Anakin vs. Obi-Wan = Achilles vs. Hector

The original literary unstoppable force vs. the immoveable object...

The thematic significance of the duel between Anakin and Obi-Wan in the overall Star Wars saga is tantamount to the clash of Titans in Homer's literary epic the Illiad.

Like Achilles vs. Hector, the duel between Obi-Wan and Anakin determined the outcome of events already set into play long before the two opponents faced each other.
Both duels represent a thematic, narrative nexus and bridge within each respective story.

But beyond the relevance of the duels to the overall story, there seems to be a deliberate mirroring in the presented characterizations of these four legendary figures.

Anakin and Achilles both represent raw power. Divine and God-like ability not matched by anyone in the universe or world, save for their conceptual and opposing nemesis in the form of Hector and Obi-Wan. Though Anakin and Achilles are immediately more powerful and possess more specialized skill, there is a greatness in their arch enemies of a different caliber and sort....

Obi-Wan and Hector both represent a lifetime of honor and the pursuit of truth and right. Their collective wisdom and skill in battle comes from direct experience as opposed to specialized skill or training. Both characters represent justice and equality, compassion and internal strength.

And just as Hectors death irrevocably affected and changed Achilles, Obi-Wan's death seems to have profoundly affected Anakin/Darth Vader, hance Vader reffering to Obi-Wan in some way,shape or form throughout IV through VI.
It could be argued that the death of these opposing ideologies robbed the characters of Anakin and Achilles of their sense of purpose, by eliminating the focus of all of their wrath, hatred and anger. It seems the seeds of Anakins ultimate redemption arguably were sown immediately after Vader struck Obi-Wan down.
There began the introspection and reflection of his life.
Likewise , once Achilles struck Hector down, his own introspection began his journey towards enlightment, and being undone.
I just feel it is a fascinating and absorbing literary parallel and example of why we fell in love with Star Wars to begin with: the battle between good and evil and the repercussions, implications and dynamics of these two ideologies interacting.

 

I like your thoughts. Sounds good to me.

 

I think this belongs in "The Star Wars Saga" threads. This'll get locked shortly.

Good analyzing, though!

 

this analysis is referring to the duel on the death star in episode IV?

 

So you are comparing both duels (ROTS and ANH) as one? If I read it right, you are referring to the ROTS duel as the beginning of the battle, and the ANH being the end. Is that right?

I do like how you compared Achilles to Anakin. Ever since I watched Troy, Achilles reminded me of Anakin. Mainly because of the anger and how he lets it control and take over him.

 

Interesting, josh, but I think the Achilles/Hector clash mirrors the Anakin/Obi-Wan RotS duel only, and that too, to an extent, and only as far as characters are concerned, not outcome. I agree that Achilles/Anakin are similar in terms of raw power, all-encompassing anger and prophecied life. Hector/Obi-Wan are also similar in being honorable, powerful, dutiful. But the outcomes of the two fights are different. Achilles kills Hector, and the fire of revenge goes out of him. He dies shortly thereafter.

Anakin is defeated by Obi-Wan. No one is killed. Anakin's thirst for revenge and power go unabated. Years go by with both opponents alive and retaining similar personalities.

If you refer to the ANH duel, it does not resemble Achilles/Hector, neither in terms of sheer power or youth or what was at stake.

 

As far as the ANH duel is concerned, I see a Hector/ObiWan similarity in that both Hector and ObiWan were both pretty resigned towards their deaths going into their duels. Obi-Wan "knew" he had to face Vader again (or at least felt he had to for personal reasons), and I doubt he had high expectations of making it out alive. In the Illiad, Hector was resigned to die for his city; when he went to face Achilles he knew he was screwed (although he did have some small hope of winning). In both cases, each was pretty resigned to his death against his opponent.

I agree too on the anger connection between Achilles and Anakin.

 

Very good thread! Well suited for the Saga Forum, though.

 

The fact that we are talking about it proves that GL did a very effective job at reworking ancient mythological archetypes to create a series of movies that resonates very deeply with large portions of humankind.

I, too, see a strong connection between them.

 

It's very interesting to find these mirroring senerios in other great stories. I completely see the Achilles/Hector. Someone else brought up how ROTS was also very much like Othello. Anakin as Othello, Palpatine as Iago, Obi-Wan as Cassio, and Padme as Desdemona. Cool, huh?

 

It has been a long time since I have read The Illiad, great read though. Anyway, I noticed that the original poster compared Anakin to Achilles, I have to argue that, because in all actuality Achilles is the one that walked away from the duel of Hector and Achilles.

