Quickly stooping, Hector avoided the
weapon and hurled his spear at Achilles. It was an unequal conflict. The
armor of Achilles was weapon proof, and Pallas stood at his elbow to
return to him his weapons. Achilles knew well the weak spots in his old
armor worn by Hector, and selecting a seam unguarded by the shield, he
gave Hector a mortal wound, and insulted him as he lay dying at his feet.
Tears and wailing filled the city as the Trojans watched the combat; and
despair fell upon them when they saw the body of Hector fastened to the
chariot of Achilles and dragged thrice around the Trojan walls. From her
chamber where she sat weaving, unaware of the mortal combat waged before
the walls, Andromache came forth to see great Hector fallen and his corpse
insulted by his enemy.
While Priam sat in his palace with dust strewn on his head, and the
wailings of the women filled the streets of Troy, the Greeks were
hastening to their camps to celebrate the funeral rites of Patroclus,
whose body had been saved from corruption by Thetis. A massive funeral
pile was constructed of wood brought from the forests on Mount Ida. The
chiefs in their chariots and thousands of men on foot followed the body of
Patroclus. The comrades of the dead warrior cut off their long hair and
strewed it on the dead, and Achilles sheared his yellow hair and placed
the locks in Patroclus's hands.
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