When news of Hector’s death reaches the city of Ilion, all the people are devastated. The women, especially are completely shattered and play a crucial role in lamenting his death. Personally, I feel that women are more sensitive and prone to emotions. So I can see a relation between the women of that society, several of thousands of years ago and the women now, of the 21st century. Hector’s beloved wife, Andromache faces so much grief and constantly worries about her status as a widow and her son’s as an orphan. I think it is pretty interesting to see how powerful a man is to his family’s reputation. It seems that without a male figure in a family the others lose their self-value and pride.
One of the most important women in Hector’s life, Hecuba, his mother undoubtedly suffers an unbearable amount of pain. She refers to him as her heart, an affectionate and very touching statement. It is difficult to miss her saying that Hector is the dearest of all her children. Nowadays, I think that as much as parents deny that they don’t have favorites among their children, they actually do. Some members of the family just understand each other much better than do others and grow attached to them.
Hector’s sister-in-law Helen, also laments his death. She acknowledges his support and kindness that he displayed towards her while alive. She has good things to say about him after his death. I think Helen plays the role of friends who mourn for their friends after they pass away and remember or recall the good things that their friends did when they were alive.
I think you highlighted how Hectors death affected his loved ones really well. He had a powerful presence in his family, especially to his mother; and that ultimately led to her dealing with Hectors death the hardest. Hector’s wife, Andromache, also had a hart time dealing with Hectors death because her life really revolved around him. I think you made an interesting point when you said that “without a male figure in a family the others lose their self-value and pride,” I think that goes for that time period. I think that now in the twenty-first century there are so many people out here promoting the importance of being an “independent women” that it isn’t a norm for a woman to aspire for a traditional home lifestyle of staying at home, bearing children and catering to her man. Women of today feel much more satisfied by providing for themselves because once some men get the opportunity to provide for them, they may take advantage of it. On the contrary, I do believe that it is possible for a woman to be established on her own but still have those womanly tendencies of being a strong backbone for a man. Andromache exemplifies what it means to be a wife and mother while leading by example. She was unselfish with Hector and her son.