View source for Patroclus

{{Short description|Greek mythological character}}
{{Other uses|Patroclus (mythology)|Patroclus (disambiguation)}}
{{pp-pc|small=yes}}
[[File:Wall painting - Briseis taken away from Achilles - Pompeii (VI 8 5) - Napoli MAN 9105 - 03 (cropped).jpg|thumb|upright=1.2|Patroclus on an antique fresco from the [[House of the Tragic Poet]] in [[Pompeii]], 1st century AD ([[Naples National Archaeological Museum]])]]
In [[Greek mythology]], '''Patroclus''' (generally pronounced {{IPAc-en|p|ə|ˈ|t|r|oʊ|k|l|ə|s}}; {{langx|grc|Πάτροκλος|Pátroklos|glory of the father}}) was a Greek hero of the [[Trojan War]] and an important character in [[Homer]]'s ''[[Iliad]]''.<ref name="IliadMartin" /> Born in [[Opuntian Locris|Opus]], Patroclus was the son of the [[Argonauts|Argonaut]] [[Menoetius]]. When he was a child, he was exiled from his hometown and was adopted by [[Peleus]], king of [[Phthia]]. There, he was raised alongside Peleus's son, [[Achilles]], a childhood friend, who became a close wartime companion and possible lover. When the tide of the war turned against the [[Achaeans (Homer)|Achaeans]], Patroclus, disguised as Achilles and defying his orders to retreat in time, led the [[Myrmidons]] in battle against the Trojans and was eventually killed by the Trojan prince, [[Hector]]. Enraged by Patroclus's death, Achilles ended his refusal to fight, resulting in significant Greek victories.

==Name==
The Latinized name Patroclus derives from the [[Ancient Greek]] ''Pátroklos'' ({{lang|grc|[[wikt:Πάτροκλος#Ancient_Greek|Πάτροκλος]]}}), meaning "glory of his father," from {{lang|grc|πατήρ}} (''patḗr'', "father" stem ''pátr''-) and {{lang|grc|κλέος}} (''kléos'', "glory"). A variation of the name with the same components in different order is ''[[wikt:Κλεόπατρος#Ancient_Greek|Kleópatros]]'', while the feminine form of the name is ''[[Cleopatra (given name)|Cleopatra]].''

There are at least three pronunciations of the name 'Patroclus' in English.<ref>Carey (1816) ''Practical English Prosody and Versification'', p. 125 fn</ref> Because the penultimate syllable is light in Latin prose (''pă′.trŏ.clŭs''), the antepenult was stressed in Latin and would normally be stressed in English as well, for {{IPAc-en|ˈ|p|æ|t|.|r|ə|.|k|l|ə|s}} (analogous to 'Sophocles').<ref>Bechtel (1908) ''Pronunciation''</ref> However, this pronunciation is seldom encountered: for metrical convenience, [[Alexander Pope]] had made the 'o' long, and thus stressed,  in his translation of Homer, following a convention of Greek and Latin verse, and that pronunciation – of Latin ''pa.trō′.clus'' – has stuck, for English {{IPAc-en|p|ə|ˈ|t|r|oʊ|.|k|l|ə|s}}.<ref>{{dict.com|Patroclus}}</ref> 
Moreover, because in prose, a penultimate Greco-Latin short ''o'' (omicron) would only be stressed in a closed syllable, the penult has sometimes been misanalysed as being closed (*pă.trŏc′.lŭs), which would change the English ''o'' to a short vowel: {{IPAc-en|p|ə|ˈ|t|r|ɒ|k|.|l|ə|s}}.<ref>{{Cite dictionary |url=http://www.lexico.com/definition/Patroclus |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200322182248/https://www.lexico.com/definition/patroclus |url-status=dead |archive-date=March 22, 2020 |title=Patroclus |dictionary=[[Lexico]] UK English Dictionary |publisher=[[Oxford University Press]]}}</ref>

== Description and family ==
In the account of [[Dares Phrygius|Dares the Phrygian]], Patroclus was illustrated as "... handsome and powerfully built. His eyes were gray. He was modest, dependable, wise, a man richly endowed."<ref>[[Dares Phrygius]], ''History of the Fall of Troy'' [https://www.theoi.com/Text/DaresPhrygius.html 13]</ref> 

