Page 14 - GALIET THE WALL, THE SPEAR, THE ROSE AND THE QUEST FOR THE 4 CARDINAL CORNERS: Hektor of Troy IV

his people and the mother for her child. Their traditional attitudes, moreover, partially reflect Hektor and Andromache’s roles. Like King Priam, Hektor feels a fiduciary duty and responsibility towards his fellow Trojans while Andromache, departing slightly from Hecuba’s role, adopts both gender roles: although genuinely concerned for him, should Hektor perish, her private and communal future, ultimately, becomes uncertain and full of peril. Though she loves him, she seems more preoccupied for what will happen to her, to Astyanax and to Priam’s family. Schein and Pope also focus on Hektor’s struggle at having to choose between “the familial plea for aidos” and the communal plea for aidos. The first is owed to family, wife and child and the second is owed to Ilion and to its citizens (Schein, p. 179). However, Schein, Pope and Mueller fail to mention that Hektor also has a duty to the warrior code arising from the mores or customs of the heroic age. In the end, it is Hektor’s absolute commitment and duty to the warrior code that prevails. Although he sees a glimmer of hope at negotiating with Achilles, as Mueller points out, he immediately desists. He realizes he is caught between the wall and the spade: what’s done can’t be undone.
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