Unlike Helen, Hektor's wife Andromache is associated with social order and the continuation of the family. Hektor's obvious love for Andromache symbolizes his belief in proper domesticity, and his image of her being taken captive and working the loom for another man represents his deep fear of disorder. Hektor also expresses concern that Andromache might be taken captive by the Greeks, suggesting that he sees, through Helen, the wrong that Paris committed.
Hektor's relationship and attitude toward women and children is deeply embedded in Homeric culture. In the code of that era, the son fights like his father, but the son is also raised by his mother, and she teaches him that he must be a hero, fighting for her and for other women who will also raise heroes. In this culture, there was a great concern for women, because they were dependent and, like young children, they were vulnerable to enslavement. As a hero, then, Hektor is not only an extension of his father, he is also an extension of his mother, and when she begs him to come into the city of Troy, she assumes the position of a suppliant, appealing for mercy on the battlefield. Hektor's choice to remain on the battlefield and fight Achilles in a duel ignores her plea; therefore, in accordance with the idea that the hero is an extension of the mother, Hektor will be guilty of her death if anything happens to her. Priam's plea to his son is similar to Hekuba's, but his plea is for family continuity and for Troy.
