HECTOR.
Ques. Who was Hector?
Ans. He was the son of Priam and Hec´uba, and the most valiant of all the Trojan chiefs who fought against the Greeks. The Fates had decreed that Troy should not be taken as long as Hector lived. The hero knew that he was destined to fall before the walls of his native city, and that he could at best only postpone the ruin of his country for a little time. Not discouraged by this, he performed prodigies of valor, and slew, with his own hand, Patroclus, the friend of Achil´les. He next went out to meet Achil´les himself, notwithstanding the remonstrances of Priam and Hec´uba, and the tears of his wife Androm´ache. He fell as we have seen, and this event was shortly followed by the overthrow of his father’s kingdom. Hector was not only distinguished as a warrior and a patriot; he was equally admirable as a son, husband, and father; and his character is perhaps the noblest which has been described by any writer of antiquity.
When Troy was taken, Calchas excited much uneasiness among the Greeks, by a prediction, that if Asty´anax, the son of Hector, were permitted to live, he would one day avenge his father’s death, and raise Troy from its ruins. Diligent search was therefore made for the child, who had been concealed by his mother in the recesses of Hector’s tomb. Here he was discovered by Ulys´ses. Disregarding the prayers of the unhappy Androm´ache, the Grecian commanders precipitated the boy from the summit of a lofty tower.