromache has been taken to the ships begging that her son might be buried, and he bids Hecuba bury him as best she can.
Euripides, Trojan Women 1207–1250Fourth episode: Hecuba buries AstyanaxThe Chorus says that all is ready, and that the adornments from the spoils of Troy are brought. Hecuba says that it is not as victor with horse or bow that Hector's mother decks him, and she wraps the body in a robe of honour. She binds up his wounds with bandages, and says that heaven concerns itself only with her troubles, and that if the god had not turned Troy upside down, it would have been forgotten, and the Chorus sings in lament.
Euripides, Rhesus 52–104First episode: Hector believes the Greeks are fleeing and armsHector says that the Argives are bent on slipping away in their ships by night, and that his seers had told him to wait for dawn, but darkness turns runaways into heroes. The Chorus Leader says that they do not know for certain whether the Greeks are fleeing. Aeneas arrives and asks why the sentinels have come through the army at night, and Hector tells him that the men are flying and girds on his sword.

14 more passages of Euripides that name Hector

Ovid (8)

Ovid, Metamorphoses 12.64–145Achilles and CycnusThe Greeks land at Troy, and Hector kills Protesilaus, and Achilles meets Cycnus, a son of Poseidon (Neptune) whose skin no weapon can pierce. Achilles strangles him with the straps of his helmet, and Cycnus is turned into a swan.
Ovid, Metamorphoses 13.382–438The arms awarded; the death of Ajax; the fall of TroyThe chiefs award the armour to Odysseus (Ulysses), and Ajax, in a rage that he has been robbed, kills himself with the sword that Hector had given him. From his blood a purple flower rises, marked with the letters of his name. Odysseus fetches Philoctetes from Lemnos, and Troy falls, and the Trojan women are shared among the Greeks, among them Hecuba, who is given to Odysseus. The Thracian king Polymestor, to whom Priam had sent his youngest son Polydorus with gold, kills the boy and throws his body into the sea.
Ovid, Metamorphoses 11.749–795AesacusAn old man points out a diving bird to his companion and tells the story of Aesacus, son of Priam, who loved the nymph Hesperia. When she was bitten by a snake and died while fleeing from him, he threw himself from a cliff in grief, and Tethys, pitying him, changed him into a diving bird.
Ovid, Metamorphoses 12.534–628Periclymenus and the death of AchillesNestor ends his tale, and Tlepolemus, a son of Heracles (Hercules), reproaches him for passing over his father, and Nestor says that Heracles killed all his brothers except Periclymenus, whom Poseidon (Neptune) had given the power to change his shape, and who escaped by turning into an eagle until Heracles shot him. Poseidon, angry at the death of Cycnus, asks Apollo to destroy Achilles, and Apollo directs Paris' arrow, which kills him. His ashes lie in a small urn, and the contest for his armour begins.
Ovid, Metamorphoses 13.481–575Hecuba and PolymestorThe Trojan women take up Polyxena's body and weep for all the sons of Priam, and Hecuba, who has lost nearly all her children, finds on the shore the body of her son Polydorus. She pretends to Polymestor that she has more treasure to give him, and draws him and his sons aside. With the help of the Trojan women she blinds him and kills his sons, and when she is stoned by the Thracians she turns into a dog, and her barking fills the land. Her fate moves even Hera (Juno).
Ovid, Metamorphoses 12.327–458The Lapiths and the Centaurs: the battleNestor goes on describing the fighting, in which the centaurs and Lapiths kill one another with uprooted trees, antlers, torches and altar-fires. Among the dead are the centaur Cyllarus and his mate Hylonome, a pair of lovers who die together.
Ovid, Metamorphoses 13.1–120The contest for the arms of Achilles: Ajax speaksThe Greek chiefs gather to judge between Ajax and Odysseus (Ulysses), who both claim the armour of Achilles. Ajax speaks first, boasting of his strength and lineage, and of how he defended the ships against Hector's fire while Odysseus stayed behind. He accuses Odysseus of feigning madness to avoid the war, of abandoning Nestor in battle, and of getting Palamedes killed.
Ovid, Metamorphoses 13.121–254The contest for the arms of Achilles: Odysseus repliesOdysseus (Ulysses) answers that Ajax's strength is of no use without the counsel that guides it, and that he, a descendant of Zeus (Jupiter), has served the Greeks as much with his mind as with his hands. He tells how he brought Iphigenia to Aulis for the common good, and how he found Achilles disguised among the daughters of Lycomedes and brought him to Troy. He tells too how he went as an envoy to Troy, and how he and Diomedes killed Dolon and Rhesus and won Rhesus' horses.

