Patroclus

**Patroclus** (Ancient Greek: Πάτροκλος, Pátroklos - "glory of the father") was a central figure in Homer's _Iliad_. He was the son of Menoetius, and is most famous as being the lover of Achilles.

During the Trojan War, Achilles refuses to fight after a quarrel with Agamemnon,  leader of the Greek forces, over a woman, Briseis. Patroclus, with Achilles' permission, then dons Achilles' armor and leads the Myrmidons into battle. The Greeks, thinking him to be Achilles, are roused into a frenzy as they begin to beat the Trojans back. He managed to kill Sarpedon when he charged into battle. However, the ruse is discovered as Patroclus is soon killed by the Trojan prince Hector. The death of Patroclus is a key event in the _Iliad_, as it serves as the catalyst of Achilles' legendary rage. Below is the backstory of Patroclus and Achilles, from the book "The Song Of Achilles", important to Achilles' and Patroclus' image.

A former prince and Achilles’s lover, Patroclus is the novel's ("The Song Of Achilles") narrator. He is fundamentally kind, which leads his father to dislike him. Patroclus’s mother was intellectually disabled, and his father believes that both Patroclus and his mother were weak. As a child, Patroclus accidentally killed a young boy whose father demanded that Patroclus be exiled. Patroclus was sent to Achilles’s kingdom, where he and Achilles first fell in love. He and Achilles train for war together on Mount Pelion, and Patroclus eventually follows Achilles to fight in Troy. Patroclus dislikes bloodshed. His goal in Troy is not to fight nor to bring peace, but to prevent Achilles’s fated death. In this, Patroclus and Achilles have opposing purposes: Achilles is destined to end lives, while Patroclus wants to save them, eventually working as a medic in the army hospital and encouraging Achilles to “claim” Trojan women as war spoils in order to free them. Patroclus’s tolerance of Achilles’s warrior mentality does have limits: when Achilles attempts to allow Agamemnon to assault Patroclus’s closest friend, Briseis, Patroclus betrays Achilles in order to stop it. But even in his betrayal, Patroclus is trying to protect Achilles from committing a dishonorable act. Similarly, after Achilles refuses to fight for the Greek army, Patroclus dons Achilles’s armor and enters battle. This is because Patroclus wants to save the Greeks, but it’s mainly because he wants Achilles to be remembered kindly. Achilles’s death has been prophesied, but—without Achilles or Patroclus knowing—Patroclus’s death is also foretold. The gods say that the “best of the Myrmidons” (Achilles’s kinsmen) will die soon, and while many assume that this means Achilles, the prophecy actually refers to Patroclus who is the best of them due to his kindness. Patroclus is, in many ways, the only member of the Greek army who understands that real honor lies in small acts of kindness and love, rather than destruction. At the end of the novel, his demonstrable love for Achilles saves their souls: Thetis, who always hated Patroclus, is moved by his love for Achilles and marks his grave so that both men can rest together in the underworld.

## Related pages

- 617 Patroclus