The Warrior Ethos

Homer’s Iliad perfectly captures the tension between hubris and humility in the conflict between Achilles and Hector, his two warrior-heroes who fought to the death. Achilles was beautiful, charismatic and vain. He was god-like in his abilities as a warrior and a seeker of personal glory.Hector was a great warrior, not at Achilles level, but great by any standard. Hector fought and bled out of duty rather than a passion; he was the ideal citizen-soldier who went to war to protect his family, his city, and his community, his country and always with Reverence for the Gods. Robert Schoultz, a former SEAL captain who teaches ethics and has written extensively about SEAL culture, uses the Achilles-Hector dichotomy to capture the same tensions among our modern-day warriors. Many young SEALs aspire to become like Achilles, Schoultz says, though Hector would be the truer representative of the SEAL's ethos.