Now I am gonna comment on the duel between Achilles and Hector, from the movie Troy, compared to the duel between Anakin and Obi-Wan in ROTS. I believe the fight between Achilles and Hector was so much better than the duel in ROTS, in Troy, there was so much emotion, raw agression that was portrayed from both Eric Bana and Brad Pitt during that scene, while in ROTS, there was emotion, but it just didnt have that raw agression, except when Vader screams out "I HATE YOU!"

 

I guess. Troy was agood movie I will say. That battle was pretty good.

 

Good comparison, presuming you've got your facts straight. I've never read the illiad, only bits and pieces of it from Greek Mythology, so I really can't contribute much in the way of useful discussion about the primary characters likeness to Achilles and Hector. I do however remember a vaguely similar thread that you might find interesting written by clerk about two months ago juxtaposing Anakins turn next to Duncans in Macbeth. It was fairly provocutive in elaborating on Duncan's sudden turn towards madness. However it ultimately failed to achieve its goal, as it still did little to make Anakin's turn in the film anymore believeable. Interesting read though nonetheless.

 

I have to say that, as much as the SW fan inside me doesn't want me to, is that Hector vs Achilles was more intense and emotional for me than the Obi-wan vs Anakin fight.

Hector hugging his wife and kissing his son's head and the cry that his son lets out when he leaves him was really powerfull to me.
The pure rage and hatred for Hector from Achilles was immense. IMO the Hector vs Achilles duel has got to be the greatest duel I've ever seen just from a pure action fan's stand point.The only other one besides the Obi-wan vs Anakin duel that compares to it is the Maximus vs the Emperor from Gladiator. But the moves are definatly the best out of the three. Both fighters get exhausted and you can really see the despiration to hang on as the end of the duel draws near.





Now I'm not saying that the Anakin and Obi-wan's conforntatiion in ROTS wasn't moving either, I loved it. Easily one of my top five greatest movie moments. It might just be that I prefer a good sword and shield battle over a lightsaber fight Thats all.

 

I believe the Achilles/Hector to Anakin/Obi-Wan comparison is valid. A villain needs an enemy. A hero needs an adversary. It's been a long time since I read the Iliad, however, I believe there are some fundamental differences between Achilles' angst and Anakin's. Achilles was consumed by pride and how others perceived him. He would stop at nothing to be the hero everyone knew about. Anakin was different. He was consumed by fear and anger which lead him to a more introspective malevolence. Achilles was showing off, Anakin was lashing out.

 

A very good thread and one best suited for this forum.

 

Having been a loooooong time since I read the Illiad (high school) I don't remember it too well. But seeing the movie Troy (no real idea how close to the book it is) Another similarity between Achilles and Anakin is they both served a greedy, megalomaniac sovereign they both would like to kill.

 

P.S. Also one could note the role of Sidious as the "Trojan Horse" that brought the downfall of the Republic.
Also of note is how Hector's brother Paris brought about the fall of Achilles through his weakeness, his heel. While Obi-Wan's other "brother" Luke brings about the fall of Darth Vader by his weakness, the spark of Anakin living inside Vader.

 

yea but obi-wan "beats" anakin, hector loses to achilles

 

True. It seems that being driven by anger worked out well for Achilles. But the battle still reminds of me of Obi-Wan v. Anakin. Obi-Wan is calm, understanding while Anakin is filled with anger and hate.

 

I love that comparison - especially Anakin == Achilles.

Sure, there are differences, but Anakin wanting 'More' and Achilles wanting 'More' makes them almost like brothers in minds, so to say.
Anakin is a highly skilled fighter; he went through a huge war and sharpened his skills. Achilles is exactly the same: A war hero who has only respect for those who can put up a fight. Both are very, very young and both are menaces when unleashed.

 

Interesting but I thought it was more like brother vs brother, equally matched opponents facing each other.

 

True, they both wanted more in a sense.
Anakin - Wanted more power
Achilles - Wanted to remembered forever

I don't totally like slapping Anakin's name all over Achilles because Achilles knew how to control himself in battle as Anakin lost the rest of his limbs being arrogant.

 

It's all about Greed. And we all know what the shadow of Greed is too. That is the main driving force. Anyone who is controlled by Greed starts down the path of bad things (for lack of a better word, ). That is why Anakin and Achilles are so comparable.

 

The anger problem is well known from both of them. I just want to point out that in battle Anakin is not that reliable because he is too hot-headed. Achilles had almost no remorse and wanted a swift and glorious death. He had a complete and total devotion to what he does. In the heat of battle you can count on Achilles if you're an ally. Anakin as we have seen couldn't stick to what he had to do as a Jedi. Im just trying make the point that your giving Anakin too much credit comparing him to Achilles.