Patroclus was the son of [[Menoetius]] (hence called ''Menoetiades'' {{lang|grc|Μενοιτιάδης}}, meaning "son of Menoetius")<ref>[https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:1999.04.0059:entry=Menoetius Charlton T. Lewis, Charles Short, A Latin Dictionary, Menoetius]</ref> by either [[Philomela (mother of Patroclus)|Philomela]]<ref>[[Eustathius of Thessalonica|Eustathius]] on Homer, p. 1498; Scholia on Homer, ''[[Odyssey]]'' 4.343 and 17.134; [[Gaius Julius Hyginus|Hyginus]], ''Fabulae'' 97</ref><ref>{{Cite book|last=[[Tzetzes]]|first=John|title=Allegories of the Iliad|publisher=Dumbarton Oaks Medieval Library|year=2015|isbn=978-0-674-96785-4|location=Harvard University Press, Cambridge, Massachusetts, London, England|pages=33, Prologue 430; pp. 41, Prologue 525|translator-last=Goldwyn|translator-first=Adam|translator-last2=Kokkini|translator-first2=Dimitra}}</ref> or [[Polymele]], [[Sthenele]],<ref>Scholia on [[Homer]], ''[[Iliad]]'' 16.14; on [[Apollonius Rhodius]], ''[[Argonautica]]'' 1.46;</ref> [[Periopis]],<ref>[[Bibliotheca (Pseudo-Apollodorus)|Apollodorus]], [http://data.perseus.org/citations/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0548.tlg001.perseus-eng1:3.13.8 3.13.8] mentions the three possible mothers of Patroclus: (1) Polymele, daughter of Peleus (according to [[Philocrates]]), (2) Sthenele, daughter of [[Acastus]] and lastly (3) Periopis, daughter of [[Pheres (mythology)|Pheres]]</ref> or lastly [[Damocrateia]].<ref>Pythaenetos, quoting the [[scholia]]st on [[Pindar]], ''Olympian Odes'' 9.107</ref> His only sibling was [[Myrto (mythology)|Myrto]], mother of [[Eucleia]] by [[Heracles]].<ref>[[Plutarch]], ''Aristides'' 20.6</ref> Homer also references Menoetius as the individual who gave Patroclus to [[Peleus]].<ref>[[Homer]], ''[[Iliad]]'' [http://data.perseus.org/citations/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0012.tlg001.perseus-eng1:23.54-23.92 23.85 ff.]</ref> Menoetius was the son of [[Actor (mythology)|Actor]],<ref>[[Homer]], ''[[Iliad]]'' [http://data.perseus.org/citations/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0012.tlg001.perseus-eng1:11.780-11.821 11.785], [http://data.perseus.org/citations/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0012.tlg001.perseus-eng1:16.1-16.45 16.14].</ref> king of [[Opus, Greece|Opus]] in [[Opuntian Locris|Locris]], by [[Aegina (mythology)|Aegina]], daughter of [[Asopus]]. Patroclus was Achilles's first cousin once removed through their paternal family connection to Aegina, as Achilles was the son of Peleus and grandson of [[Aeacus]], son of Aegina by [[Zeus]].

