Achilles and Hector
Mythology Imagined
Hector stood outside the gates of Troy. The stones of the city wall groaned under the sun’s assault. In the distance he could see Achilles’ chariot magnifying on the horizon. He had seen this man, half god, fight before. It troubled him but not enough to affect the surety of his courage or his skill.
A little time passed and Achilles’ chariot furrowed the ground before Hector. The parched earth miraged the desiccated air. Achilles dismounted.
“If you were not here, Hector, I would have climbed the battlements to find you”, growled Achilles. “So now you will do battle with the real thing”.
They both drew their swords and set their shields to the ready. They were of equal stature but Achilles’ presence was more like that of an animal. His features taut and strained like a wild dog about to pounce. The muscles of his face twitched. His limbs shortened. His knees bent slightly.
Hector was a seasoned and accomplished fighter. His gaze on Achilles was steady.
Achilles leapt forward and brought his sword down with thundering force. Hector met this blow with his shield. It moaned audibly under the assault. Hector returned the blow, making up for what strength he lacked with the precision of the strike, aiming as closely as he could for Achilles head.
In this way they traversed the field exchanging blows. The heat was relentless. Achilles was relentless but Hector met every charge and returned the offensive until, suddenly, Achilles altered the angle of his blow slightly setting Hector off balance. As Hector fell he lost grip on his sword and watched it flash and pirouette to the ground.
Achilles stopped and for some reason let Hector pick up his sword. As Hector reached for his weapon, from the corner of his eye, he could see Achilles transfer the sword to his left hand and throw away his shield. Battle was rejoined with swords alone.
Almost immediately the strikes came in at him from the right. He had engaged with sinister sword play before. Left handed fighters were usually far more skilled than their right handed counterparts because they were always thinking through the strategy for both sides of combat in their minds.
At once Hector could not predict where the blows were coming from. They appeared to be coming in from the right but Achilles’ sword would twist at the last minute causing a downward thrust and despite countering to the right to meet the strike Hector could not divert the force of the blow pushing his sword downwards. With every strike Achilles changed the angle slightly. Each and every strike was unpredictable.
Achilles returned the sword to his right hand and the blows came just as randomly and with even more force. Hector could not believe that this was possible. This man, half god, had not begun to show Hector what he was capable of.
Hector fought on though he could feel himself weakening; his leather tunic drenched with sweat. Achilles changed hands again and this time forced Hector into retreat, pushing on without pause. From this moment Achilles would allow no forward movement or even the opportunity for Hector to hold his ground.
Now they were much closer to the city walls and Achilles knew they had an audience.
When he had positioned Hector so he was facing the city walls, Achilles struck Hector’s sword at its base so that it flew out of his hand; and in this defenseless state Achilles plunged his sword into Hector’s chest. Just to make sure of him he withdrew the sword and aimed it again a little closer to the heart.
Within a couple of minutes Hector was a lifeless form on the ground. Achilles tied him by his feet to the chariot and drove back to camp.
