Did Achilles have a male lover? As a boy, Achilles develops a close relationship with another boy named Patroclus, who joins Achilles' household as an exile, having accidentally killed another child. They become friends and possibly lovers.
The idea that Patroclus and Achilles were lovers is quite old. Many Greco-Roman authors read their relationship as a romantic one—it was a common and accepted interpretation in the ancient world. We even have a fragment from a lost tragedy of Aeschylus, where Achilles speaks of his and Patroclus' “frequent kisses.”
Patroclus and Achilles relationship is a deep bond because they grew up together, and this has been viewed and interpreted by others as a romantic relationship rather than purely platonic. Although, there is no certainty regarding what the proper label is to put on the relationship between Patroclus and Achilles.
Patroclus and Achilles, the main characters of the Homer's epic poem the Iliad, were cousins.
Achilles responds by saying that Patroclus is his husband.
This is because Achilles is younger than Patroclus, and is described (and depicted) as beautiful and beardless. This would automatically make him the eromenos, the bottom.
Patroclus – Death by Hubris. Patroclus' death was one of the most poignant and powerful scenes in the Iliad. It reveals the futility of mortals endeavoring to go against the gods and the price of reckless behavior. Recklessness and arrogance are recurring themes throughout the epic.
Historical and literary scholars have long held that Plato was correct in his claim that Patroclus was “much older” than Achilles.
Even though she was a war prize, Achilles and Briseis fell in love with each other, and Achilles may have gone to Troy intending to spend much time in his tent with her, as was portrayed in the movie.
Sexual Orientation. Though never specified it can be inferred that Patroclus is gay. Deidama was heartbroken and jealous of Achilles's love for Patroclus, Deidameia summons Patroclus to have sex with her, which he does; he notes that she seemed to want something more from him, which he was unable to provide. .
Achilles fell in love with one of Lycomedes' daughters, Deidamia, and impregnated her. Later, Odysseus discovered Achilles hiding in the court of Lycomedes and tricked him into revealing his true identity. Achilles then left the court of Lycomedes with Odysseus to fight in the Trojan war which broke Deidamia's heart.
Definition. Helen of Troy (sometimes called Helen of Sparta) is a figure from Greek mythology whose elopement with (or abduction by) the Trojan prince Paris sparked off the Trojan War.
We know Achilles wasn't much of a family man. He spent much of his life out in the battlefields, and he never married or settled in any one place. Some stories even suggest he might have been gay. However, we do know that Achilles had one son, a boy named Pyrrhus Neoptolemus.
Now, Barker is back with The Women of Troy. Years have passed, the war has ended, Achilles is dead, and Briseis is pregnant with his child. Before his last battle Achilles gave Briseis to Alcimus, a trusted general, to prevent her being auctioned off with his other possessions.
Patroclus and Thetis' Son
Once Thetis gave into marrying Patroclus, she became determined to have a child with him. But first, she had to make sure her son Achilles was safe.
When Odysseus, Ajax, and Phoenix visit Achilles to negotiate her return in book 9, Achilles refers to Briseis as his wife or his bride. He professes to have loved her as much as any man loves his wife, at one point using Menelaus and Helen to complain about the injustice of his "wife" being taken from him.
– How Old Are Achilles and Patroclus? Achilles and Patroclus were 15 years old when they were killed in the Trojan war. They both were very close to each other and after their deaths, their remains were buried together to give their friendship an eternal life together.
Patroclus's Last Words
''...had twenty such men as you attacked me, all of them would have fallen before my spear. Fate and the son of Leto have overpowered me, and among mortal men Euphorbus; you are yourself third only in the killing of me.
Additionally, we know he is a Greek and hails from Opus, where he was a prince and the son of Menoetius. However, he never mentions his race or the color of his skin. Thus, while the audience knows that he has, generally, a dark coloring, his race is left up to the imagination.
He laments Patroclus' death using language very similar to the grief of Hector's wife. He also requests that when he dies, his bones be mixed with Patroclus' in a vase. The rage that follows from Patroclus' death becomes the prime motivation for Achilles to return to the battlefield.
Thetis had taken her son Achilles to the island of Scyros to prevent him from accompanying the Greek army to Troy. Disguised as a woman, Achilles lived on Scyros among the daughters of King Lycomedes until the Greeks discovered his whereabouts and sent Odysseus and Diomedes to the island to fetch him.
Family. Patroclus was the son of Menoetius by either Philomela or Polymele, Sthenele, Periopis, or lastly Damocrateia. His only sibling was Myrto, mother of Eucleia by Heracles.
There are some scenes which seem a bit odd and don't really sit comfortably with the rest of the narrative - the river-god-fighting, and a very odd scene in which Patroclus has sex with Achilles' wife, thereby cheating on his boyfriend by committing adultery with his boyfriend's wife, which seems Not Okay to me - but ...
Paris himself, soon after, received a fatal wound from an arrow shot by the rival archer Philoctetes.
How many kids did Achilles have? With Lycomedes' daughter Deidamia, whom in the account of Statius he raped, Achilles there fathered two sons, Neoptolemus (also called Pyrrhus, after his father's possible alias) and Oneiros.