Hector Vs. Ajax

In the seventh book of the Iliad, the Gods of Olympus planned a battle between Hector and any champion of the Greek army therefore that there may be a ceasefire between the Greeks and the Trojans. Helenus, one of Hector’s brothers knew about this and he immediately told Hector the will of the Gods. Hector went on to challenge the Achaeans to bring out their greatest warrior to go against him in a single battle.



The Greeks chose Ajax the Great to battle Hector by means of drawing lots. Hector announced that the battle is a duel until one of them dies and the victor will keep the armor of his slain adversary for himself. The battle was one of the most exciting moments so far in the book. But several versions have been made over the years that depicted the battle and failed in portraying what really happened in the battle of Hector and Ajax. One example is that of the movie, Troy, which starred several international celebrities and it really was a hit. But it failed on a lot of different aspects, particularly in the battle between Ajax and Hector.



The movie’s version of the fight scene was very different from what really happened. First of all, it was the Gods who planned the battle unlike in the movie where they just stumbled upon one another then they started fighting each other. In the book, there was a formal settlement between the two parties about the said duel while there was none in the movie. Ajax and Hector did not just bump against one another in the heat of battle, there was a process in picking who will be up against Hector which was casting lots and whoever wins will be fighting Hector to the death. The battle was evenly matched; they were on the same level in terms of fighting skills. Even though Ajax has the advantage in size, Hector made up for this with his agility and presence of mind in the fight. Because of this, no one emerged victorious from the duel. The biggest flaw in the movie representation of the fight is seen with the result of the fight. In the movie, Ajax died because he was hit by Hector but Ajax never really died because of fight. This mistake caused a lot of controversy concerning the accuracy of the story being presented in the movie.

If I were Homer, I would not accept this version of my story. They clearly changed everything that happened in the fight between Hector and Ajax. Without Ajax, the Iliad would be a different story because he plays an important role in the latter stages of the story. This representation is clearly different from that of the original. It would be an insult to me if they tried to change what really happened in the story then they would make money out of it. It would be better if they followed the story exactly and not change the content.