In
Greek mythology, as recorded in the ''
Iliad'' by
Homer, 'Patroclus', or 'Pátroklos' (Gr. '' “glory of the fatherâ€), son of
Menoetius, was
Achilles’ best friend and, according to some (including Ovid), his lover.
Patroclus’ genealogy
Menoetius was a member of the
Argonauts in his youth. He made several marriages, and in different versions of the tale four different women are named as the mother of Patroclus.
Apollodorus of Athens names three wives of Menoetius as possible mothers of Patroclus:
Periopis, daughter of
Pheres, founder of
Pherae;
Polymele, daughter of
Peleus, King of
Phthia and older half-sister of Achilles; and
Sthenele, daughter of
Acastus and
Astydameia.
Gaius Julius Hyginus names
Philomela as Patroclus' mother; although Hyginus gives no origin for Philomela, she might be related to
her namesake daughter of
Pandion I,
King of Athens and
Zeuxippe.
Menoetius was a son of
Actor, King of
Opus in
Locris by
Aegina. Aegina was a daughter of
Asopus and mother of
Aeacus by
Zeus. Aeacus was father of Peleus,
Telamon and
Phocus.
Actor was a son of
Deion, King of
Phocis and
Diomede. His paternal grandparents were
Aeolus of
Thessaly and
Enarete. His maternal grandparents were
Xuthus and
Creusa, daughter of
Erechtheus and
Praxithea.
Life before the Trojan War
While still a boy, Patroclus killed his friend,
Clysonymus, during an argument. His father fled with Patroclus into exile to evade revenge, and they took shelter at the palace of their kinsman King Peleus of Phthia. There Patroclus apparently first met Peleus' son Achilles. Peleus sent the boys to be raised by
Chiron, the cave-dwelling wise King of the
centaurs.
Patroclus was likely somewhat older than Achilles. He is listed among the unsuccessful suitors of
Helen of
Sparta, all of whom took a solemn
oath to defend the chosen husband (ultimately
Menelaus) against whomever should quarrel with him.
At about that time Patroclus killed
Las, founder of a namesake
city near
Gytheio,
Laconia, according to
Pausanias the geographer. Pausanias reported that the killing was alternatively attributed to Achilles. However Achilles was not otherwise said to have ever visited
Peloponnesos.
Nine years later, Helen fled Sparta with Prince
Paris of
Troy. Menelaus and his brother
Agamemnon, King of
Mycenae, started contemplating war against Troy. The preparations for war and gathering of allies and armies took him ten years, according to some versions.
Trojan War activities
When Achilles refused to fight because of his feud with Agamemnon, Patroclus donned Achilles' armor, led the
Myrmidons and killed many Trojans and their allies, including the Lycian hero
Sarpedon (a son of Zeus), and
Cebriones (the chariot driver of
Hector and illegitimate son of
Priam) despite the warning of Achilles to not engage in combat beyond the
Achaean ships. He was killed by
Hector and
Euphorbos, with help from
Apollo.
After retrieving his body, which had been protected on the field by Menelaus and
Telamonian Aias, Achilles returned to battle and avenged his companion's death by killing Hector. Achilles then desecrated Hector's body by dragging it behind his
chariot instead of allowing the Trojans to honorably dispose of it by burning it. Achilles' grief was great and for some time, he refused to dispose of Patroclus' body; but he was persuaded to do so by an apparition of Patroclus, who told Achilles he could not enter
Hades without a proper
cremation. Achilles cut a lock of his hair, and
sacrificed
horses,
dogs, and twelve
Trojan captives before placing Patroclus' body on the funeral pyre.
Achilles then organized an athletic competition to honour his dead companion, which included a
chariot race (won by
Diomedes),
boxing (won by
Epeios),
wrestling (a draw between
Telamonian Aias and
Odysseus), a foot race (won by Odysseus), a
duel (a draw between Aias and Diomedes), a
discus throw (won by
Polypoites), an
archery contest (won by
Meriones), and a
javelin throw (won by Agamemnon, unopposed). The games are described in Book 23 of the ''
Iliad'', one of the earliest references to
Greek sports.
Relationship to Achilles
Main articles: Achilles and Patroclus
In the ''Iliad'', the love of Achilles for Patroclus drives the story and contributes to the overall theme of the humanization of Achilles. While in the ''Iliad'' this love may be seen as chaste, in later Greek writings, such as
Plato's ''
Symposium'', the relationship between Patroclus and Achilles is held up as a model of sexual love, usually interpreted as
pederastic. The primary disagreement in ancient times was between those, such as
Aeschylus, who held Patroclus to be the ''
eromenos'' (beloved) of Achilles, and that of others, including Plato, who argued that Achilles was the ''eromenos''. Still other ancient authors, such as
Xenophon in his ''
Symposium'', argued that it was a mistake to label their relationship as a sexual one.
Burial and later reports
The funeral of Patroclus is described in book 23 of the ''Iliad''. Patroclus is cremated on a
funeral pyre, and his bones are collected into a golden urn in two layers of fat. The
barrow is built on the location of the pyre. Achilles then sponsors funeral games, consisting of a
chariot race, boxing, wrestling, running, a duel between two champions to the first blood, discus throwing, archery and spear throwing.
The death of
Achilles is given in sources other than the ''Iliad''. His bones were mingled with those of Patroclus so that the two would be companions in death as in life and the remains were transferred to
Leuke, an
island in the
Black Sea. Their
souls were reportedly seen wandering the island at times.
In Homer's ''
Odyssey'', Odysseus meets
Achilles in
Hades, accompanied by Patroclus,
Telamonian Aias and
Antilochus.
A general of
Croton identified either as Autoleon or Leonymus reportedly visited the island of Leuke while recovering from wounds received in battle against the
Locri Epizefiri. The event was placed during or after the
7th century BC. He reported having seen Patroclus in the company of
Achilles,
Ajax the Lesser,
Telamonian Aias,
Antilochus, and
Helen.
Spoken-word myths - audio files
| Achilles and Patroclus myths as told by story tellers |
|---|
|
| 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 BC-367 BC); Statius ''Achilleid,'' 161, 174, 182 (96 CE) |
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