A normal man, Nestor (Book 9-13)

The character of Nestor continues to be a far more reliable character in this story, making decisions that make much more sense to us than any of those made by the others, as well as his demeanor and the way he commands his men. The stark contrast between him and the other main characters of the Iliad force me to consider two different ideas. Either this thought out human character is in fact alien and odd to the Greeks, which given their actual history wouldn't make too much sense, or Nestor is the only true human character in this story, which makes one wonder why the others act so...abnormally. The conclusion I have arrived at is that the heroes of the siege of Troy are in fact a series of assumptions based on the Greek mythology surrounding the age of heroes. Homer's portrayal of Achilles and Agamemnon may not make sense to us, but it may make sense in the context of them being heroes, and the possibility that the Greeks see heroes as almost a different race, totally different in actions and attitude than the humans they lived alongside. Given the existence of hero cults, I believe this hypothesis has quite a bit of credence, but for the moment it is just that, a hypothesis. Maybe the truth of this matter will be settled later on in the story, but if not, then I simply have to look into the rest of Homer's works about heroes and see if this odd manner of behavior is repeated for all heroes and lacking in all normal humans.