In all cultures, fire has been seen as both a life-giving and destructive force – it has the capacity to warm and the potential to burn. The duality of fire parallels that of a Homeric hero's quest for honor. On the one hand, pursuit is a seductive quest for meaning and value. The Homeric hero bows to bravery, prowess, strength, and brutality, all of which converge on the single element of strength. Strength performs glorious deeds and makes other men understand the importance of the hero. The desire for immortality is closely linked to an impressive display of strength; for the Homeric hero, his essential objective is that his actions – his name – transcend death. The flames of glory, calling upon strength and the desire for immortality, fuel the heroes Hector and Achilles of Homer's Iliad. At the same time, the flames also consume them. Even the strongest and most valiant soldiers are human; they attempt to overcome mortality but must ultimately accept their powerlessness in the face of death. With fires 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 should not be banned”? Get the original essay Above all a fighter, the Homeric hero embodies the beauty of strength which, according to “On the Iliad” by Rachel Bespaloff, “ reveals itself in a sort of supreme leap, a murderous thunderbolt” (Bespaloff 47). He upholds the heroic code with his unbridled ferocity, unwavering courage, and unparalleled talent. The force absorbs him completely; It is a “wild beast” which illuminates the “beautiful carcass” that is honor (The Iliad 3: 527, 26). To reap honor is to affirm one's worth, to affirm life. Fighting for yourself is essential. As MI Finley argues in The World of Ulysses, the Homeric hero Hector has "no obligation to anyone or anything except [his] own prowess and [his] will to victory and power" (Finley 21). He responds to the call of honor with force, mowing down hordes of Achaeans and assuming his supremacy. As the tide of battle changes, his “courageous spirit never flinches” (The Iliad 12:49). “Hector burns in bronze...a terrible fire [breaks] from the equipment that envelop[s] his body” (The Iliad 12:538-539). He “stands alone” above the other fighters (Bespaloff 43). Like Hector, Achilles dwarfs the rest of the field of warriors. When Achilles unleashes his strength, he is “fierce as fire” (The Iliad 19:20). He is the first to pass through the gates of fallen cities and plunder their treasures. The “tough and merciless” hero is legendary for his “fighting power” (The Iliad 9:771, 279). In fact, as the goddess Hera observes, "As long as brilliant Achilles stalked the front, no Trojan would ever venture beyond the gates of Dardan" (The Iliad 5:907-908). Off the battlefield, Achilles is still drawn to slaughter and does not leave Troy for his native land of Phthia. As a warrior, he thirsts for “the slaughter, the blood, and the stifling groans of men” (The Iliad 19:255). In him, strength rises; he struggles to free himself as the splendor of the salvation of the Achaean forces and the conquest of honor attracts him. Achilles even changes his position upon entering the war, vowing to fight if Hector “beats even the ships of Myrmidon (The Iliad 9:797). When his beloved friend Patroclus is killed, defending and reaping greater honor become one and the same. because Achilles, theForce finally devours him; it “flares into burning points of fire,” ready to raze the Trojan ranks (The Iliad 19:432). as he pursues honor, he has the ability to engulf everyone around him and imprison the hero himself within his ranks. The beauty of strength can crush two armies, the desire for immortality of the Homeric hero can defeat twenty armies. The desire for glory burns like the flames of a hearth; it is a beacon of light that guides him through battle. Captivated by the prospect of immortality, Achilles firmly defends his claim to honor. When King Agamemnon takes away his honor, his Briseis prize, Achilles abandons his fellow Achaeans and even prays that the Trojans will massacre them to heal the wound Agamemnon inflicted on him. Achilles' action is justified: Although one sense indicates victory in a great war and the other a trifle, a captive woman among thousands, the terrible conflict lies precisely in the fact that honor cannot be measured not like goods. in a market, that the insult [to honor] is as good as war (Finley 119). Even a thousand honorable deeds cannot compensate for the single blow to his name. Achilles' refusal to fight for Agamemnon in no way “repudiates the heroic ideal” (Knox 50). Achilles expects retaliation for lost honor – not in the form of material goods but a recognition by Agamemnon of Achilles' superiority. The burning flames of glory command Achilles to ensure that his reputation is restored. As Achilles gives in to his great power, Hector also succumbs to the desire for glory. At Hector's heart is his son's dream of glory "when he returns from battle with the bloody equipment / of the mortal enemy he has slain" (The Iliad 6:572-573). Yet the honor his son gains in battle will inevitably be compared to his own. In truth, Hector hopes above all that his own exploits will forever be etched in history and immortalize both father and son. He hopes that the honor gained in the carnage of war will result in glory. Hector seems to be different from Achilles in that his quest for glory coincides with his 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 gain and defend honor on the path to glory – on the path to immortality. Each warrior fights for himself: “[T]he hero's honor [is] purely individual, something he experienced and fought for only for himself and for himself” (Finley 119). Everyone gains the glory of their father, of their family, but above all, the glory of themselves. Driven by the desire for immortality, the Homeric hero must finally face his destiny. For Hector, his fate weighs on him. He knows that the path to glory will end in his death; he knows that the day will come when his wife will be “a widow, deprived of the only man strong enough / to fight [her] day of slavery” (The Iliad 6: 552-553). He cannot change his destiny or that of his family and Troy. Even though Hector chooses his life's path, all paths eventually converge. The juxtaposition of 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 pass before him as he goes to fight, as he abandons innocence. Likewise, Achilles is also aware of the other path he rejects as a warrior: "If I return to the homeland I love, / my pride, my glory dies... / it is true, but the life that left me to be long” (The Iliad 9,, 1998. 3-67.