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Mythographia

    Source Verification: Patroclus

    Every claim below is either what a named ancient source attests, in its own line or section, or a point where the sources themselves disagree.

    What the Sources Attest

    Did Achilles love Patroclus?

    Yes, and the Iliad shows it in his grief. When the news comes, Achilles pours dust over his head and lies stretched out in it. Homer never calls them lovers, though. He shows companions raised in one house, and Patroclus's ghost asks only that their bones share one urn. Later writers went further. Aeschylus's lost Myrmidons made them lovers, and Apollodorus's Library calls Patroclus Achilles's beloved.

    Source: Homer, Iliad 18.22-27

    Who killed Patroclus in Greek mythology?

    Hector deals the killing blow, but the Iliad shares the killing among three. Apollo strikes first, knocking off his helmet and armor. Euphorbus spears him in the back, and Hector finishes him with a spear thrust. Dying, Patroclus himself says fate and Apollo killed him, then Euphorbus, and that Hector is only the third. He had also ignored Achilles's order to turn back once the ships were safe.

    Source: Homer, Iliad 16.844-854

    Why did Patroclus pretend to be Achilles?

    To frighten the Trojans. He wears Achilles's armor so they will mistake him for Achilles, though he never claims the name in words. The idea is Nestor's. In Book 11 he tells Patroclus to ask for the armor, so the Trojans might draw back and let the tired Greeks recover. In Book 16 Patroclus repeats the request and Achilles grants it. Apollodorus's Epitome says the ruse worked: seeing him, the Trojans thought he was Achilles and fled.

    Source: Homer, Iliad 11.794-803

    What was Patroclus known for?

    For being Achilles's closest companion, and for dying in his place. In the Iliad he is gentle, and Briseis mourns him as a man who was always kind to her. His great day comes in Book 16. Wearing Achilles's armor, he drives the Trojans from the Greek ships and kills Sarpedon, a son of Zeus. He is killed at the walls of Troy, and his death sends Achilles back into the war to kill Hector.

    Source: Homer, Iliad 16.419-507

    What was the age gap between Achilles and Patroclus?

    No ancient source gives a number of years. The Iliad says only that Patroclus was the elder. His father Menoetius reminds him that Achilles is higher in birth, but Patroclus is older, so he should guide him with good advice. Plato's Symposium turns on the same point. Its speaker Phaedrus argues that Achilles, the younger and still beardless, must have been the beloved, not the lover as Aeschylus made him.

    Source: Homer, Iliad 11.786-787

    Where Accounts Differ

    • name of the boy Patroclus killed
    • who was Patroclus's mother
    • whether Patroclus and Achilles were lovers
    • who killed Patroclus
    • who rescued Patroclus's body
    • The boy Patroclus killed is named differently. The Iliad (23.85-88) calls him only the son of Amphidamas. Apollodorus (Library 3.13.8) names him Clitonymus, and Strabo (Geography 9.4.2) says the people of Opus called him Aeanes.
    • Patroclus's mother is not settled. Homer names only his father, Menoetius son of Actor (Iliad 11.785). Apollodorus (Library 3.13.8) offers Sthenele daughter of Acastus, Periopis daughter of Pheres, or, following Philocrates, Polymele daughter of Peleus.
    • The Iliad does not call Patroclus and Achilles lovers. Aeschylus's lost Myrmidons did, as a line quoted by Athenaeus (Deipnosophists 13.79) shows, and Apollodorus (Library 3.13.8) calls Patroclus Achilles's beloved. In Plato's Symposium (179e-180a) the speaker Phaedrus says Aeschylus made Achilles the lover wrongly, since Achilles was the younger; the Iliad (11.786-787) calls Patroclus the elder.
    • The Iliad (16.844-850) gives Patroclus three killers: Apollo, Euphorbus and Hector, with Hector third. Apollodorus (Epitome 4.6) names Euphorbus and Hector and leaves out Apollo.
    • Who carried the body back differs in emphasis. In Iliad Book 17 Menelaus stands over the body and several Greeks fight for it. Apollodorus (Epitome 4.7) says Ajax rescued it with difficulty.

    Sources

    Primary sources
    • Homer, Iliad 1.337-347
    • Homer, Iliad 9.190-191
    • Homer, Iliad 11.602-604
    • Homer, Iliad 11.785-789
    • Homer, Iliad 11.794-803
    • Homer, Iliad 16.33-45
    • Homer, Iliad 16.64-96
    • Homer, Iliad 16.419-507
    • Homer, Iliad 16.698-711
    • Homer, Iliad 16.786-857
    • Homer, Iliad 17.1-11
    • Homer, Iliad 18.95-100
    • Homer, Iliad 18.324-327
    • Homer, Iliad 19.287-300
    • Homer, Iliad 23.65-92
    • Homer, Iliad 23.175-176
    • Homer, Iliad 23.243-254
    • Homer, Odyssey 24.76-79
    • Apollodorus, Library 3.13.8
    • Apollodorus, Epitome 4.6
    • Apollodorus, Epitome 4.7
    • Pindar, Olympian Ode 9.70-79
    • Strabo, Geography 9.4.2