Achilles and Patroclus
The relationship between Achilles and Patroclus is a key element of the stories associated with the Trojan War. In the Iliad, Homer describes a deep, meaningful relationship between Achilles and Patroclus, where Achilles is tender toward Patroclus, but callous and arrogant toward others. Its exact nature—whether homosexual, a non-sexual deep friendship, or something else entirely—has been a subject of dispute in both the Classical period and modern times.
Homer, in the original epic, never explicitly casts the two as lovers, but they were frequently interpreted and depicted as lovers in the later archaic and classical periods of Greek literature, particularly in the works of Aeschylus, Aeschines and Plato. Xenophon's Symposium established a key counterargument, asserting the relationship was not sexual, but instead a platonic perfect friendship. Ancient writers referenced both sides, and additionally debated whether and how the relationship fit into the scheme of pederasty in ancient Greece. Medieval scholars largely characterized the relationship as a platonic friendship, sometimes even suppressing certain aspects of Achilles' actions that may be interpreted as homoerotic. Since the 1800s, contemporary critics have returned to the debate of the Iliad's portrayal of the relationship. Some classicists and queer studies scholars argue that it was homosexual, homoerotic, or latently homosexual, with the Iliad describing these elements implicitly. Some historians and classicists disagree, stating that there is no textual evidence for a sexual relationship, and that repressed homosexuality here is unfalsifiable.
In Homeric epics
Achilles and Patroclus are key characters in the Iliad and also appear in the Odyssey, and these texts are treated as the original sources of story for interpretations and adaptations of their relationship. These Homeric epics formed over time as part of a very long oral tradition of tales about the Trojan War. Although both epics have traditionally been attributed to Homer, most scholars today believe the Iliad and Odyssey were not actually composed or written down by the same author. Tales of the Trojan War developed well before the composition of each Homeric epic, and the two epics were written down around the 8th century BC.''Iliad''
Achilles and Patroclus quarter together in a tent near their Greek allies' fleet of ships. King Agamemnon realizes that Achilles, due to his heroic reputation, needs to enter the fight, but Achilles, having been disrespected by Agamemnon, refuses. Agamemnon sends an envoy to change his mind. In Book IX two of the diplomats, Odysseus and Ajax, hear Achilles playing the lyre and singing all alone with Patroclus. They both spring to their feet in surprise as the guests approach. After much talk, the embassy fails to convince Achilles to fight. Achilles asks Patroclus to oversee the preparation of a bed in the outer part of the tent for one of the envoys. Then Achilles sleeps next to Diomede and Patroclus next to Iphis in the inner part of their tent.After more fighting, in Book XI Nestor arrives back to the Greek allies' base with a wounded soldier. Achilles sends Patroclus out to speak with him. Nestor reminds Patroclus that his father had long ago taught him that, although Achilles was nobler, Patroclus was still Achilles' elder. Therefore Patroclus should counsel and guide Achilles wisely so that perhaps he would finally enter the fight against the Trojans. If Patroclus could not, then he himself should don Achilles' armor to deceive the Trojans into thinking that Achilles had joined the fight, which should scare them away from the Greek base and back to their own walls.
Later on, the Trojans continue their advance on the Greek allies' base and breach the defensive wall guarding their ships. In Book XVI Patroclus weeps at the casualties and confronts Achilles over his refusal to fight. Patroclus asks if he can use Achilles' armor to convince the Trojans to turn around. Achilles agrees and warns Patroclus to only go far enough to drive the Trojans from the ships. Achilles tells him he wishes all the other Trojans and Greeks would die so that the pair alone could go sack Troy. Now at Achilles' urging, Patroclus dons Achilles' armor while Achilles rallies his troops, and Achilles prays to Zeus for his success and safe return.
In the rest of Book XVI Patroclus scares the Trojans back as planned, and also kills Sarpedon, a son of Zeus, but then Hector kills Patroclus. In Book XVIII, news of Patroclus' death reaches Achilles through Nestor's son Antilochus, which throws Achilles into deep grief. Antilochus holds Achilles' hand because he fears that Achilles will kill himself. The earlier steadfast and unbreakable Achilles agonizes, tearing his hair and smearing himself with ash. In Book XIX Achilles embraces Patroclus' dead body until dawn and continues fasting. Achilles laments Patroclus' death and recounts that he had liked to imagine, after his own fated death at war, that Patroclus would survive and take Achilles' son home to see his inheritance.