{| class="wikitable mw-collapsible mw-collapsed" style="width:100%;
|+<big>Comparative table of Patroclus's family</big>
! rowspan="3" |Relation
! rowspan="3" |Names
! colspan="11" |Sources
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! colspan="3" |Homer
!Pindar
!Apollonius
! rowspan="2" |Philocrates
! rowspan="2" |Apollodorus
! rowspan="2" |Plutarch
! rowspan="2" |Hyginus
! rowspan="2" |Eustathius
! rowspan="2" |Tzetzes
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!''<small>Iliad</small>''
!''<small>Sch. Il.</small>''
!''<small>Sch. Ody.</small>''
!''<small>Scholia</small>''
!''<small>Scholia</small>''
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| rowspan="6" |''Parents''
|Menoetius
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|Menoetius and Philomela<br>{{clarify|date=December 2021}}
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|Menoetius and Polymele
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|Menoetius and Damocrateia
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|Menoetius and Periopis
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|''Sibling''
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== Mythology ==
=== Early days ===
[[File:Casa degli Amorini Dorati. Fresco. 03.jpg|thumb|A fresco in [[Pompeii]] depicting [[Achilles]] seated between [[Briseis]] and Patroclus in the marquee|215x215px]]
During his childhood, Patroclus had accidentally killed his playmate [[Clysonymus]] over a game of dice. As a result, he was exiled from his home, Opus, with Menoetius sending him to Peleus, king of [[Phthia]] and father of [[Achilles]].<ref>{{Cite web |last=Miate |first=Liana |year=2022 |title=Patroclus |url=https://www.worldhistory.org/Patroclus/ |access-date=2024-04-22 |website=World History Encyclopedia |language=en}}</ref>'''<ref name=":1">{{Cite journal |last=Schlunk |first=Robin R. |date=1976 |title=The Theme of the Suppliant-Exile in the Iliad |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/293625 |journal=The American Journal of Philology |volume=97 |issue=3 |pages=199–209 |doi=10.2307/293625|jstor=293625 |url-access=subscription }}</ref>''' Peleus named Patroclus Achilles's "squire", as they both grew up together and became close friends.<ref>{{cite book |author=Homer |author-link=Homer |title=Iliad |title-link=Iliad |chapter-url=http://data.perseus.org/citations/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0012.tlg001.perseus-eng1:23.54-23.92 |publisher=Perseus Digital Library |chapter=online text |at=23.83–92}}</ref> Patroclus acted as a male role model for Achilles, being both kinder than him as well as wiser regarding counsel.<ref name=Nestors_advice group=lower-alpha/><ref>{{cite book |title=Patroklos, Achilleus, and Peleus: Fathers and Sons in the Iliad |last=Finlay |first=Robert |publisher=The Classical World |year=1980 |pages=267–273}}</ref> Patroclus's early life, including his flight to the house of Peleus, is narrated later in the ''Iliad'', when his ghost appears to Achilles reminding him about his past and giving him advice about his burial.<ref name=":1" />

According to [[Photius I of Constantinople|Photius]], Ptolemy Hephaestion (probably referring to [[Ptolemy Chennus]]) wrote that Patroclus was also loved by the sea god [[Poseidon]], who taught him the art of riding horses.<ref>[[Photius I of Constantinople|Photius]], ''[[Bibliotheca (Photius)|Bibliotheca]]'' [https://www.tertullian.org/fathers/photius_copyright/photius_05bibliotheca.htm#190 codex 190].</ref>

Local tradition in Laconia held that [[Achilles]] killed [[Las (mythology)|Las]] when he came to their land to seek the hand of [[Helen of Troy|Helen]], daughter of [[Tyndareus]]. However, the geographer Pausanias disagrees, stating that it was actually Patroclus who killed Las, arguing that Patroclus, not Achilles, was one of Helen's suitors.<ref>[https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0160%3Abook%3D3%3Achapter%3D24 Pausanias, Description of Greece, 3.24]</ref>

=== Trojan War ===
[[Image:Akhilleus Patroklos Antikensammlung Berlin F2278.jpg|thumb|245x245px|A cup depicting [[Achilles]] bandaging Patroclus's arm, by the [[Sosias Painter]].|left]]
According to the ''Iliad'', when the tide of the [[Trojan War]] had turned against the Greeks and the Trojans were threatening their ships, Patroclus convinced Achilles to let him lead the [[Myrmidons]] into combat. Achilles consented, giving Patroclus the armor Achilles had received from his father in order for Patroclus to impersonate Achilles. Achilles then told Patroclus to return after beating the [[Trojan War|Trojans]] back from their ships.<ref name=Lattimore2011>{{cite book |title=The Iliad of Homer |last=Lattimore |first=Richmond |publisher=The University of Chicago Press |year=2011 |location=Chicago}}</ref>{{rp|pages=353 book 16, lines 64–87}}

