Who accepted Paris' and Hector's challenges in Homer's "Iliad"?

Question

The Trojans were outnumbered and stayed behind their thick walls most of the time. Early in the "Iliad", Zeus favored Troy, so Trojans came out to fight the first battle in years. It began with Prince Paris of Troy challenging any Greek to a duel. The day ended with his brother Hector issuing a similar challenge. One Greek arose to accept both challenges. Who was he? He could beat Paris but not Hector, so he was held back from Hector. No one else dared to accept Hector's challenge, for he was a 7' tall 325 pound stronman quite skillful with sword and spear. Old Nestor shamed the greeks, so their 9 best men arose to fight Hector. Who were they? Which one was chosen?

Someone answered part of the question but not who were the 9 foremost Greeks who were shamed by Nestor into accepting Hector's challenge when Agamemnon restrained his brother Menelaus from doing so. Menelaus was about as tall as Hector, but he wasn't as strong or as skillful. He easily beat Paris but would've been slain by Hector. Hint: Agamemnon was smaller than Menelaus but much more skillful with a spear. He was first to accept Hector's challenge. Now, who were the other 8 foremost Greek warriors?

We are closer now to the full answer. Menelaus was first to accept both challenges. After Nestor's pep talk, the men who arose were first Agamemnon, 2nd Diomed, 3rd and 4th the two Ajaxes, and 9th Odysseus, so we lack only the 5th to 8th men. Ajax of Salamis was Achilles' giant cousin and 2nd only to him in size and strength. He was much bigger than even Hector, making him seem like a boy. Ajax of Locris was a small man but swift and skillful, like Diomed. There are several lost poems that tell about the Trojan War. The "Iliad" covers only a couple of weeks in the 9th year of the war. The Cypria" and the "Aethiopis" are 2 of them. The foremost Trojans in the "Iliad" are 1.Hector, 2.Aeneas (son of Aphrodite who is meant to survive the war, according to Poseidon who saves him from Achilles in the "Iliad"), 3.Sarpedon (son of Zeus) and his Lycian pal 4.Glaucus. Later, the Trojans had a man as big & Strong as Ajax, so he was best of all. This was Memnon of Ethiopia, slain by Achilles.

Answer 1

The 8 foremost? I can think of a few...
Telemonian Ajax and Lesser Ajax, Odysseus, and Diomedes. I don't really remember the rest.
I know in the movie "Troy" Hector slays Telemonian Ajax, but that doesn't happen in the book...
I haven't read it in so long...
Kimmie

Answer 2

Dont be carried away. The deities were involved on both sides. Two battlefronts in Troy. Just have that in mind before the Trojans emerge as your heroes.

Paris, who was happy that the Greeks had lost Achilles, forgot for an instant that the Greeks had many other warriors too. He ran up to the front of his army and shouted a challenge to any Greek warrior. When Menelaus stepped out and accepted his challenge, Paris ran back, but Hector blocked him and called him a coward. Hector then suggested that the fight decide who Helen will go to. Menelaus accepted and then got ready to fight. Both Paris and Menelaus were given a clean spear, sword, and their own shields. Paris won the right to strike first.

For the first few minutes, Paris and Menelaus just circled each other while Paris looking for somewhere he can hit Menelaus. Then, suddenly, Paris threw his spear at Menelaus, but Menelaus just jumped aside. Paris was frightened that he had missed Menelaus and was quivering behind his shield. Menelaus sensed this and threw his spear really hard at Paris. Paris tried to jump out of the way, but it didn’t work. The spear caught his shield and pierced it. Paris saw it go through his shield, and almost touch his armor, which it did not. He was so shocked that he didn’t notice Menelaus charging at him with sword in hand until he was knocked down. In his anger, Menelaus struck Paris’s helmet with his sword which shattered into pieces. Menelaus cursed because of his bad luck, took Paris by the top of his helmet and started to drag him towards the Greek side while shouting words of victory. It seemed as if the Greeks had won, but Aphrodite cut the strap of the helmet which was choking Paris to set him free. Menelaus was unarmed and it was Paris’s chance to kill him, but he had had enough and with Aphrodite’s help went back to his own side.

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After Menelaus found out that Paris had stolen his wife, Helen, he was very angry and decided to gather up all the great Greek Warriors to get his wife back. The sly King of Ithaca, Odysseus was there, so was the strong Prince of Salamis, Ajax, the great King of Argos, Diomedes, was coming along, Menelaus and his brother, the powerful King of Sparta, Agamemnon were definitely going, Old Nestor, who is his younger years was a great warrior came to join the Greek army, and Achilles, the greatest Greek warrior. Each king brought with him most of the men from their countries, which made up the Greek army. The Trojans, who were their enemy, had notice that the Greeks were planning to attack them and they were also gathering their warriors.
At Troy, its people were fixing their high, big walls so that they would still stand even after the Greeks used battering rams to try to knock it down. The Trojans only had a couple of great warriors, which did not include Paris, who was the cause of the war. Paris’s brother, Hector was the greatest Trojan warrior in the army, and Aeneas closely followed him. Everything was ready for war to begin.

**

Answer 3

I'll give this a try because I knew all day that I needed to do something like this or at least attempt it. Sadly I have to wait till the family goes to sleep and they demand my attention. I could care less about the competition, I'm like those people who run marathons with no chance to win but completing the course is the goal and this challenge is more worthwhile in my opinion. UPDATE: I completed my meditation at 12:30am Easter morning. I'm not certain if it qualifies. I focused on my breathing and was aware of every breath. I did this at the edge of my bed as the family slept. I set my alarm clock for one hour and 10 minutes from my starting time. I had unwanted thoughts come up constantly and kept focusing myself back to the task at hand. While unwanted thoughts diminished or became stronger I was further distracted by my cat that wanted my affection for a short time and when I got focused again and my thoughts were cooperating I heard my daughter panicking and calling for her Mom as she had a bad dream. It took considerable concentration to focus as I felt her fear at the edge of my awareness for a couple of minutes after she stopped. I told my wife abut the experience this morning (she sleeps in a separate bedroom due to my snoring) she thinks I had an unfair advantage because she's convinced that that's my natural state and that I should endeavor to be more active instead. I accepted her comments with the appropriate humor they deserve. Thank you for this challenge, I plan to do this often now. ☺

Answer 4

The Iliad by Homer. (STUDY GUIDES)

http://education.yahoo.com/homework_help/cliffsnotes/the_iliad/

The Achaians, under King Agamemnon, have been fighting the Trojans off and on for nine years, trying to retrieve Helen, the wife of Menelaos, and thus Agamemnon’s sister-in-law. Paris, a son of the king of Troy, kidnaps Helen, who becomes the legendary “Helen of Troy” and “the woman with the face that launched a thousand ships.”

I have found 7 summaries for you to look at, click the link below. I have included a short extract to give you a taste of what the reviews have to offer..!!!

http://www.antistudy.com/search.php?title=The+Iliad

http://www.freebooknotes.com/book.php3?id=205

http://litsum.com/iliad/

http://education.yahoo.com/homework_help/cliffsnotes/the_iliad/

The Iliad deals with only a small portion of the Trojan War; in fact, it covers only a few months during the tenth year of that war. The ancient Greek audience, however, would have been familiar with all the events leading up to this tenth year, and during the course of the Iliad, Homer makes many references to various past events.

http://www.cliffsnotes.com/WileyCDA/LitNote/id-26,pageNum-3.html