Hector is valiant, and can show great anger in the thick of battle when it is necessary. But behind the walls of Troy, during times of counsel, he is able to show coolness and forthrightness. He urges Paris to fight Helen's legitimate husband Menelaus alone, which would have prevented more people from dying if Paris had not acted like a coward and fought unethically in the one-on-one battle. Hector regrets that Helen ever came to Troy, rather than delights in the fact that the war may bring him glory. And most importantly of all, even though he has a right to be very angry at Paris for bringing Helen to Troy in the first place, he never moves against Paris in a rage. Achilles, in contrast, nearly kills Agamemnon, resolving to "thrust through the ranks and kill Agamemnon now" when he is slighted (1. 225). Achilles acts out of impulse,...
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