Hector dies before Troy, in Book XXII, by the spear of Achilles. All the other Trojans have already taken refuge in the city, and only he stays outside the Scaean Gates. From the height of the wall, his father, Priam, begs: "Hector, my dear son, do not wait for this man alone, far from the others." Hector does not give way, because he is ashamed before the Trojans: he lost the people "through my own follies."
When Achilles draws near, Hector flees, and the two run three circuits around Troy. Zeus stretches out the golden scale with the Kers of Achilles and of Hector, and Hector's day sinks toward Hades; Apollo, who protected him, abandons him. Athena takes the form of Deiphobus, Hector's brother, and persuades him to stop and fight. Achilles throws his spear and misses; Athena returns it without Hector seeing, and when he asks for another spear, Hector realizes Deiphobus is not there: "Athena has deceived me."
Alone, Hector decides to die fighting: "let me not die without a fight and without glory, but after doing something great, so that men to come will also hear of it." Achilles wounds him in the throat, without cutting the windpipe, so that he can still speak. Hector asks that his body be returned to his parents, and Achilles refuses. Dying, Hector warns that Paris and Apollo will destroy Achilles beside the Scaean Gates. Achilles ties the body to the chariot and drags it, while Andromache watches from the wall.
The scene shows destiny and choice together. The scale of Zeus decides Hector's day, but he had already told Andromache that he knew Troy would fall and had chosen to stand before the city. Readers debate whether what weighs more is the fixed lot or the shame that keeps him outside the wall.