Hector: Troy's Greatest Champion Quiz

Answer: Priam and Hecuba

Hector was the eldest son of King Priam and Queen Hecuba of Troy. He was a direct descendant of Tros, the founder of Troy, and, through him, a descendent of Zeus as well. Hector had plenty of brothers and half-brothers. The Iliad says that Priam had 50 sons, 19 of them with Queen Hecuba. Of these, 22 are mentioned by name in the Iliad. Priam also had numerous daughters.

Answer: Aeneas

Paris, of course, was the man responsible for the start of the Trojan War, when he kidnapped Helen, the wife King Menelaus. Troilus was killed by Achilles, and Deiphobus, who married Helen after Paris' death, was killed during the sack of Troy. All were full brothers to Hector. Aeneas was the son of Anchises and the goddess Aphrodite.

He escaped from Troy, made his way to Italy, and became the progenitor of the Roman people.

Answer: True

Protesilaus was the King of Prylace, a city in Thessaly, near modern day Volos. It had been prophesied that the first man to land on Trojan soil would die. Odysseus avoided the prophecy by throwing down his shield and landing on that when he jumped off his ship. Protesilaus followed him, and was slain by Hector, but not until he had killed four Trojans.

Answer: Ajax

In "The Iliad", Ajax is often called "Telamonian Ajax", or "Ajax the Great", to distinguish him from another Greek warrior, Ajax, the son of Oileus, who is called "Ajax the Lesser". He is described as a man of great size and strength, and, aside from Achilles, the best warrior among the Greeks. When Hector challenged the Greeks to send a man to meet him in single combat, Ajax was chosen by lot to fight the Trojan champion. Ajax actually seems to have gotten the better of Hector in their duel, knocking him down with a large stone, and wounding Hector with his spear. After they had been fighting all day, their match was declared a draw. Hector gave Ajax his sword, and Ajax gave Hector his belt.

When Achilles was killed by Paris, Ajax and Odysseus rescued his body from the Trojans. Each wanted Achilles' armor for himself. When it was awarded to Odysseus, Ajax was so overcome with grief that he killed himself by falling on his sword - the same sword given to him by Hector.

Answer: Patroclus

At one point during the war, Achilles refused to fight because Agamemnon had taken away a slave girl he believed was rightfully his. As Achilles sulked in his tent, the Trojans drove back the Greeks almost to their ships. His best friend, Patroclus, donned Achilles' armor and led the Greeks in a counterattack that pushed the Trojans back to the walls of their city. He was then killed by Hector, who stripped his body of Achilles' armor. When Achilles learned of Patroclus' death, he flew into a rage and vowed to avenge him.

Answer: Andromache

Andromache is portrayed very sympathetically in "The Iliad". She and Hector seem to have a very happy marriage, and she is a dutiful and attentive wife. She attempts to dissuade her husband from fighting Achilles, but in vain. Her worst fears are realized when, after the fall of Troy, the Greeks kill her infant son, Astyanax, by throwing him off the battlements of the city, and she is given to Achilles' son, Neoptolemus, as his slave and concubine.

Answer: Athena

When Hector fought his fatal duel with Achilles, they ran three times around the walls of Troy, with Achilles in pursuit. When Hector turned to face him, he proposed a bargain that whoever won would return the other's body to the enemy camp for a proper burial. Achilles replied, "Do wolves bargain with sheep?" and threw his spear, which Hector dodged.

In the meantime, Athena, who had always favored the Greeks in the war, appeared to Hector disguised as his brother, Deiphobus. Hector threw his own spear, which bounced harmlessly off Achilles' shield.

When he turned to get another spear from his brother, Hector saw that he (Athena) had disappeared. He then charged Achilles with his sword, but he was wearing Achilles' own armor, which he had stripped from the body of Patroclus. Achilles knew there was a weak spot in the armor, and used this knowledge to stab Hector through the throat.

Answer: He dishonored Hector's corpse

When Hector was dead, Achilles stripped his body and cut holes in his heels, through which he threaded the belt that Ajax had given him. Achilles then tied Hector's corpse to his chariot and dragged it around the walls of Troy while the Trojans watched in horror.

He also dragged it around the funeral mound of his friend, Patroclus, and left it lying face down in the dust. Apollo, however, protected the body from damage.

Answer: He was ordered to do so by the Gods

Achilles' abuse of his dead rival's body continued for 12 days. Eventually most of the gods became disgusted with Achilles' treatment of Hector's corpse. Zeus sent Thetis, Achilles' mother, to him, to demand that he allow King Priam to ransom his son's body. A truce of 12 days was declared to allow the Trojans to hold Hector's funeral rites.

Answer: Bully

Although Hector was a heroic and admirable man, for some reason his name has become synonymous with a person who harasses or terrorizes others, especially someone in a position of authority who is cruel to his subordinates, or a strong person who abuses the weak.

Hector can be used as both a noun and a verb. The etymology of the term is unclear, but has been in use since the 17th century. In American English his name also appears in the phrase "since Hector was a pup," meaning a very long time ago.