The rage that follows from Patroclus' death becomes the prime motivation for Achilles to return to the battlefield in Book XVIII. He returns to battle with the sole aim of avenging Patroclus' death by killing Hector, despite a warning that doing so would cost him his life. Achilles tells his mother Thetis that he does not want to live after he has got revenge. In Book XXI Achilles even engages in battle with the river god Scamander in his efforts to reach Hector. After defeating Hector in Book XXII, Achilles strips his armor from Hector and gives a speech promising to remember Patroclus for the rest of his life and into the underworld. Achilles then defiles Hector's corpse by dragging it by the heels behind his chariot.
In Book XXIII, Patroclus' ghost appears to Achilles in a dream and laments his death and their separation. Patroclus asks Achilles to ensure that they are both buried together with their bones and ashes mixed in the same funerary urn. As Achilles tries to embrace him, the dream ends. Achilles arranges a grand funeral for Patroclus the next day, arranging the burial of Patroclus in the requested manner. He tells Agamemnon and the other kings to bury his ashes in the same urn once he is dead, and to build a large joint funeral mound for them.
''Odyssey''
In Book XXIV the ghosts of Achilles, Patroclus, Antilochus, and Ajax are found together in the Asphodel meadows, where they meet with Agamemnon's ghost. Agamemnon recounts, that as planned in the Iliad, the bones of Achilles and Patroclus were mixed together in the same golden vase after Achilles' funeral. He notes that after Patroclus' death, Achilles had loved Antilochus most among his comrades. Agamemnon says that Antilochus' bones were placed in the same vase as the pair, although kept separate from their bones.Textual analysis
Achilles' strongest interpersonal bond is with Patroclus. As Gregory Nagy points out:meant 'companion' or 'comrade'; in Homer it is usually used of soldiers under the same commander. While its feminine form would be used for courtesans, a was still a form of soldier in Hellenistic and Byzantine times. In ancient texts, denoted a general type of love, used for love between family, between friends, a desire or enjoyment of an activity, as well as between lovers.
Achilles' grief at Patroclus' death is described in very similar terms to that of Andromache for her husband Hector. Achilles and Andromache both exhibit extreme grief, and both act in inversely gender-transgressive ways during their grieving process. Achilles adopts the formal speech of lamentation, enacting a role traditionally performed by women, and in a style that no other male heroes of the Iliad mourn in.
Achilles' attachment to Patroclus is an archetypal male bond that occurs elsewhere in Greek culture: the mythical Damon and Pythias, the legendary Orestes and Pylades, and the historical Harmodius and Aristogeiton are pairs of comrades who gladly face danger and death for and beside each other.
In the Oxford Classical Dictionary, David M. Halperin writes:
Classical views in antiquity
Since the 5th century BC, Greek writing has dealt with the nature of the relationship between Achilles and Patroclus. The majority of extant works from this period portray the pair as lovers, whether the works are retelling their myth or interpreting their portrayal as written in the Iliad. Because the Iliad never explicitly states the nature of the pair's relationship, there was long-standing debate over textual interpretation, even though there are limited extant works which argue that they were not lovers. Writers who argued most forcefully that the relationship involves sex and same-sex love include Aeschylus, Plato, and Aeschines. Xenophon is the most notable source to refute this portrayal, claiming that the relationship is not erotic.In Athens, the relationship was often viewed as being both sexual and pederastic. The Greek custom of between members of the same sex, typically men, was a political, intellectual, and sometimes sexual relationship. Its ideal structure consisted of an older , and a younger . The age difference between partners and their respective roles was considered to be a key feature. Writers that assumed a pederastic relationship between Achilles and Patroclus, such as Plato and Aeschylus, were then faced with a problem of deciding who must be more active and play the role of the. When classical writers labeled their roles, they mostly characterized Achilles as the and Patroclus as the, although Plato notably flips this characterization. The pair didn't neatly fit into expected pederasty roles, and pederasty may not have been a common institution at the time the Iliad was written, making this a subject of debate.