ECTOR. Hector, eldest son of Priam and Hecuba of Troy, leader of the Trojans against the Greeks, was husband of Andromache and brother of Troilus and Paris. As the bravest of the Trojans, he led them unto the field. Achilles slew him to avenge Patroclus's death, then dragged the dead body around his friend's tomb. Subsequently, Priam went to Achilles and begged for his son's body; Achilles restored it, and Hector was buried at Troy (Iliad xxiv).

The medieval versions of the Troy story are De excidio Troiae historia of Dares Phrygius, of uncertain date but generally believed to have been written about the fourth century A.D.; Ephemeridos belli Troiani of Dictys Cretensis, dating from the fourth century A.D.; Le Roman de Troie (c. 1184), written by a Norman cleric, Benoît de Sainte-Maure; Historia destructionis Troiae by Guido delle Colonne (before 1287). Hector appears as one of the three pagan worthies in The Parlement of the Thre Ages (fourteenth century), 300-331. During the later Middle Ages poets began claiming descent from Trojan heroes for whole nations. Jean le Maire des Belges tells that the French and Germans were descended from Hector in Illustrations de Gaule et singularités de Troie (c. 1506).

The Knight compares the women's weeping at Arcita's funeral with the wailing of the Trojan women when Ector was brought home dead, KnT 2830-2833 (the lament for Hector occurs in Benoît's Roman de Troie, 16317-16502). Ector's death is foretold in the stars, MLT 198. Andromache dreams that Ector will die, NPT 3141-3148. Chauntecleer tells the story to illustrate the visio, the warning dream foretelling the future. R.A. Pratt suggests that Chaucer's immediate source for the dream is very likely Renart le Contrefait 31323-31340. Dares summarizes the dream in De excidio Troiae historia 24. Ector appears on the walls of the temple of glass, BD 325-331. The Man in Black says that he would have loved his lady even though he were as brave as Ector, BD 1065 (Hector's courage was a medieval commonplace). Chaucer's characterization of Ector in Troilus and Criseyde owes much to Boccaccio's conception in Il Filostrato (1333-1339). After his death, Ector appears to Eneas as Troy burns, LGW 934. [Achille: Andromacha: Ecuba: Guido: Julius: Pompe: Priam: Socrates: Turnus]

Ector, the ME and OF variant, appears four times initially, Tr II.417; Tr IV.40, 176, 187; 27 times in medial positions, KnT 2832; MLT 198; NPT 3142, 3144; BD 328, 1065; Tr I.110, 113, 471; Tr II.153, 158, 171, 176, 183, 417, 740, 1450, 1481, 1627, 1698; Tr III.1775; Tr IV.33, 193, 214; Tr V.1549, 1804; LGW 934. Ectores, the ME genitive case, appears medially, NPT 3141. Latin initial h was not pronounced.