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High School - 11th Grade

Why is Andromache called Hector's "precious wife"? Mention three things that would make a woman precious.

question from ilad book VI

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Posted by xxxxxxxx on Friday June 12, 2009 at 5:44 AM and tagged with andromache, characters, percious wife.

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  1. marilynn07 Teacher
    High School - 9th Grade

    eNotes Editor

    She is precious to Hector because he loves her. She is the mother of his son who is still just a baby.  She is not like the other women who are hiding in their houses or praying at the temple to  "the awful goddess Minerva".  She is out on the wall watching for her husband and the events of the battle.

    She knows what Achilles is capable of doing since it was Achilles who killed her own father in the battle with the  Cilicians. Andromache begs Hector to stay in the city with her and lead the battle from the safety of the walls. He attempts to comfort her by telling her that when his time comes, no one can stop it, but he would die just the same.

    This scene in the Iliad serves to humanize Hector as we see the joy he takes in seeing his son Astyanax and his wife. Their love is elevated to the same level as the rage that pervades the epic.  At this moment in the epic of the Iliad, nothing can touch the genuine love that this family represents.  It is for this, the ideal love and family, that Hector must go out and fight.

    Sources:
    http://www.enotes.com/iliad-text/book-vi

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    Posted by marilynn07 on Friday June 12, 2009 at 10:07 AM