Pausanias (4)

Pausanias, Description of Greece 5.25.1–13Olympia: the Messenian boys’ chorus, Agrigentine boys, Achaean heroes and Hercules statuesPausanias turns from images of Zeus to other offerings, among them the statues of the Messenian boys’ chorus lost at sea off Rhegium and the Agrigentine statues of boys praying after the Motye war. He adds a note on the peoples of Sicily and lists a Hercules and the Nemean lion, the Achaean heroes who drew lots to fight Hector, Hercules and the Amazon and the Thasian Hercules by Onatas.
Pausanias, Description of Greece 7.4.1–10Samos and Chios: the Heraeum, Smilis and DaedalusPausanias recounts the Ionian settlement of Samos under Procles of Epidaurus, quoting Asius on the earlier line of Phoenix and Ancaeus, and the Ephesian attack under Androclus. He discusses the sanctuary of Hera, which the Samians say was founded where the goddess was born by the Imbrasus under a willow, and the old image by the Aeginetan Smilis. A digression on Daedalus, his flight from Athens to Minos and then to Cocalus in Sicily, follows. The section ends with the legendary history of Chios according to Ion, from Poseidon and Oenopion to King Hector.
Pausanias, Description of Greece 9.18.1–6Thebes: the road to Chalcis, the tombs of Melanippus, Tydeus, Oedipus' children, Tiresias and HectorPausanias follows the road from Thebes to Chalcis by the Proetidian gate, noting the grave of Melanippus and three unwrought stones said to mark Tydeus. He describes the tombs of the children of Oedipus, where the flame and smoke of the sacrifices are said to divide, and the cenotaph of Tiresias. At Thebes he also notes the grave of Hector, whose bones were brought from Ilium by an oracle, the fountain of Oedipus and the grave of Asphodicus.
Pausanias, Description of Greece 10.31.1–12Delphi: Polygnotus' painting of the underworld (4): Ajax, Meleager, Memnon, Penthesilea, Sisyphus and TantalusPausanias completes the underworld painting with the dicing group of Ajax, Palamedes and Thersites, Ulysses' enemies, and Meleager, with the rival accounts of his death. He describes Hector, Memnon with the birds called Memnonides, Sarpedon, Paris and Penthesilea, then the uninitiated carrying water in broken pitchers, Callisto, Nomia, Pero, Sisyphus and Tantalus.

Quintus Smyrnaeus (9)

