Achilles x Patroclus Explained: for anyone who needs it plainly mapped out for them one more time.
-Most obviously there is a Special Relationship between Achilles x Patroclus
-Achilles and Patroclus share a Bed & Tent, Patroclus also does all the âdomesticâ work for the 2 of them on top of being a soldier
-âBut he had Briseis who he was going to marryâ, despite only bragged about her because she was a war prize taken by Agamemnon thus taking his honor, he was âlocker room talking for the boysâ when in reality he had no sexual contact/dimension/relationship with her yet. He also knew the prophecy he wasnât coming back from Troy so this is one of two reasons we can say that they have no plans together, (see bullet point one for second reason) and then later he wishes Artemis had killed her way back when they were raiding cities. It is also inferable that Patroclus had planted this seed of thought in her mind to put her at ease with Achilles as well as protect his honor because Patroclus is always there for Achilles (Achilles does take Briseis into his bed in Book 24 but again totally as a spoil of war⊠she is a conquest not a lover)
-Greeks know Achilles will only listen to Patroclus, Especially Nestor who goes to Patroclus to persuade Achilles to re-enter the fight
-When Achilles receives Patroclusâs body his first thought is to end himself with a sword because he does not want to live in a world without Patroclus
-Achillesâs rage at the death of Patroclus and wishing he had let all the Greeks die and they conquered Troy together
-Refusal to eat & sleep while weeping for days on end in bed with Patroclusâs body
-Andromacheâs speech about Hector, forsaking all her other loved ones for her husband, aka her one true love and then Achilles giving the almost exact same speech right after about Patroclus his âbelovedâ
-Achilles kills Hector (Gods even fear his rage and that such emotion could cause war to end before prophesied) aka Achilles could change fate because he so âgrievedâ for Patroclus - totally homies right?!
-Achilles drags Hectors body from his chariot damaging and defiling the corpse for days; Angering the gods, to which he doesnât care
-Thetis then comes to Achilles, to which he wants none of her comfort, during their conversation she also has to suggest AND specify for him to now have sex with a woman and maybe find a wife before his life is over (why does she have to specify âwomanâ & who/what was keeping him from getting a wife)
-Achilles tosses and turns sleeplessly (body of Patroclus is still kept in his bed) and he longs for Patroclusâs âÎŒÎÎœÎżÏâ (menos) which in ancient greek translates to âMight - Manhood - Vigor - Semenâ plainly speaking âSpunkâ (both kinds!)
-Achilles reaches to embrace the ghost of Patroclus when he appears before him - desiring to physically touchÂ
-Achilles plays the role of the woman and/or wife of the deceased when they burn Patroclusâs body on the funeral pyre and then collects the ashes himself and puts them in the golden urn. Achilles then charges the men to do the same to him when he dies putting his ashes in the same golden urn and burying them together so that they will physically be together for all eternity - which does happen
-LITERALLY ACHILLES x PATROCLUS
Most Ancient Greeks, Shakespeare, Artists & Intellectuals:
ACTUAL Greek Artwork from 500 BCE (currently resides on display in Germany)
-There is no reference to this moment in any record or story. In this depiction Achilles wraps Patroclusâs arm while he sits between his open legs, and Patroclus lets his dick hang out, while Achillesâs is visible as well, super intimate for âbrosâ
-Later greeks assumed or imagined their relationship as Pederastic (An older âerastesâ lover & an âeromenosâ younger beloved) because that was the norm of that period but no one could definitely decide who was the top and who was the bottomÂ
**SIDE NOTE They do not have an age gap to support the Pederastic Theory AND after the pederastic relationship ended the men involved married women which we know neither Achilles nor Patroclus had nor plans to do
-Plato totally thought Achilles was a Bottom in his âSymposiumâÂ
-Aeschylus (the literal inventor of Greek Tragedy) portrayed Achilles & Patroclus as lovers in his lost play âThe Myrmidonsâ which was based on The Iliad. Surviving lines from the play are of Achilles speaking of âPatroclusâs Reverent Company, his thighs, and being ungrateful for many kissesâ
-345 BCE = Athenian politician, Aeschines states in a speech during his trial that Homer didnât have to say what they were because 1. the Greeks were more sexually fluid then 2. there wasnât a word for âHomosexualâ 3. Homer was a storyteller and ANY educated man knew what they were, like its THAT obvious
-Alexander the Great and his lover Haphaestion (this is a whole other can of worms still being fought) liked to think of themselves, and referred to each other as âAchilles & Patroclusâ
-Shakespeare features the two in his play âTroilus and Cressidaâ in which Patroclus is called âAchillesâs Brachâ aka âAchillesâs Bitchâ
-Renaissance Artists & those onward armed with their skill, knowledge, and obsession with all things ancient painted numerous depictions of the two, usually scenes of Achilles receiving Patroclusâs body, and for âbuddiesâ they sure love painting them showing A LOT of skin
-By roughly the 1960âČs & 70âČs historians and scholars started talking about them openly again with the
âARE WE READY TO STOP PLAYINâ AND OPENLY ACKNOWLEDGE THEM AS âYOU KNOWââ
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All joking aside we still have a select number of Historians, Scholars, and Hollywood still holding out:
-What about Briseis!? (see above) they both also do sleep with a woman each but sadly here they are seen more as conquest and war prizes than actual lovers - again there is a fluidity
-Achilles was a HERO! Best of the Greeks -Heâs always shown as A MANâS MAN! YET in a separate myth (see Achilleid) his mother Thetis was able to hide him among a group of girly girls on Skyros to which he was perfectly disguised and has a one night stand with the princess again showing their regard for sexual fluidity. ALSO Do not disrespect that he was a manly hero and a femboy! This also explains how his son comes to be - again this is a completely separate myth and origin
-Could they be cousins!? (NO)
-**Closing Eyes** Homo-erotic? WHERE? âItem Not Foundâ
-âWell all we can say, there is no source, Homer never explicitly stated that Achilles and Patroclus were a couple or had a sexual relationship that we can find in the source material so⊠I am choosing to ignore all context and blatant evidence, as well have no heterosexual explanation for them eitherâŠÂ youâre just reading into it too muchâ:
EVERYONE who has a brain and has read The Iliad:
As for myself having read the Iliad, studied this Art, History, and Culture, as well as having a BFA; when you know, YOU KNOW. Feel free to share, use this as inspiration to read âThe Iliadâ if you havenât already, think critically, and study up on your own!
IN CONCLUSION = THEY GAY & THE OTP !!
(Highly Suggest âThe Song of Achillesâ as well)
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