Patroclus defied Achilles's order and pursued the Trojans back to the gates of [[Troy]].<ref>{{cite book |title=Dictionary of Greek and Roman biography and mythology |year=1849 |url=https://archive.org/details/dictionarygreek02smitgoog |last=Smith |first=William |publisher=Little |location=Boston |page=[https://archive.org/details/dictionarygreek02smitgoog/page/n162 140]}}</ref> Patroclus killed many Trojans and Trojan allies, including a son of Zeus, [[Sarpedon (Trojan War hero)|Sarpedon]].<ref name="Lattimore2011" />{{rp|pages=p. 363, book 16, line 460}} While fighting, Patroclus's wits were removed by [[Apollo]], after which the spear of [[Euphorbus|Euphorbos]] hit Patroclus.<ref name=":0">{{Cite journal |last=Allan |first=William |date=2005 |title=Arms and the Man: Euphorbus, Hector, and the Death of Patroclus |url=http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/cq/bmi001 |journal=The Classical Quarterly |volume=55 |issue=1 |pages=2 |doi=10.1093/cq/bmi001 |issn=0009-8388 |via=Cambridge University Press|url-access=subscription }}</ref> [[Hector]] then kills Patroclus by stabbing him in the stomach with a spear.<ref name="Lattimore2011" />{{rp|pages=p. 373, book 16, lines 804–822}}

[[File:Patroclus corpse MAN Firenze.jpg|thumb|285x285px|right|[[Menelaus]] and [[Meriones (mythology)|Meriones]] lift the body of Patroclus while [[Odysseus]] and others look on (Etruscan relief, 2nd century BC)]]
Achilles retrieved his body, which had been stripped of armor by Hector and protected on the battlefield by [[Menelaus]] and [[Ajax the Great|Ajax]].<ref>{{cite book |title=The Golden Age |last=Bulfinch |first=Thomas |publisher=Bracken Books |year=1985 |location=London |page=272}}</ref> Achilles did not allow the burial of Patroclus's body until the ghost of Patroclus appeared and demanded his burial in order to pass into [[Greek Underworld|Hades]].<ref name="Lattimore2011" />{{rp|pages=p. 474, book 23, lines 69–71}}
Patroclus was then cremated on a funeral [[pyre]], which was covered in the hair of his sorrowful companions. As the cutting of hair was a sign of grief while also acting as a sign of the separation of the living and the dead, this points to how well-liked Patroclus had been.<ref name="IliadMartin">{{cite book |title=The Iliad of Homer |last=Martin |first=Richard |publisher=The University of Chicago Press |year=2011 |location=Chicago, IL}}</ref>{{rp|page=561}} The ashes of Achilles were said to have been buried in a golden urn along with those of Patroclus by the Hellespont.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Chisholm |first=Hugh |date=1911 |title=Achilles |journal=Encyclopædia Britannica |edition=11th}}</ref>

== Relationship with Achilles ==
{{main article|Achilles and Patroclus}}
Although there is no explicit sexual relationship between [[Achilles and Patroclus]] in the Homeric tradition, a few later Greek authors wrote about what they saw as implied in the text regarding their relationship. [[Aeschylus]] and [[Phaedrus (Athenian)|Phaedrus]], for example, state there was a clear relationship between them. Aeschylus refers to Achilles as the [[Erastes (Ancient Greece)|erastes]], while Phaedrus refers to Achilles as the [[eromenos]] of the relationship.<ref name= Michelakis2007<ref>{{cite book |last1=Michelakis |first1=Pantelis |last2=Michelakēs |first2=Pantelēs |title=Achilles in Greek tragedy |date=2002 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |location=Cambridge |isbn=978-0-521-81843-8 |edition=1. publ}}</ref><ref name=Morales2003/>  Morales and Mariscal state, "There is a [[polemic]]al tradition concerning the nature of the relationship between the two heroes."<ref name=Morales2003>{{cite journal |jstor=3556498 |title=The Relationship between Achilles and Patroclus according to Chariton of Aphrodisias |journal=The Classical Quarterly |volume=53 |issue=1 |pages=292–295 |last1=Morales |first1=Manuel Sanz |last2=Mariscal |first2=Gabriel Laguna |year=2003 |doi=10.1093/cq/53.1.292}}</ref>

