Standing on the walls of TroyAn ancient city in modern-day Turkey. It is the subject of Homer's epic poem The Iliad. After a ten-year siege, the hero Odysseus finally took the city by hiding a group of Greek soldiers in a vast wooden horse, which the Trojans wheeled into their city. This is the origin of the expression "Trojan horse"., a woman begs her husband to stay and defend the citadel rather than joining the battle outside. "What are you doing, Hector?" she asks in Emily Wilson's translation of the Iliad. "Your will to fight will kill you!"

Hector knows that if he dies, she will probably end up as a slave. But such is his longing for glory that he goes out anyway. 

The great poem tells of a war between the Greeks and the Trojans. Hector is Troy's greatest hero, while AchillesThe Greeks' greatest hero. The only vulnerable part of his body was his heel - hence the expression "an Achilles heel", meaning a weak spot. is the Greeks'.

The siege of Troy lasts for 10 years. The Greeks come close to defeat when Achilles refuses to fight after a quarrel with their commander, Agammemnon.

But when his closest friend, Patroclus, is killed by Hector, Achilles returns to the battlefield. He kills Hector and drags his body behind his chariot. Later he is killed himself.

Troy is finally captured by a trick. The Greeks pretend they are sailing away and leaving a giant horse as a tribute to the gods. But the horse contains soldiers who steal out once it is inside the city. UlyssesA legendary Greek king of Ithaca. Also known as Odysseus. , who comes up with the idea, is a brave warrior but also a con man.

The story is summed up by Rowan WilliamsThe former Archbishop of Canterbury.¹ as a "naked contest of male honour" involving a "manic concern with status and not losing face". The result for all the women involved is the loss of loved ones, slavery or death.

But in an article for The Atlantic, Caitlin Flanagan defends heroism "in the sense of defending and protecting the weak". Men are often most obviously placed to do that because they are larger, faster and stronger than women. And, she says, they should be proud to take on the role.

She gives as an example the 343 firefighters who died at Ground ZeroThe exact place at which an explosion occurs. Often used to refer to The World Trade Center site in New York, which was destroyed during the 9/11 terrorist attacks in 2001. on 9/11A series of terrorist attacks that took place in the USA on 11 September 2001. It is known as 9/11 as Americans write the month first, and then the date. The attacks killed 2,996 people. Many of them died when two planes were hijacked and hit the twin towers of the World Trade Center in New York, causing them to collapse. : "There wasn't one of them who didn't know, or at least suspect, that he was climbing to his death."

Yes: The characters in the Iliad may not be perfect, but that does not mean that their heroic qualities should not be imitated. We all need ideals to aspire to if we are to realise our potential.  

No: The popular idea of a hero as a strong, fearless man is a dangerous one. Such dominant characters are often flawed and can use their power to ill-treat weaker people instead of helping them.   

Or... There are many different types of heroes, including physically weak people who show bravery in standing up for their beliefs or pursuing their goals. Boys and girls alike should try to be like them.