Quickly –
two of you follow me – I must see what’s happened.
That cry – that was Hector’s honored mother I heard!
My heart’s pounding, leaping up in my throat,
the knees beneath me paralyzed – Oh I know it…
something terrible’s coming down on Priam’s children.
Pray god the news will never reach my ears!
Yes but I dread it so – what if great Achilles
has cut my Hector off from the city, daring Hector,
and driven him out across the plain, and all alone? –
He may have put an end to that fatal headstrong pride
that always seized my Hector – never hanging back
with the main force of men, always charging ahead,
giving ground to no man in his fury!
– Homer
The Iliad, Book 22, lines 527-540. Hearing the cries of Hector’s mother Hecuba, Andromache fears the worst for her husband Hector on the battlefield. She is afraid for his life because of Achilles and also his own stubborn pride, always wanting to charge forward and give ground to no man. She turns out to be correct, Hector has been cut down by Achilles.