Across cultures, fire has been considered both a vital and destructive force: it has the ability to heat and the potential to burn. The duality of fire parallels that of a Homeric hero's pursuit of honor. On the one hand, the search is a tantalizing search for meaning and value. The Homeric hero bows to courage, skill, strength, and brutality, all of which converge in the single element of strength. Strength performs glorious deeds and impresses the meaning of the hero on other men. Closely linked to an impressive display of strength is the desire for immortality; for the Homeric hero the essential objective is that his actions – his name – transcend death. The flames of glory, appealing to strength and the desire for immortality, fuel the heroes Hector and Achilles of Homer's Iliad. At the same time, the flames consume them too. Even the strongest and most courageous soldiers are human; they attempt to prevail over mortality but ultimately have to come to terms with their defenselessness in the face of death. With the fire burning within them, the Trojan Hector and the Achaean Achilles embrace strength on the battlefield, seek immortality, and face their destiny. The two warriors, merged into a single character, embody the "Homeric hero" at the center of the epic The Iliad. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an original essay First and foremost a fighter, the Homeric hero embodies the beauty of strength, which, according to Rachel Bespaloff's "On the Iliad," "reveals itself in a kind of supreme leap, a murderous bolt" (Bespaloff 47). He holds to the heroic code with his furious ferocity, unswerving courage and unrivaled skill. Strength absorbs him completely; He is a "wild beast", which rests on the "beautiful carcass" which is honor (Iliad 3:527, 26) To reap honor is to affirm one's worth, to affirm one's life is of primary importance. As MI Finley argues in The World of Ulysses, the Homeric hero Hector "has no obligation to anyone or anything except his] skill and [his] drive for victory and power" (Finley 21). He answers the call of honor with strength, striking down hordes of Achaeans and establishing his supremacy. As the tide of battle changes, his "courageous spirit never flinches" (Iliad 12:49). "Hector blaze[s] in the bronze...a terrible fire [breaks forth] from the gears that envelop[s] his body" (Iliad 12:538). -539). He “stands alone” above the other fighters (Bespaloff 43). Like Hector, Achilles outshines the rest of the field of warriors. When Achilles unleashes his strength, he is "fierce as fire" (Iliad 19:20). He is the first to break down the gates of fallen cities and steal their treasures. The "tough and ruthless" hero is legendary for his "fighting might" (Iliad 9:771, 279). Indeed, as the goddess Hera observes, "As long as the brilliant Achilles walked the front, no Trojan would ever venture beyond the Dardanic Gates" (Iliad 5:907-908). Off the battlefield, Achilles is still drawn to the slaughter and does not leave Troy for his homeland, Phthia. As a warrior, he craves "slaughter, blood, and the stifled groans of men" (Iliad 19:255). There is a growing strength within him; he struggles to free himself while the splendor of having saved the Achaean forces and having won honor attracts him. Achilles even changes his position by entering the war, vowing to fight if Hector "reaches as far as Myrmidon's ships (Iliad 9:797). When his beloved friend Patroclus is killed, defending and garnering greater honor become one and the same. Achilles, the force finally devours him; he "blazes in burning points of fire", ready to raze the Trojan ranks (Iliad 19:432) in both Hector andin Achilles, the furious force that defines the Homeric hero as he pursues honor has the ability to engulf everyone around him and imprison the hero himself within its folds, the beauty of strength can crush two armies, the hero's desire for immortality Homeric can overwhelm twenty armies. The desire for glory burns like the flame of a hearth; it is a beacon of light, guiding him through the battle. Fascinated by the prospect of immortality, Achilles staunchly defends his claim to honor. When King Agamemnon takes away his honor, his prize Briseis, Achilles abandons his fellow Achaeans and even prays for the Trojans to slaughter them to heal the wound Agamemnon inflicted on him. Achilles' action is justified: although one path leads to victory in a great war and the other to a trifle, one captive woman out of thousands, the tremendous conflict lies precisely in the fact that honor is not measured like goods. in a market, that insult [to honor is] as good as war (Finley 119). Even a thousand honorable deeds cannot compensate for a blow to his name. In no way does Achilles' refusal to fight for Agamemnon "repudi[e] the heroic ideal" (Knox 50). Achilles awaits retaliation for his lost honor, not in the form of material goods but of Agamemnon's recognition of Achilles' superiority. The burning flames of glory command Achilles to see to the restoration of his reputation. While Achilles succumbs to his great power, Hector also succumbs to the desire for glory. Hector contains his son's dream of glory «when he will return home from battle carrying the bloody equipment / of the mortal enemy he has killed» (Iliad 6: 572-573). However, the honor his son gains in battle will inevitably be compared to his own. In truth, Hector hopes, above all, that his exploits will forever remain etched in history and immortalize both father and son. He hopes that the honor gained in the carnage of war will culminate in glory. Hector appears to be different from Achilles in that his pursuit of glory coincides with the defense of his home and family: his defense of Troy. Hector can veil his irrepressible desire for immortality, but Achilles cannot. Ultimately, the only difference between Hector and Achilles is that they fight on opposite sides of the battlefield. They have the same desire. Both want to overcome the transience of life; both seek to obtain and defend honor on the road to glory, on the road to immortality. Each warrior fights for himself: "[T]he hero's honor [is] purely individual, something he lived and fought for only for his sake and for his sake" (Finley 119). Everyone wins glory for his father, his family, but above all, glory for himself. Driven by the desire for immortality, the Homeric hero will eventually face his destiny. For Hector, his fate rests upon him. He knows that the road to glory will end with his death; he knows the day will come when his wife will be “a widow, deprived of the only man strong enough / to repel the day of slavery” (Iliad 6:552-553). He cannot change his fate or that of his family and Troy. Although Hector can choose his life's path, all paths ultimately converge. The juxtaposition between Hector's separation from his son and the bloody war increases the tension in the lever that balances life and death. The joys of life flash before him as he goes to fight, as he abandons innocence. In the same way, Achilles is also aware of the other path that he, as a warrior, rejects: "If I return to the homeland that I love, / my pride, my glory dies... / it's true, but the life I have left be long” (Iliad 9: 502-504). Both Hector and Achilles recognize that death is inevitable for both the hero and,, 1998. 3-67.