[[File:Pasquino Group 2013 February.jpg|thumb|The body of Patroclus borne by Menelaus, Roman sculpture, Florence, Italy<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Smid |first=Katarina |title=The Mythological Battle Scene on a Funerary Stele from Celeia: Menelaus Saving the Body of Patroclus? |url=https://www.academia.edu/13288119}}</ref>|left]]
According to Ledbetter (1993),<ref name="Ledbetter1993" /> there is a train of thought that Patroclus could have been a representation of the compassionate side of Achilles, who was known for his rage, mentioned in the first line of Homer's ''Iliad''. Ledbetter connects the way that Achilles and his mother, [[Thetis]], communicate to the link between Achilles and Patroclus. Ledbetter does so by comparing how Thetis comforts the weeping Achilles in Book 1 of the ''Iliad'' to how Achilles comforts Patroclus as he weeps in Book 16. Achilles uses a simile containing a young girl tearfully looking at her mother to complete the comparison. Ledbetter believes this puts Patroclus into a subordinate role to that of Achilles.<ref name="Ledbetter1993">{{cite journal |last=Ledbetter |first=Grace |date=December 1, 1993 |title=Achilles' self-address |journal=American Journal of Philology |doi=10.2307/295421 |jstor=295421 |df=dmy-all |volume=114 |page=481}}</ref> However, as Patroclus is explicitly stated to be the elder of the two characters,<ref>{{cite book |author=Homer |author-link=Homer |title=Iliad |title-link=Iliad |at=[http://data.perseus.org/citations/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0012.tlg001.perseus-eng1:11.780-11.821 11.785–790]}}</ref> this is not evidence of their ages or social relation to each other.

James Hooker describes the literary reasons for Patroclus's character within the ''Iliad''. He states that another character could have filled the role of confidant for Achilles and that it was only through Patroclus that we have a worthy reason for Achilles's wrath.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Nickel |first=Roberto |date=2002 |title=Euphorbus and the Death of Achilles |url=http://dx.doi.org/10.2307/1192597 |journal=Phoenix |volume=56 |issue=3/4 |pages=215–233 |doi=10.2307/1192597 |jstor=1192597 |issn=0031-8299|url-access=subscription }}</ref> Hooker claims that without the death of Patroclus, an event that weighed heavily upon him, Achilles's following act of compliance to fight would have disrupted the balance of the ''Iliad''.<ref name=":5">{{cite journal |last=Hooker |first=James |date=January 1, 1989 |title=Homer, Patroclus, Achilles |journal=Symbolae Osloenses |volume=64 |pages=30–35 |doi=10.1080/00397678908590822 |df=dmy-all}}</ref> 

Hooker describes the necessity of Patroclus sharing a deep affection with Achilles within the ''Iliad''. According to his theory, this affection allows an even more profound tragedy to occur. Hooker argues that the greater the love, the greater the loss. Hooker continues to negate Ledbetter's theory that Patroclus is in some way a surrogate for Achilles; rather, Hooker views Patroclus's character as a counterpart to that of Achilles. Hooker reminds us that it is Patroclus who pushes the Trojans back, which Hooker claims makes Patroclus a hero, as well as foreshadowing what Achilles is to do.<ref name=":5" />

Achilles and Patroclus grew up together after [[Menoitios]] gave Patroclus to Achilles's father, [[Peleus]]. During this time, Peleus made Patroclus one of Achilles's "henchmen."<ref name="The Iliad of Homer">{{cite book |title=The Iliad of Homer |publisher=The University of Chicago Press |location=Chicago |page=474 |last1=Homer}} {{full citation needed|reason=Needs translator or editor & year; at least 2 other versions citedd|date=February 2020}}</ref> While Homer's ''Iliad'' never explicitly stated that Achilles and Patroclus were lovers, this concept was propounded by some later authors.<ref name="Martin 2012">{{cite book |title=Alexander the Great: The story of an ancient life |last=Martin |first=Thomas R. |year=2012 |location=Cambridge, UK |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=978-0521148443 |pages=99–100}}</ref><ref name=":3">{{cite book |title=Christianity, Social Tolerance, and Homosexuality |url=https://archive.org/details/christianitysoci00bosw_280 |url-access=limited |last=Boswell |first=John |publisher=University of Chicago Press |year=1980 |location=Chicago |page=[https://archive.org/details/christianitysoci00bosw_280/page/n62 47]}}</ref>{{efn|As Martin (2012),<ref name="Martin 2012"/> argues, "The ancient sources do not report, however, what modern scholars have asserted: that Alexander and his very close friend Hephaestion were lovers. Achilles and his equally close friend Patroclus provided the legendary model for this friendship, but Homer in the ''Iliad'' never suggested that they had sex with each other. (That came from later authors.) If Alexander and Hephaestion did have a sexual relationship, it would have been transgressive by majority Greek standards&nbsp;..."<ref name="Martin 2012"/>{{rp|pages=&nbsp;99&nbsp;ff}} }}