Quintus Smyrnaeus, The Fall of Troy (Posthomerica) 3.96–211Hera rebukes Apollo; Achilles fallsHera rebukes Apollo for killing Achilles, reminding him that he sang at the wedding of Peleus and Thetis, and Apollo sits silent and ashamed. The dying Achilles still kills Orythaon, Hipponous and Alcathous, and his last shout sends the Trojans reeling before he falls. Paris then urges the Trojans to drag the body to Troy behind Hector's horses.
Quintus Smyrnaeus, The Fall of Troy (Posthomerica) 1.1–133Penthesileia comes to TroyAfter Hector's funeral the Trojans cower in Priam's city, afraid of Achilles. Penthesileia arrives from the Thermodon, longing for battle and fleeing the reproach of her own people, and the Trojans take heart. Andromache, hearing the queen's boasts, murmurs that she is no match for Achilles. At night Athena sends Penthesileia a deceitful dream.
Quintus Smyrnaeus, The Fall of Troy (Posthomerica) 2.1–93Polydamas and Paris quarrelPriam urges the Trojans to defend the walls until Memnon comes. Polydamas doubts that waiting will save them and counsels against endless war, and Paris reviles him as a coward. Polydamas answers him to his face, and Paris has no reply.
Quintus Smyrnaeus, The Fall of Troy (Posthomerica) 3.293–421Aias and Odysseus rescue Achilles' bodyAias fights on beside Odysseus, who kills Maenalus, Atymnius and Proteus and is wounded by Alcon, whom he kills. When Paris draws his bow on Aias, Aias strikes his helmet with a stone, and Paris is carried off to Troy behind Hector's horses. Aias drives the rest of the Trojans into the city and then strides back across a plain covered with the dead, and the kings bring Achilles' body to his tent, where the army wails for him.
Quintus Smyrnaeus, The Fall of Troy (Posthomerica) 5.237–332Odysseus wins the arms of AchillesOdysseus and Aias abuse each other in turn, Odysseus mocking Aias' tongue and Aias denying that Odysseus did anything in the fighting. The Trojan captives are made to judge, and they award the arms to Odysseus.
Quintus Smyrnaeus, The Fall of Troy (Posthomerica) 5.456–567The death of AiasAthena clears his mind, and Aias sees the dead sheep and, knowing that the gods have cheated his senses, thrusts Hector's sword into his throat. Teucer wants to die with him and is held back. Tecmessa, his captive-bride, wails over the body, and Agamemnon promises her that no man shall make her a slave while he and Teucer live.
Quintus Smyrnaeus, The Fall of Troy (Posthomerica) 6.116–199Eurypylus comes to TroyThe Trojans are rescued by the coming of Eurypylus, grandson of Hercules, with a host from the river Caicus. They crowd round him with delight and Paris welcomes him as a kinsman. After a feast outside the walls Priam and the Trojans beg him to fight for them, and he promises.
Quintus Smyrnaeus, The Fall of Troy (Posthomerica) 10.332–410The death of ParisAs Paris limps down Ida, Hera watches from Olympus with the Seasons. Paris dies on Ida and the Nymphs wail for him. A herdsman tells Hecuba, who laments, and the Trojan women mourn him in name only.
Quintus Smyrnaeus, The Fall of Troy (Posthomerica) 13.168–296The deaths of Priam and AstyanaxDiomedes kills Coroebus, who had hoped to marry Cassandra, and the aged Ilioneus, who begs for mercy in vain. Neoptolemus kills Pammon, Polites, Antiphonus and Agenor, and then beheads Priam at the altar of Zeus after Priam asks to die. The Argives throw Astyanax from a tower and drag Andromache into slavery, and only the house of Antenor is spared.

Bacchylides (1)

Bacchylides, Epinicians (Odes of Victory) 12.1–14.23Odes 12–14: Pytheas of Aegina and the Aeacidae; Cleoptolemus of ThessalyOde 12 asks Cleio to guide the poet to Aegina and to a wrestler's victory at Nemea, but only its opening survives. Ode 13, for Pytheas of Aegina, shows Heracles, the descendant of Perseus, mastering the Nemean lion, praises Aegina and her heroes Peleus, Telamon, Achilles and Ajax, and tells how Achilles' anger let the Trojans drive the Greeks to their ships until Ajax stopped Hector. It ends with praise of the trainer Menander and of the host Lampon. Ode 14 reflects that fortune can crush or exalt a man before honouring Cleoptolemus of Thessaly and the domain of Poseidon Petraios.

Epic Cycle (2)

Epic Cycle, Summaries and Fragments 6.1–5AethiopisProclus' summary tells how Memnon, the son of Eos, comes to help the Trojans in armour made by Hephaestus, and how Thetis tells her son about him. Achilles is killed by Paris and Apollo and Aias carries the body away. A fragment adds the Amazon, the daughter of Ares, who came after the burial of Hector.
Epic Cycle, Summaries and Fragments 7.1–26Little IliadProclus' summary of the Little Iliad begins with the judging of the arms of Achilles, which Odysseus wins, and the madness and death of Aias. Philoctetes is brought from Lemnos, Eurypylus is killed by Neoptolemus and Epeius builds the wooden horse. The fragments give the girls' quarrel over Aias and Odysseus, Achilles at Scyros, the golden vine given to Laomedon for Ganymedes, and the death of Astyanax.

Hector in the ancient sources

Homer (84)

Apollodorus (1)

Pindar (2)

Sophocles (4)

Euripides (26)

Ovid (8)

Pausanias (4)

Quintus Smyrnaeus (9)

Bacchylides (1)

Epic Cycle (2)