Hector, a prince of Troy and brother to Paris, (who stole Helen) in The Iliad. Courageous and brave, a man who comes "like some fierce tempest that swoops down upon the sea", he is also a man loyal to his wife and small son. Duty is all to Hector and in it he never wavers, even when he knows that death is a certainty. A true hero. I also like Sarpedon, in The Iliad. King of Lycia, he was an important ally of the Trojans. His forces were the first to enter the Greek encampment which allowed Hector to break through the Greek wall. He fell in battle, killed by Patroclus, friend of Achilles.
Also high on my list is Aristides, an Athenian statesman, who was called "The Just". It is rumoured that he acquired that appellation in this manner: Themistocles and he had quarrelled once too often and the people were voting on which one to exile. An illiterate farmer, who did not recognize Aristides, asked him to write "Aristides" on the ballot. Aristides inquired if this "man" had wronged him and the farmer replied, no, he didn't even know him, but he was annoyed at always hearing him called "The Just". Aristides was so honest that he did as the man requested. Now that is my idea of a hero. He was exiled, but was recalled to defend Athens and gave his loyal support to Themistocles who was eventually exiled himself. And to complete the hero roster, Leonidas I, King of Sparta.
During the Battle of Thermopylaea, he marched with 6,300 soldiers to defend the pass against a Persian force that Herodotus numbered in the millions. Leonidas held the pass against the army of Xerxes I but when a Greek shepherd betrayed his kinsman by showing the Persians a secret way around from behind, Leonidas and all his army were slain. None of these men were "characters" so to speak, but how much more interesting to draw heroes from real life!
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