[[File:JL David Les funérailles de Patrocle.jpg|thumb|375x375px|''The Funeral of Patroclus'' by [[Jacques-Louis David]], 1778.]]
[[Aeschines]] asserts that there was no need to explicitly state the relationship as a romantic one,<ref name=":3" /> for such "is manifest to such of his hearers as are educated men."<ref>{{cite book |title=The Speeches: Against Telemarchus, on the Embassy, Against Ctesiphon |author=Aeschines |publisher=Harvard University Press |year=1958 |location=London, UK |page=[https://archive.org/details/speechesagainstt00aescuoft/page/115 115] |translator=Adams, Charles Darwin |url=https://archive.org/details/speechesagainstt00aescuoft}}</ref> In later Greek writings, such as [[Plato]]'s ''[[Symposium (Plato)|Symposium]]'', the relationship between Patroclus and Achilles is discussed as a model of romantic love.<ref>{{cite book |author-link=Plato |author=Plato |title-link=Symposium (Plato) |title=Symposium |pages=[http://data.perseus.org/citations/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0059.tlg011.perseus-eng1:179e 179e–180b]}}</ref> However, [[Xenophon]], in his ''[[Symposium (Xenophon dialogue)|Symposium]]'', had Socrates argue that it was inaccurate to label their relationship as romantic. Nevertheless, their relationship is said to have inspired [[Alexander the Great]] in his own close relationship with his life-long companion [[Hephaestion]].<ref name="Martin 2012" /><ref name=":2">{{cite book |title=The Classical World |last=Lane Fox |first=Robin |publisher=Penguin Books |year=2005 |page=235}}</ref>

In the ''Iliad,'' Achilles was younger than Patroclus.{{efn|name=Nestors_advice|[[Nestor (mythology)|Nestor]], quoting Patroclus's father [[Menoetius]], reminds Patroclus of his father's advice: "My child, in birth is Achilles nobler than thou, but thou art the elder though in might he is the better far. Yet do thou speak to him well a word of wisdom and give him counsel, and direct him; and he will obey thee to his profit."<ref>{{cite book |author=Homer |author-link=Homer |title=Iliad |title-link=Iliad |chapter-url=http://data.perseus.org/citations/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0012.tlg001.perseus-eng1:11.780-11.821 |publisher=Perseus Digital Library |chapter=online text |at=11.786}}</ref>}}{{efn|[[Plato]] in his ''[[Symposium (Plato)|Symposium]]''<ref>{{cite book |author=Homer |author-link=Homer |title=Iliad |title-link=Iliad |chapter-url=http://data.perseus.org/citations/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0059.tlg011.perseus-eng1:180a |publisher=Perseus Digital Library |chapter=online text |at=180a}}</ref> has one of his characters say that Achilles was "much the younger, by Homer's account".}} This reinforces Dowden's explanation of the relationship between an eromenos, a youth in transition, and an ''erastes'', an older male who had recently made the same transition.<ref name="Dowden1992" />{{rp|page=&nbsp;112}} Dowden also notes the common occurrence of such relationships as a form of initiation.<ref name="Dowden1992" />{{rp|page=&nbsp;114}} However, [[Statius]] in the ''[[Achilleid]]'' states that the two were either within the same age group or acted as if they were.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Butler |first1=Shane |title=Deep Classics: Rethinking Classical Reception |date=5 May 2016 |publisher=Bloomsbury Publishing |isbn=978-1-4742-6053-4 |page=29 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=KNeiCwAAQBAJ&pg=PA29 |quote=For good measure, [[Poliziano]] throws in a unique example of a compromise view, reporting that the Roman poet [[Statius]], in his unfinished epic, the ''[[Achilleid]]'', makes Achilles and Patroclus 'equals in age', though Poliziano curiously (and uncharacteristically) misparaphrases the relevant lines (which he then quotes), in which we are told that the two, as boys, simply acted the same age, though the latter 'fell far behind in strength'.}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Ingleheart |first1=Jennifer |author1-link=Jennifer Ingleheart |title=Masculine Plural: Queer Classics, Sex, and Education |date=4 September 2018 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-19-255160-3 |page=268 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=tzdtDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA268 |quote=... and that Patroclus is ''par studiis aeuique modis'', 1.176. This latter phrase is difficult: it probably means something like 'equal in the pursuits and ways of youth', and [[Philip Bainbrigge (died 1918)|Bainbrigge]] may have taken it as inspiration ...}}</ref>

