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InGreek mythology,Patroclus (generally pronounced/pəˈtroʊkləs/;Ancient Greek:Πάτροκλος,romanized: Pátroklos,lit. 'glory of the father') was a Greek hero of theTrojan War and an important character inHomer'sIliad.[1] Born inOpus, Patroclus was the son of theArgonautMenoetius. When he was a child, he was exiled from his hometown and was adopted byPeleus, king ofPhthia. There, he was raised alongside Peleus' son,Achilles, a childhood friend, who became a close wartime companion. When the tide of the war turned against theAchaeans, Patroclus, disguised as Achilles and defying his orders to retreat in time, led theMyrmidons 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.
The Latinized name Patroclus derives from theAncient GreekPátroklos (Πάτροκλος), meaning "glory of his father," fromπατήρ (patḗr, "father" stempátr-) andκλέος (kléos, "glory"). A variation of the name with the same components in different order isKleópatros, while the feminine form of the name isCleopatra.
There are at least three pronunciations of the name 'Patroclus' in English.[2] 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/ˈpæt.rə.kləs/ (analogous to 'Sophocles').[3] 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 Latinpa.trō′.clus – has stuck, for English/pəˈtroʊ.kləs/.[4] Moreover, because in prose, a penultimate Greco-Latin shorto (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 Englisho to a short vowel:/pəˈtrɒk.ləs/.[5]
In the account ofDares the Phrygian, Patroclus was illustrated as "... handsome and powerfully built. His eyes were gray. He was modest, dependable, wise, a man richly endowed."[6]
Patroclus was the son ofMenoetius (hence calledMenoetiadesΜενοιτιάδης, meaning "son of Menoetius")[7] by eitherPhilomela[8][9] orPolymele,Sthenele,[10]Periopis,[11] or lastlyDamocrateia.[12] His only sibling wasMyrto, mother ofEucleia byHeracles.[13] Homer also references Menoetius as the individual who gave Patroclus toPeleus.[14] Menoetius was the son ofActor,[15] king ofOpus inLocris, byAegina, daughter ofAsopus. Patroclus was Achilles's first cousin once removed through their paternal family connection to Aegina, as Achilles was the son of Peleus and grandson ofAeacus, son of Aegina byZeus.
| Relation | Names | Sources | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Homer | Pindar | Apollonius | Philocrates | Apollodorus | Plutarch | Hyginus | Eustathius | Tzetzes | ||||
| Iliad | Sch. Il. | Sch. Ody. | Scholia | Scholia | ||||||||
| Parents | Menoetius | ✓ | ||||||||||
| Menoetius and Sthenele | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | |||||||||
| Menoetius and Philomela [clarification needed] | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ||||||||
| Menoetius and Polymele | ✓ | ✓ | ||||||||||
| Menoetius and Damocrateia | ✓ | |||||||||||
| Menoetius and Periopis | ✓ | |||||||||||
| Sibling | Myrto | ✓ | ||||||||||
During his childhood, Patroclus had accidentally killed his playmateClysonymus over a game of dice. As a result, he was exiled from his home, Opus, with Menoetius sending him to Peleus, king ofPhthia and father ofAchilles.[16][17] Peleus named Patroclus Achilles's "squire", as they both grew up together and became close friends.[18] Patroclus acted as a male role model for Achilles, being both kinder than him as well as wiser regarding counsel.[a][19] Patroclus's early life, including his flight to the house of Peleus, is narrated later in theIliad, when his ghost appears to Achilles reminding him about his past and giving him advice about his burial.[17]
According toPhotius, Ptolemy Hephaestion (probably referring toPtolemy Chennus) wrote that Patroclus was also loved by the sea godPoseidon, who taught him the art of riding horses.[20]
According to theIliad, when the tide of theTrojan War had turned against the Greeks and the Trojans were threatening their ships, Patroclus convinced Achilles to let him lead theMyrmidons 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 theTrojans back from their ships.[21]: 353 book 16, lines 64–87
