Structurally, this book has three early appeals to Hektor, begging him to come inside the walls of Troy, balanced late in the book by three laments for Hektor's death. In between occurs the fight between Hektor and Achilles.
The battle between Hektor and Achilles brings about a reconsideration of two ideas that have been implicit throughout the Iliad. The first idea is the conflict between the values symbolized by the two warriors. The second idea is the nature of the relationship between the gods and men.
The duel between Hektor and Achilles has been interpreted as a clash between two diametrically opposed world views: Hektor, the representative of hearth, home, and city-state, is the defender of the principles of individual self-control and of a constructive, positive way of life. Achilles is the personification of primitive brutality, anti-social destructiveness, and undisciplined instinct. Thus, it is a fight where human civilization itself is at stake, and although the destructive forces triumph, Achilles (their embodiment) is rehabilitated and rejuvenated in the final book of the epic. The institutions represented by Hektor are reborn in a new form during the confrontation between Achilles and Hektor's aged father, Priam.
Two scenes explore the god/human relationship in complementary fashion. Zeus considers saving Hektor's life by "plucking the man from death." Athena counters that Zeus can do as he pleases, "but none of the deathless gods will ever praise you."
