ACHILLES

HECTOR

MAXIMUS

LEONIDAS 

Personally, I think Hector would emerge victorious against the other three contestants.

VS. Achilles-

Now, I know that in the Iliad, Achilles triumphs over Hector, and drags his body around in a chariot and then Priam asks Achilles for his son, for proper funeral rituals. We have all have seen the movie, or even better, read the book.

Achilles was a spoiled brat. His mother, the nymph Thetis, dipped him in the river Styx to make him invulnerable, but he held him by the heel! This, of course, results in his only weak spot. The god, Hephaestus, also made him a “special” armor, to face Hector and the other Trojans at the end. So, basically, the reason Hector lost to Achilles was because of the meddling of the Greek gods. If you have read Homer, you will see that when Athena appears to Hector as his brother, Deiphobus, it was all a ruse to favor Achilles. At the final encounter, Achilles, in fact, missed Hector, when he threw his spear. Athena had to “magically” pick it up and give it back to him for a second chance. When Hector threw his spear, the aim was perfect but Achilles’ shield stopped the edge of the spear from harming him. If we take away the meddling gods from Achilles’ side, Hector would win.

 VS. Maximus-

Maximus is great with the short sword, as we saw in  Gladiator, but Hector is much stronger and can win with a spear from far away. In close quarters, it would be an awesome battle with a sword, but I see Maximus tiring out a bit faster than Hector. Maximus was a great general, but Hector held back the Greek army almost entirely on his own for 10 years. Daily war would have him more physically fit for this titanic battle. It would be very close.

VS. Leonidas-

Leonidas is resourceful, but his greatest strength is military strategy. On a one on one battle, Hector will again prove the stronger man. Both are more than adept with the spear and shield, however, if Hector breaks Leonidas’ spear, he will dominate him with the sword, or spear. The Spartan king would put up a great fight, but his lack of body armor would make him vulnerable to Hector’s attacks. Leonidas also believes that death is glory, while Hector believes that there is nothing glorious about dying, nothing poetic.

Therefore, Hector>Achilles>Maximus>Leonidas

Am I wrong? Who do you think would win?