Patroclus defied Achilles's order and pursued the Trojans back to the gates ofTroy.[22] Patroclus killed many Trojans and Trojan allies, including a son of Zeus,Sarpedon.[21]: p. 363, book 16, line 460 While fighting, Patroclus's wits were removed byApollo, after which the spear ofEuphorbos hit Patroclus.[23]Hector then kills Patroclus by stabbing him in the stomach with a spear.[21]: p. 373, book 16, lines 804–822
Achilles retrieved his body, which had been stripped of armor by Hector and protected on the battlefield byMenelaus andAjax.[24] Achilles did not allow the burial of Patroclus's body until the ghost of Patroclus appeared and demanded his burial in order to pass intoHades.[21]: p. 474, book 23, lines 69–71 Patroclus was then cremated on a funeralpyre, 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.[1]: 561 The ashes of Achilles were said to have been buried in a golden urn along with those of Patroclus by the Hellespont.[25]
Although there is no explicit sexual relationship betweenAchilles 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 andPhaedrus, for example, state there was a clear relationship between them. Aeschylus refers to Achilles as theerastes, while Phaedrus refers to Achilles as theeromenos of the relationship.[26][27] Morales and Mariscal state, "There is apolemical tradition concerning the nature of the relationship between the two heroes."[27]
According to Ledbetter (1993),[29] 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'sIliad. 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 theIliad 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.[29] However, as Patroclus is explicitly stated to be the elder of the two characters,[30] this is not evidence of their ages or social relation to each other.
James Hooker describes the literary reasons for Patroclus's character within theIliad. 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.[31] 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 theIliad.[32]
Hooker describes the necessity of Patroclus sharing a deep affection with Achilles within theIliad. 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.[32]
Achilles and Patroclus grew up together afterMenoitios gave Patroclus to Achilles's father,Peleus. During this time, Peleus made Patroclus one of Achilles's "henchmen."[33] While Homer'sIliad never explicitly stated that Achilles and Patroclus were lovers, this concept was propounded by some later authors.[34][35][b]
Aeschines asserts that there was no need to explicitly state the relationship as a romantic one,[35] for such "is manifest to such of his hearers as are educated men."[36] In later Greek writings, such asPlato'sSymposium, the relationship between Patroclus and Achilles is discussed as a model of romantic love.[37] However,Xenophon, in hisSymposium, had Socrates argue that it was inaccurate to label their relationship as romantic. Nevertheless, their relationship is said to have inspiredAlexander the Great in his own close relationship with his life-long companionHephaestion.[34][38]
In theIliad, Achilles was younger than Patroclus.[a][c] This reinforces Dowden's explanation of the relationship between an eromenos, a youth in transition, and anerastes, an older male who had recently made the same transition.[41]: 112 Dowden also notes the common occurrence of such relationships as a form of initiation.[41]: 114 However,Statius in theAchilleid states that the two were either within the same age group or acted as if they were.[42][43]
Patroclus is a character inWilliam Shakespeare's playTroilus 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.[44][45]
| Achilles and Patroclus myths as told by story tellers |
|---|
| Bibliography of reconstruction:HomerIliad, 9.308, 16.2, 11.780, 23.54 (700 BC);PindarOlympian Odes, IX (476 BC);AeschylusMyrmidons, F135-36 (495 BC);EuripidesIphigenia in Aulis, (405 BC);PlatoSymposium, 179e (388-367 BC);StatiusAchilleid, 161, 174, 182 (96 AD) |
{{cite journal}}:Cite journal requires|journal= (help)For good measure,Poliziano throws in a unique example of a compromise view, reporting that the Roman poetStatius, in his unfinished epic, theAchilleid, 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'.
... and that Patroclus ispar studiis aeuique modis, 1.176. This latter phrase is difficult: it probably means something like 'equal in the pursuits and ways of youth', andBainbrigge may have taken it as inspiration ...
