Experiencing Hektor : Character in the Iliad

At the Iliad's climax, the great Trojan hero Hektor falls at the hands of Achilles. But who is Hektor? He has resonated with audiences as a tragic hero, great warrior, loyal husband and father, protector of a doomed city. Yet never has a major work sought to discover how these different aspects of Hektor's character accumulate over the course of the narrative to create the devastating effect of his death.
This book documents the experience of Hektor through the Iliad's serial narrative. Drawing on diverse tools from narratology, to cognitive science, but with a special focus on film character, television poetics, and performance practice, it examines how the mechanics of serial narrative construct the character of Hektor. How do we experience Hektor as the performer makes his way through the epic? How does the juxtaposition of scenes in multiple storylines contribute to character? How does the narrative work to manipulate our emotional response? How does our relationship to Hektor change over the course of the performance?
Lynn Kozak demonstrates this novel approach through a careful scene-by-scene breakdown and analysis of the Iliad, focusing especially on Hektor. In doing so, she challenges and destabilises popular and scholarly assumptions about both ancient epic and the Iliad's 'other' hero.

“Though Kozak focuses on Hector, her study persuasively suggests that it is the characters—major, minor and “red shirts” alike— that make the experience of the Iliad one that remains compelling.” - Religious Studies Review

“A stimulating book … Kozak’s approach is refreshing and exemplary. Although she does not specifically frame her work in this way, Kozak’s investigation is a species of Homeric reception that helps us address the perennial question, “Why Homer?” By comparing Homeric techniques to those of modern narrative art forms, Kozak has provided us another way to think about artistic and cultural continuities (and discontinuities).” – New England Classical Journal

“In considering the narrative properties of the Iliad, scholars have often used the novel and its practices for comparison. In her lively exploration of the Iliad’s techniques of characterization, Lynn Kozak instead uses serial television as a comparandum … Kozak’s presentation of examples is extremely lucid. Even though I am unfamiliar with most of the series she uses to illustrate her points, I was able to understand her analogies easily and found many of them stimulating … Such comparisons may also be helpful in the classroom in illustrating how the Iliad engages interest in character to students who may know and understand serial television better than literature.” – Classical World

“Enjoyable … The main strength of Kozak’s treatment is its insistence on taking the Iliad as a work to be performed and received sequentially … Her work stands apart for carrying the exercise through to an unusual extent.” - Bryn Mawr Classical Review

“An interesting and useful "lens" through which to view ancient epic. What is formative and makes Kozak's book especially worth reading is her constant reminder of narrative time on almost every page, and her determination to try to "see" Homeric performance from the "viewers'" vantage point.” - The Classical Journal