Relentless Love
Andromache loved Hector more than
she ever thought was possible. He was the son of King Priam and the leader of
the Trojan forces. His name and power were very important to many, but she
loved him for him. She would have cared for this man just as much if he were
poor and powerless. They dreamt of spending their life together raising a
family and exploring the world together, but as the leader of the Trojans,
Hector couldn’t focus all of his attention on the lovely, but a bit high strung,
Andromache. As time went on, the couple had their ups and downs, but for the
most part they had a strong, happy relationship. The two spent all the time they
could together and eventually had a baby boy. Hector loved his little son more
than anything in the world. They were like two peas in a pod. I don’t think the
boy could’ve been any more like Hector even if he tried. Andromache loved to
watch them spend time together. Her heart throbbed at the sight of Hector with
their precious child.
One day, there was trouble with
the Greeks and all the Trojan soldiers geared up for battle. Each time Hector
had to go fight the Greeks, Andromache would
get worried sick about him. She would even travel to the top of a nearby building and
watch the fights happen, just to make sure she was there if anything were to
happen to her husband. As usual, she watched from her spot and hurried home
when the fighting ended so her husband would think she had never left the house
when he arrived back.
When he returned home, he had a
grim look on his face.
“What’s wrong? I thought today went well?” Andromache asked.
“I’m afraid I have some bad news,” Hector replied, “It looks
like I’m going to have to leave for a while.”
“What?!” Andromache shrieked. “How long do you mean, Hector? You can’t leave me here with our son, take us with you!”
“I’m afraid I can’t. I think you two will be safer here. The
Greeks are relentless and they won’t stop until they are satisfied. I know they
will attack wherever I am, and I don’t want my family to be harmed.”
Andromache
cried herself to sleep that night, and every night for what seemed like
eternity. She knew she had to do something about it; she wanted the life she
had dreamed of with her family. As soon as Hector left, she began plotting what
she was going to do to make sure the Greeks stayed away from the Trojans so her
husband could come back. She knew her husband wouldn’t leave the forces because
they didn’t stand a chance without him.
She took
matters into her own hands.
First, she
figured out what exactly the Greeks wanted. They wanted the city that she lived
in, but obviously she couldn’t agree to give away the place so many people
resided. So, she thought of a backup option. There was a neighboring town, just
a few miles away, with not much civilization at all. She had a plan now, and
would stop at nothing to make sure she was successful. She wanted to build up
the abandoned city with houses and all the other places people needed to live
off of. She wanted all of her friends to help pitch in to building this new
town… and she was going to give it to the Greeks so the Trojans could have
their life and safety back in their own city. It wasn’t going to be easy, but
with everyone in the city there to help, she knew it would be possible.
Sure
enough, after just a few weeks around 20 houses had been completed. After that, they kept building more and more until there were hundreds. They were so proud
of all that they had accomplished they didn’t want to stop. They built tons of
places and after only 6 months, the city was a place worth living. Instead of
telling her husband what she had accomplished, she went straight to the grounds
the Greeks were staying in, and told their leader she built them a city. At
first he was furious, they didn’t want any old city; he just wanted what the
Trojans had. But she convinced him to at least come look at it. To her
surprise, he was quite satisfied and agreed to move his people there!
Andromache
was so excited to tell her husband the news. When she got to the location of the battle, she explained
to him everything she had done. He cried tears of joy and she felt so proud,
she had never seen him so emotional before. All of the troops praised her and
thanked her and they built her the most beautiful palace anyone had ever seen to show their gratitude to her. She proved that anything was possible and her husband thought more highly of
her than ever. Hector finally realized she was much more strong and determined than the weak, sensitive woman he saw her as before.
The palace Andromache earned for her family after solving all the problems between the Greeks and Trojans.
Bibliography: Homer's Iliad- "
Hector and Andromache" by A.J. Church.
Author's Note: I read the story "Hector and Andromache" from Homer's Iliad in my Week 2 reading assignment and I really enjoyed it. It gave me the inspiration to make up a new story about the relationship Hector and Andromache had. It was clear in the original story that Andromache truly loved Hector, so I used the same characters and some of the same information from the story to recreate it in a new way. I wanted to put my own spin on it, so I made the wife the hero, which is unique because stories often give men all the power. I thought it would be inspiring to have a women accomplish so much, even though no one really believed in her. My story is meant to portray the idea that anything is possible if you set your mind to it and don't doubt yourself. Andromache is able to prove to Hector just how much she is capable of by using her emotions as fuel in her plan and ends up never having to worry about being underestimated ever again. The message this story sends is more important than the actual story itself.