Patroclus is a character in [[William Shakespeare]]'s play ''[[Troilus and Cressida]]''. In the play, Achilles, who has become lazy, is besotted with Patroclus, and the other characters complain that Achilles and Patroclus are too busy having sex to fight in the war.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Troilus and Cressida Full Text|url=http://shakespeare.mit.edu/troilus_cressida/full.html}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal|last=Perkins|first=Kristin|date=2019|title=Taking the Kissing Path: Making the Homoerotic Modern in Fixing Troilus and Cressida|url=|journal=Borrowers and Lenders|volume=XII (2)}}</ref>

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|Bibliography of reconstruction: [[Homer]] ''Iliad'', 9.308, 16.2, 11.780, 23.54 (700 BC); [[Pindar]] ''[[Olympian Odes]]'', IX (476 BC); [[Aeschylus]] ''Myrmidons'', F135-36 (495 BC); [[Euripides]] ''Iphigenia in Aulis'', (405 BC); [[Plato]] ''Symposium'', 179e (388-367 BC); [[Statius]] ''Achilleid'', 161, 174, 182 (96 AD)
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==Footnotes==
{{notelist}}

==References==
{{reflist|25em |refs=
<ref name=Dowden1992>{{cite book|title=The Uses of Greek Mythology |last=Dowden |first=Ken |publisher=Routledge |year=1992 |location=London, UK}}</ref> }}

==Bibliography==
* [[Bibliotheca (Pseudo-Apollodorus)|Apollodorus]], ''Apollodorus, The Library, with an English Translation by Sir James George Frazer, F.B.A., F.R.S. in 2 Volumes'', Cambridge, Massachusetts, [[Harvard University Press]]; London, William Heinemann Ltd., 1921. {{ISBN|0-674-99135-4}}. [http://data.perseus.org/texts/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0548.tlg001.perseus-eng1 Online version at the Perseus Digital Library].
* [[Homer]], ''The Iliad with an English Translation by A.T. Murray, Ph.D. in two volumes''. Cambridge, Massachusetts, [[Harvard University Press]]; London, William Heinemann, Ltd., 1924. [http://data.perseus.org/citations/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0012.tlg001.perseus-eng1:1.1-1.32 Online version at the Perseus Digital Library].
* {{cite book |author=Plato |author-link=Plator |title-link=Symposium (Plato) |title=Symposium |series=Plato in Twelve Volumes |volume=9 |translator=Fowler, Harold N. |place=Cambridge, MA; London, UK |publisher=Harvard University Press; William Heinemann Ltd. |year=1925}}{{cite web |url=http://data.perseus.org/texts/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0059.tlg011.perseus-eng1 |title=Online version |website=Perseus Digital Library}}
*[[John Tzetzes|Tzetzes, John]], ''Allegories of the Iliad'' translated by Goldwyn, Adam J. and Kokkini, Dimitra. Dumbarton Oaks Medieval Library, Harvard University Press, 2015. {{ISBN|978-0-674-96785-4}}

== Further reading ==
* {{cite book |last=Evslin| first=Bernard | author-link=Bernard Evslin | title=Gods, Demigods and Demons |publisher=I. Tauris |location=London, UK |year=2006}}
* {{cite book |last=Michelakis |first=Pantelis |title=Achilles in Greek Tragedy |publisher=Cambridge University Press |location=Cambridge, UK |year=2007}}
* {{cite book |last=Kerenyi |first=Karl |author-link=Károly Kerényi |title=The Heroes of the Greeks |publisher=Thames and Hudson |location=London, UK |year=1959 |pages=57–61, ''et passim''}}
* {{cite book |last=Sergent |first=Bernard |author-link=Bernard Sergent |title=Homosexuality in Greek Myth |publisher=Beacon Press |location=Boston, MA |year=1986}}

==External links==
{{commons category|Patroclus}}

{{Characters in the Iliad}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Achaean Leaders]]
[[Category:Mythological Locrians]]
[[Category:LGBTQ themes in Greek mythology]]
[[Category:Achilles]]
[[Category:Men of Poseidon]]
[[Category:Residents of the Greek underworld]]
[[Category:Greek mythological heroes]]