“What, again, if I were to lay down my shield and helmet, lean my spear against the wall and go straight up to noble Achilles?”
~ The Iliad - Book XXII (Samuel Butler Translation. p156 / v103)
Hector refuses to go into the city and stays back to fight Achilles. Achilles chases Hector around the wall. Hector stops to face Achilles when Deiphobus assures him that he is with him. But when the moment comes, he disappears, and Hector realizes that it was Minerva’s trick. Achilles kills Hector and takes his body away. All the Trojans are grief-stricken. Hector’s wife is overcome with sadness and cries loudly.
In Book 22 of The Iliad, Hector briefly considers the idea of surrendering to Achilles but ultimately decides against it. Of course, knowing Achilles’ wrath, it most probably would not have worked. But there are many cases where surrendering is the wise option. History is not kind to leaders who surrender. But surrendering while facing an enemy more powerful than oneself is more humane. It hurts the ego, and it may also be a temporary relinquishment of values, but it saves lives.